02
Jan
The News
I have stopped reading newspapers.
I finished watching the news on TV a long time ago, and also cut most of my magazine subscriptions. I wasn’t reading them. We were piling up unread copies of the metro newspaper, so I stopped that, too. I used to read the Wall Street Journal every day, because it was relevant to my work, but since I quit my corporate job a year ago, I’ve stopped reading that as well. The reason? Like the other news that I no longer read, it’s neither interesting nor helpful.
That’s a provocative claim, I know, but I am convinced it’s true.
Mainstream news is produced to drive readership, copy, and with that subscription and advertising dollars. Unfortunately, in a world of oversupply, “successful” news is that which makes its way through a complex system of selection, review, and editing. It is “news” whose topic and content is directed to attracting readers - or, in the case of TV, viewers. And people, fundamentally, are not that interested in news. They like human interest stories, controversy. They like two categories of stories: those that make them feel good about their situation in life - both choices and circumstances; and those that create empathy for a suffering or achieving individual. And so the news has become a series of potted human interest stories. It is the attempt to personalize the war in Iraq by following individual soldiers. It is the Olympic focus on athletes’ abilities to overcome terrible chiildhoods or debilitating diseases, rather than their magnificent accomplishments.
It is the reduction of human tragedy to soap opera.
There are countless examples of this, but only a few catch the public imagination so much that even I cannot avoid them. Take Terri Schiavo, or of Laci Peterson, for example. If you followed either of these affairs - or other equivalent ones, think about what good it actually did you. Did it help you, or provide information you needed to better survive. Surely not. But nor did it make you feel good. These stories find terrible human drama - a spouse in a coma, the disappearance of a pregnant wife - and begin by making it accessible. The spouse could be your friend, or your sister, the pregnant woman your neighbor, her convicted husband your brother. Pick any player and place them in your life! Once you relate to the character, life is stranger than fiction, and you’re hooked to the story, addicted to the papers and the TV as it plays out to its sordid end over weeks.
It is no accident that this is all happening at the same time as the rise of reality TV. Rather than live our own lives, and pay attention ot what’s really going on at home, we distract ourselves by befriending people who we will never meet, and who certainly will never know us. It is the next generation of novels and movies, saving the author and director of the need to create a realistic character - for the character is already real. And perhaps reality is stranger than fiction, for if you were to write a story about one of these affiars, you would never get away with making it this long, or having so many plot redirections, and certainly not with the involvement of the White house and the passage of specific legislation.
Today’s news hits me hard; I can’t help feeling pointless empathy for the the victims it covers, suffering with them uselessly, unable to help. But by distracting myself in this way, I am hiding from the suffering closer at hand; the spouse whose mental illness I’ve never paid attention to, the child who needs someone to talk to about the traumas of adolesence, and just a little further afield, the homeless, the battered wives, the unloved children in my own town. How much better for all if we take care of our own before poking our noses into affairs where all we bring is our prejudice. Give me back the days of the tall ships, when newspapers took a week to reach their audience, so only matters of lasting value were covered, and they were handled with editorial respect that reduced them to their essence.
Addendum
I just watched the movie Being John Malkovich and it cast a further light on this issue. In a strange way the movie is not so much about being John Malkovich as not being me.
January 4th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Two words: Hunter Thompson.
Did you happen to see the 60 minutes special on Ed Bradley this weekend? Says it all.
So it’s not inevitable, just as it is. See you next month.
January 7th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
I discuss the Terry Schiavo story in my book, “5 Reasons Why Bad Things Happen: How to Diagnose, Resolve and Prevent Tragedies.” What I say, is: “Most of us remember the Florida case where dozens of people debated on the fate of a woman with severe brain damage. No matter which side of the debate someone found themselves, no one would have wanted to be in her place. I think this case demonstrated two interesting things. First, many people seemed to be exhibiting their fear of life after death in order to take the position that they did. Second, it sent a message to the public of the importance of making your end-of-life care decisions in advance by having a Living Will.”
The problem is, the media missed the point. Her story provided important lessons and messages for all of us.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
While your second point is very practical, I think your first point is the more interesting from the perspective of the question I’m trying to get at. Surely it is about not just your own life and death, but that of those you love. By having a third party case, people can vicariously live the issue in the same way they vicariously love the lives of reality TV show participants. It ultimately goes to vacating one’s own life and instead living that of another. Hence my addendum
January 9th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Then ultimately the question is: does the media help shine light on issues that people need to face in their lives - or distract them?
Have you seen “Bowling for Columbine?” If not, I recommend it. Very powerful movie.
btw - I have been on a “newsfast” for years…