Over the past decade or so, the media has seen it's ratings drop. Considerably. They have tried putting new anchors on. They have tried spicing up the programming. They have even started this "investigative reporting" stuff, where they snoop around trying to create news, instead of leaving it alone. Now, granted, some of the stuff they have uncovered was beneficial to the community, but quite a bit of it was unnecessary.
Yes, the media has even taken the "News for YOU" approach, like we are on the same side. Yea right. You aren't on my side. You don't even know me! I bet I can tell you what your news is like though, assuming you even watch it. Its quite scary.
It starts with News at 6, or whatever hour your media hype comes on. Often times, it has a sylized number of the channel you are watching. They will try and be cute, and have the time match the channel. 6 News at 6. 11 News at 11. 7:30 news...at 7:30. Then they show the four dunces they threw up there to "report" the news.
You are going to have your two anchors. One is a man, the other a woman. (This is true for all but a very select few). Then it will be Jack Stumphump with Weather, and Don Notalent with Sports. Thats whats on the menu, and it doesn't matter what channel you change it to. Thats what you are getting. General news, weather, and sports. You know why weather and sports get their own person for coverage? Because there are other programs that do just weather and sports. (ie the Weather Channel, and ESPN).
So, the two anchors will kick off the night, and these two people are total drones, it makes your head spin. Half the time, they don't know what they are saying, they are just reading from the teleprompter. You could have someone put up on that screen they read that they are sitting in dog vomit, and they wouldn't bat an eye. After they are done with a story, the sometimes will have a brief, 10 second "conversation" about it, but it usually is, "Wow, thats interesting," and the response is just as negligible, because they have no idea what they just read. Then, they kick it over to Jack with Weather.
Now, this meteorologist is even a bigger joke. You see, there are two types of meteorologists. The ones who live in a static climate, and the ones who don't. For the meteorologists who live in a static climate, their job is a no brainer. Hawaii is a good example. Oh look, its sunny. Back to you. Don't believe me? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-TfZslHKoo
Then the other meteorologist lives somewhere North of the mason dixon line, and not in California. They come up with crap like, partly sunny today, with a chance of showers. Highs in the 70s. Can you get much more vague than that?! Good lord pal, do you have any idea whats going on? Of course not, because you can't predict the weather! You can guess the weather. Even then, its just a guess. They will then try to emphasize their point home by waving their hand over a general area where there might be some green on the radar a little later, indicating there might be some showers. I wish I had a job where I could never be right.
And speaking of these radars, how much more ridiculous do the names have to get? You get all these fancy "high tech" weather radars like the Doppler, the Stormtrack, and the Joan Rivers, and they still can't get an accurate depiction of what is going on. I am becoming more and more certain that that is why the economy is tanking. There is too much money invested in innacurate weather radars.
Then the Weather guy kicks it over to the Sports guy. Ugh. Here is a waste of time. This dude is forced to tell us about the local High School Women's Lacrosse team instead of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, because he is trying to maintain his "local good guy image." Fuck em. No one gives a crap about High School sports except people in High School, and they don't normally watch the news. So why is he telling us about stuff we don't care about? Because if you want Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, you turn into ESPN, or the NHL Network. You dont' need to get your news from some yokel.
Despite the shortcomings of the Anchors, Weatherman and Sports guy, the real cause for the drops in ratings has nothing to do with the people you see on TV. It has everything to do with the Producers of the news. The people behind the scenes are why the American public is tuning out. Its very easy to understand. The news is negative.
All you ever hear about is rapings, shootings, killings, kidnappings, stabbings, theft, police chases, assault, escaped criminals, sex offenders, fires, explosions, car pile ups, deaths, and the occasional political drabble, which 9 times out of 10, is the worst on the list. You never hear about the charity walks, the woman who saves a boy from drowning, or the house that was just built for a homeless family. You don't hear anything about this stuff either. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522061,00.html Why? Because apparently, thats not what we want to hear. Apparently, the Producers feel the other stuff is more important. Apparently, they are wrong. The ratings are screaming at them that they are wrong, but they are so obsessed with the negative, they don't want to report the positive. When it comes right down to it, people are sick of it. They are sick of the negative.
And what makes it worse, is its always the same story. Dude shoots baby's momma. Shoots kid. Takes money. Runs. Here's a mug shot. He is still on the loose. Any information, call Crime Stoppers. Next story, fire kills 22 sleeping orphans as person in charge was strung out on coke. She is expected to make a full recovery. Its a tragedy.
There is the other thing that bothers me about the news. The word "tragedy" has lost all punch. It is a dead word. A tragedy is what Shakespeare wrote. What happens in the news is rarely a tragedy. Its an unfortunate event. A tragedy is when the Main Character has to make a choice, and he is damned no matter what. He can't win. The prime example of a modern day tragedy would be when a cop has to shoot a kid that has a gun pulled on him. If he doesn't shoot the kid, he dies, if he does shoot the kid, the kid dies, which is never cool. So no matter the choice, the cop is fucked, and the kid probably is too. No winners, hence, a tragedy. Either way, its negative.
And this is why Generation X, as we have been dubbed, gets such a bad rap. Its because all the negativity is reported, and none of the good stuff is reported. And it doesn't stop with the news either. It spreads all over the media. TV, Newspaper, Magazines, Radio, petty little blogs, and so on. You name it. Its everywhere. Thats why I tuned out. I burned a CD, and thats what I listen to. That and the Cubs games. (Ron Santo is the new Harry Caray).
-Deimos
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