For some reason, I have to pay for what sounds like a wonderful column by Ted Koppel in yesterday's New York Times. I've never had trouble accessing their online articles before but they wanted me to pay 14 dollars for this one little column so I said screw that. Anyways, I read a great article about the column over at editorand publisher.com. I had trouble linking the text for some reason, but just search ted koppel on google and it should be right there.
Heres a link to the story
Koppel couldn't have said it any better:
"The accusation that television news has a political agenda misses the point. Right now, the main agenda is to give people what they want. It is not partisanship but profitability that shapes what you see."
I really admire this legend in journalism. I think many liberals and conservatives often miss the boat when it comes to the problem with our media. It isnt as much about partisanship as it is about ratings (although the two can definitely go hand in hand). The bigger issue is what I call the "tabloidization" of our media which has nothing to do with political ideology. I dont have nearly as much of a problem with say the political bias at Fox news then I do with all cable news stations ramming the Natalie Holloway story down our throat.
The fact that our media would rather talk nonstop about child molestations instead of say the genocide in darfur has nothing to do with political ideology. And while I do concede that there is a blatant corporate influenced conservative bias in our news media, the lack of substance in our news stories is much more serious.
Think about it: As MSNBC runs a story about a child molesting Caholic priest in New Jersey, (which I just saw about an hour ago on some with a sleazy host named Abrams)at least one innocent Darfurian is being slain by the militias of their genocidal govt. Think about the number of children worldwide dying of aids during this ten minute segment. And for those of you who prefer to stay more local, think about that friendly neighbor of yours who's sitting at home unemployed because his job was sacraficed at the alter of free trade.
Does anyone give a fly out there about the oppressed besides Nicholas Kristoff (who's done a heroic job of telling the story of DArfur to so many Americans who otehrwise would never have heard about it, myself included)? I think not
So I end this entry with a challenge to everyone: Don't get too distracted by the egregious political bias in our media. It is only bait that's distracting you from the real danger at hand: The tabloidization of the MAINSTREAM American Media. So many oppresed people have died at the hands of our media's inability to shine light on their suffering. So lets move forward in washing the blood off our media's hands by demanding REAL CHANGE.