Thank you, Wayne Drash, for hearing the people (on facebook) and addressing their valid complaint about the media’s extensive coverage of Charlie Sheen (and, I’ll add, Lindsay Lohan) while soldiers in Afghanistan (and Iraq) are dying.
It’s not that the four dead soldiers—Andrew Wilfahrt (31), Brian Tabada (21), Rudolph Hizon (22), Chauncy Mays (25)—are particularly special or unique; it’s that they happen to be the latest casualties of this decade-long war that have been ignored by the 24-hour news networks in favor of covering the social lives of actors and how many days are left until Prince William marries Kate Middleton and which designer (omigod!!) is designing her dress.
Twenty-four hours. There are twenty-four hours available for coverage of world news, and the “breaking” stories of late have announced a Sheen outburst or what color dress Lohan wore to court. One item—Michael Jackson’s death, say—will be covered so relentlessly and obsessively, the same “latest information” relayed every five minutes, that while real news is being made the world over, we’re missing it because the major networks have determined that what the people really want is to watch a helicopter hovering over a location where something might maybe we-don’t-know-but-if-it-does-we’ll-catch-it be happening. Never mind what's happening miles away where there's dirt and sand and spiders and things. That's not "fun." And besides, it's been going on for ten years--that story's so, like, over. Also, if it's not a) a scary act of nature, b) a shocking uprising, or c) happening on this continent, it's not really NEWS, now, is it? (What's that? Hundreds of thousands of people in this country, on this continent, have a loved one doing dangerous things over there in that sandy, dusty place? And our military action in a foreign land has more impact than Charlie Sheen's latest rambling video message? I don't unders...I don't quite get how...That is, the PEOPLE...Oh, pish tosh!)
That Drash saw the viral facebook complaint about our embarrassing news networks and responded to it is commendable, but I’m afraid—even with the hundreds of comments praising his blog post—it will be ignored by the networks. If the story spreads, it will be a short-lived burst of attention focused largely on the impact of social media ("CNN responded to the people, whose voices were heard thanks to facebook!"). What won’t happen—bet you one million dollars—is that CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, and the others actually revamp their programming, revise their definition of “news,” and leave the social lives of actors to E!, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, and all of the other stations whose job it is to pay attention to such tripe.
- Kristen
LIFT