I know most of my blog posts are somehow related to the college and university, but this one skews a little more towards personal development.
I’m sick and tired of people doing the liberal versus conservative argument. From Rush Limbaugh to Hannity and Colmes in politics to religious conservatives and religious liberals, I’m sick and tired of people yelling and pointing the finger at each other.
1) this is pointless – it accomplishes nothing, there is no action and really there isn’t even a hint that there will BE action (at least not from these people)
2) it’s not even intelligent debate, it’s entertainment – I’ve heard that Rush doesn’t believe half the stuff he says, Glenn Beck has a curious correlation between the craziness in his rants and his TV ratings, and many of the people (on both sides of the aisle) don’t have real actual jobs so they have a tremendous incentive to do what makes them the most money, which is to up the crazy ante higher and higher. The ratings for this stuff is insanely high, but I think many of these people don’t get that it’s purely entertainment on the level of Jerry Springer
3) it’s a distraction – the news (or religious finger pointing) doesn’t focus on depth or thoughtfulness, it focuses on bouncing from topic to topic and the entertainment and theatre of the debate. let’s take an email that a friend sent me this week about a group that was all upset that a “pro life” display would not be shown on a college campus – the article that the story was in had no description of the actual contents of the display. If you’ve seen one of these displays, you understand that the content is gruesome, over-the-top, and usually displayed in a circus like fashion on billboards that stand 20 feet tall. No mention of this was made in the article. How is this a real discussion and not just propoganda when an article doesn’t give a rounded discussion? But really, this is how almost all debate is done – focusing on the parts that favor your side and leaving out the parts that don’t. It’s a distraction and doesn’t encourage people to make informed decisions – this is fine for debating who might win the NBA title, this is not fine when it comes to debating religion and politics which are topics that are of FAR more consequence.
I think Jon Stewart said it best on his visit on Crossfire. If you haven’t watched the video, you should.
First of all, the video is appalling. I think Tucker Carlson has now settled down a bit… but I can’t say for sure.
Stewart’s assertion that many news programs are not debates, but theatre, is dead on. I don’t watch Glenn Beck, but if I did, it wouldn’t be for the engaging political discourse. But it’s not just news shows that are engaging in this type of behavior, newspapers like The Huffington Post and their “BIG NEWS PAGE” with the screaming, sometimes libelous headlines.
Personally, I don’t like to identify myself as Republican, Democrat or even Independent as they all come along with such negative stereotypes. But I digress…Your post hit the nail on the head, Jeff. This kind of behavior only distracts from the real issues at hand and if we want to move forward as a country, it must stop.
Thanks for making this post!
Mainstream news media seldomly is about news any longer. Just look at Nancy Grace (my most loathed news person.) However I also wonder about chicken and egg issues. Is it totally the news networks problem? They are only feeding the public and consumers what they want. We BUY those Glenn Beck books and buy Sirius to get Rush. Heck, Keith Olbermann is so popular he hosts football now as well! I love Jon Stewart because he completely satirizes the industry, yet at the same time is probably one of the most objective of newscasters cause he thinks EVERYONE is being fake and calls them on it.
As Eminem says, we made them.
Elisa – anyone who quotes Eminem is okay in my book. I can say with all certainty that I do not buy Glenn Beck books or Rush books or watch Keith Olbermann, but I see your point. As George Carlin says “the politicians suck because the people suck”; I’d say this applies to the media too. However, I am in education and feel I have a responsibility to call people on this crap. I know it’s entertainment so I take it with a grain of salt, but I agree with Jon – it IS hurting us. It hurts us when important things get trivialized by inane debate, how can it not?
Jenn- agreed, Tucker is completely out line. He keeps making snide comments until Stewart responds with the “dick” comment. What a douche.
He acts that way because it makes him money though. What an insane society we live in when it pays to talk in a controversial manner but not to actually DO anything controversial. How does that make any sense?
Pingback: My Favorite Posts from the Last Year « Jeff Lail