Whether a singer performed live or used a recorded voice track at the Presidential inauguration has taken over the news for days and it illustrates how easily we are distracted by shiny objects while other things go to hell in a hand basket. Think of latest hot news items, Lance Armstrong’s doping, Manti Te'o’s fake girlfriend and Beyonce.
With all of the things going on in the world such as many hostages dying in a raid to free them in Africa, shootouts on college campuses and the upcoming debt ceiling fight, lip-sync gate took over the news cycle. What this shows more than anything is the erosion that has occurred inside news organizations over the years. What passes as hot news today would have been left off the list of items to pass across the lips of a hard news anchor in years past.
As we get carpet bombed with Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian stories some pliable minds actually start to believe that knowing every move these individuals make is really what matters and why shouldn’t they given the amount of precious airtime devoted to covering them. The current news coverage exposes how network news divisions have just become extensions of the entertainment side of media companies.
Even coverage of politics has become slanted towards an entertainment and sensationalism angle. Over the last four years much of the political coverage focused on the outrageous and outlandish and politicians took notice. Some borderline competent politicians became media stars because of their looks, over the top statements and offbeat behavior. We only really seem to focus on hard news during a crisis such as an outbreak of war, a national tragedy or a natural disaster.
Our culture has created a population of distracted individuals that on the surface does not seem to be a problem, but not everyone is distracted by shiny object. Some individuals are very focused on their tasks. One of the clues to being a good pickpocket is to distract your intended target and that has been accomplished on a massive scale. A few are focused and becoming very wealthy from the pockets of those engrossed in lip sync gate and whatever the next shiny object that will be thrust upon us as a crisis.
No comments:
Post a Comment