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Don't believe the media hype
By Mike Murray
murrmich@mscd.edu

It’s not sick. It’s not hurt. It’s dead!

Reporting has died and no one gives a damn. Almost everyone reading this article can name the venereal disease that Pamela Anderson has. They know who Brad Pitt is dating. They have an opinion regarding the sanity of Tom Cruise. I know I do.

So let’s try something different. How many people know what country just experienced an earthquake? How many know in which state a district judge overturned the Bush administration’s controversial wiretapping policies? How many can tell me one name of someone who has lost his or her life in Iraq? How many can name one person who has given their life so that we can continue living ours?

The sad answer is: almost no one. Unless someone personally knows a soldier, people don’t care. Unless the bombings or civil wars are in our homes, we could care less. We are more concerned with an ex-quarterback’s son and a 10-year-old murder case than the future of our country and our world.

In the last week, the Denver Post published more articles involving the keyword Ramsey and Karr than articles about Iraq, Mexico, Iran, Israel, Bob Beauprez, Bill Ritter, Syria and wiretaps combined. A murder case is apparently more important than war, civil unrest, personal rights or local elections.

This might be an exaggeration, but not much of one. People are much more receptive to news that is shocking, especially if they feel they have some sort of relation with the news. We read stories about Tom Cruise because, through his movies, he has become our friend. We read stories about Karr because we despise him. And we read stories about a tortured little girl because we don’t know better. The free press has become a tabloid occasionally covering something important on page three.

There are three reasons this has happened. The first is that the media is a business. They print what sells. The media sells advertising, and in the end it all comes down to ratings and circulation numbers.

The second reason is that through companies like Time Warner, Disney, CBS and Viacom, our press has become consolidated. Almost all newspapers and TV stations are part of a large corporation, and large corporations have agendas. No matter what policies and regulations are in place, corporate policies affect the media. If a story conflicts with a company’s policies, it is less publishable.

The third reason is that the media has stopped covering the media. When false stories are published, no one checks their credibility. We just assume they are factual. Jayson Blair at the New York Times published completely made-up information for years without being caught.
So the question remains: who’s at fault and what should be done? Has the press purposefully deceived us? Do we not care at all about important issues? Has big business ruined the media? Is the media just plain sloppy?

The answer is that there is no concrete answer. However, it is clear that it would be foolish to put the burden of this problem on one set of shoulders. The media would never purposefully deceive the American people, just as Americans know the importance of Iraq, Israel and Iran. Big business has never intended to influence their newspapers. These things are not intentional, but they are happening.

Thankfully, people can inspire change. When the news covers something irrelevant, don’t read it. Take the time to write an editor and explain that your real interests were on page three. When voting, pay attention to laws that concern the formation of media conglomerates. Finally, give the finger to magazines that publish celebrity trash.

We need to watch the BBC, subscribe to nonprofit journals, and stop buying into infotainment crap. The press is a business and they do what sells. If people change, so will the press. God bless.