Friday, July 16, 2010

When the News Isn't Quite Newsworthy...

If you've ever read this blog, or even if you just know me, you're probably familiar with my general frustration with the media. Whether it's the general laziness I've seen in the mainstream media's not fact checking or at least providing counterpoint to outlandish political claims, or the media's unexplained fascination with so-called celebrities who do nothing celebrity-worthy, there's a reason I watch very little television and only listen to the radio for traffic reports.

I know, they're just doing their job. But here's why I am a bit frustrated.


The Un-Newsworthiness of the News
When I was putting out newspaper for the dog this morning (don't ask), a headline on the sports page caught my eye: Tiger Woods's on-course struggles may be rooted in his problems away from the game. At first I looked to see how old this newspaper was that I was putting out; after all, Tiger's problems started around Thanksgiving and he's been sporadically back on the tour for several months. But this story is from earlier this week.



Really? Is this still a story? Are there still people who think Tiger's struggles have nothing to do with the sinkhole his personal life has fallen into? How is this still newsworthy?


Relationships That Make You Go "So?"
The other story the media just can't get enough of this week is the engagement of Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston. On the surface, this isn't such a big deal: he is the father of her child, after all. But what ups the ante here is that Johnston bashed Bristol's mother like crazy following the 2008 election, even promising to write a tell-all book about the Palins.



Now they're back together. And while I know I shouldn't care, I can't help but believe all of this is somehow orchestrated by the Palins to keep Sarah in the spotlight (not that she doesn't do a good enough job of this by herself). And more than that, I don't understand why this really is news. Is there nothing else out there?

Well, nothing super earth-shaking in this post, just a rant. I can do that. It's my blog...

No comments:

Post a Comment