America Needs Some Classes In Media Literacy
First off, before I start ranting and raving, let me just say that Hillary was brilliant last night. Exactly what the Democratic Party needed. Strong, smart, funny, appealing - but most importantly - unifying. I know I have criticized her in the past for being polarizing, but in this case, she took one for the team, stood up there and did the right thing. Whether it got through to the Clinton supporters who are so disappointed that they feel they need to vote for McCain? I sure hope so. Because she is absolutely right. Are we voting for her, or her values? Because her values have always been very similar to Obama's. In fact, that was a central criticism all along - that they were too similar. So when I hear people jumping ship to McCain because Hillary didn't make it, I have to wonder how close their values were in the first place.
Now.
The media.
I will admit right up front I rarely watch TV. And when I do, it's usually garbage like American Idol. But here's the thing! I *know* it's garbage. When I am watching coverage of one of the biggest political events of the century (HELLO! We are about to nominate an African American man for Pressssidennntt!), I expect more. I expect better. I expect GOOD JOURNALISM.
Not the schlock I was seeing from every major channel as I flipped around with my remote last night.
I watched CNN give a weeping freakshow nearly 10 minutes to wail about how "presidential" Hillary Clinton was. A woman who not only was incoherent, but repeated herself at least 6 times and said basically nothing except Hillary should probably start looking for a restraining order against her.
I watched my local channel toss fluffball questions at our former Republican Governor Bill Owens and let him pretty much ignore the question asked and then go on a tirade of his own agenda for several minutes.
I watched them make insipid comments about how Bill Clinton had his "game face" on.
I watched them ALL - them ALL - struggle for things to say and keep repeating how important this night was. Like literally verbatim. "This is such a historic night and Hillary Clinton is about to give the speech of her life." Um, folks. There are 50,000 topics you could be talking about right now instead of just babbling on and on about NOTHING.
THIS is why I read my news on the internet.
THIS is why, when those talking heads babble on, I think about the media literacy we put into our anti-smoking campaigns at work, and apply it to the crap they say. Because only about 1/4 of it is worth anything.
Yes, sometimes I might be a bit naive because, yes, I do like to believe in the overall good of man.
But I also have to question their motives.
Now.
The media.
I will admit right up front I rarely watch TV. And when I do, it's usually garbage like American Idol. But here's the thing! I *know* it's garbage. When I am watching coverage of one of the biggest political events of the century (HELLO! We are about to nominate an African American man for Pressssidennntt!), I expect more. I expect better. I expect GOOD JOURNALISM.
Not the schlock I was seeing from every major channel as I flipped around with my remote last night.
I watched CNN give a weeping freakshow nearly 10 minutes to wail about how "presidential" Hillary Clinton was. A woman who not only was incoherent, but repeated herself at least 6 times and said basically nothing except Hillary should probably start looking for a restraining order against her.
I watched my local channel toss fluffball questions at our former Republican Governor Bill Owens and let him pretty much ignore the question asked and then go on a tirade of his own agenda for several minutes.
I watched them make insipid comments about how Bill Clinton had his "game face" on.
I watched them ALL - them ALL - struggle for things to say and keep repeating how important this night was. Like literally verbatim. "This is such a historic night and Hillary Clinton is about to give the speech of her life." Um, folks. There are 50,000 topics you could be talking about right now instead of just babbling on and on about NOTHING.
THIS is why I read my news on the internet.
THIS is why, when those talking heads babble on, I think about the media literacy we put into our anti-smoking campaigns at work, and apply it to the crap they say. Because only about 1/4 of it is worth anything.
Yes, sometimes I might be a bit naive because, yes, I do like to believe in the overall good of man.
But I also have to question their motives.
posted by Aimee Greeblemonkey at 11:03 AM
31 Comments:
Their motives are obvious: to project the access and cushy positions that earn them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. You can't speak truth to power when power signs your paycheck.
Re: TV, we've refused to get cable since moving to the new place. We'll watch shows we love on the Internet, and otherwise stick to the Wii and DVD for our entertainment. Given that both my wife and I work from home, not having the TV on regularly is a godsend.
Those occasions when I have tuned in to network news via the Web, I have to agree with you - it's been atrocious.
Watching that lady on CNN was PAINFUL.
Americans need to learn to question. While Hilary's speech was good, I see nothing wrong with questioning her motivation for making this type of speech (or having it written for her). Are her crowd-pleasing quotations sincere, or are they there to advance her own standing after all the bad publicity she has been having? I think we should then question the networks and the anchor people. Why should I be listening to them? Aren't they the ones drumming up drama between Obama and Clinton so they can make a boring convention more exciting and get more viewers -- and enhance their own careers? And now that bloggers are considered part of the media, I think we should question them as well... even our own friends. Are those bloggers who are live-blogging from the convention doing it because of their commitment to change, or helping their peers to see historic events, or is this just a career move so they can network with others at some party and get a job with a magazine?
We really don't know. But part of our role is to question government AND the media telling "the story."
All good points!
yes, always ask why.
Note: Following comment is written with the friendliest and happiest of tone. No attacks or evilness is intended or implied.
Not just question, but search for answers too. Asking questions if fine and dandy, but if it stops there, it doesn't really do much. Ask a question, listen to responses, come to a conclusion, and then be ready to revise that conclusion when new information is available.
When exactly did it become a horrible thing to change your mind about a topic you learned more about? Why is it bad to LEARN about something, and form a more informed opinion?
Critical thinking skills seem to have dropped off (I slack off way too often myself). I think we have fallen into the trap of finding how to come up with the answer that the teacher, boss, or authority figure wants to hear instead of really thinking about a topic. That's 100% how I got through school. Sound familiar? Were you encouraged to argue with your teachers?
It is easy to hear a statement and accept it as truth. "They are on TV. They couldn't say that on TV if it wasn't true." Sure they can. If no one disputes a lie, falsehood, or exaggeration, it eventually sounds true and in effect, becomes truth to a large part of the population.
Yikes, I'm starting to rant like the old Dennis Miller before he was absorbed by the Monday Night Football Borg. Minus all the obscure literary and cultural references, of course.
I could be totally wrong about this, so take it for what it's worth. And pay attention to all the great CG work that is going on in commercials these days! It's awesome!
AMEN!
Last night was painful and the local channels who should have had a corner on the story were acting like this was a sporting event. Eventually I turned it off and came back just for Hilary's speech.
Homer and I like to see who can find the most spelling and grammar errors in the local papers - there are plenty of them. And then there are the headlines that make no sense. perusing the reader commentary on the Post's website tells all. Those of us with any journalism sense at all know that the MSM is a big joke.
Neil - I agree 100%
That's why we love PBS and NPR.
On CNN, I couldn't stand all the cuts from HRC speaking to Michelle Obama watching. Way to trump up a fake catfight.
Bryan - I had one of those rare teachers. He would play devil's advocate and get the students riled up enough to really THINK about their beliefs. It was my first introduction to things like Existentialism and I cannot thank him enough.
I'm proud to be an independent thinker (and voter) and watch out world, because I am raising my son to think for himself too. Religion, politics, pop culture, media - every one of them would have us on the bandwagon that they are driving. I want my son to know better.
excellent point about hillary supporters, AND, i didn't watch much CNN last night, but the bit I did had that woman on, and she was AWFUL and illspoken and PUH-LEEZE... "oh, Obama hasn't courted me enough and so I won't vote for him" Get over yourself. It's not about YOU. It's about our country. Don't expect the next president of the united states to send you flowers. do you like what he stands for or not? will he be a good leader or not?
yes, the media has been really annoying about this whole thing
Maypole, I love that! "Don't expect him to send you flowers!"
And check out my hubby Bryan, voicing his opinion on my blog! Rock it!
And one more thing on Neil's point. Here when I talk about Hillary I try to make it clear it's my opinion. But he is totally right that there are a new form of media within blogosphere and they need a critical eye just as much, or even more so, than traditional media.
I too get all my news from NPR and occasionally online. Oh yeah, and Jon Stewart. I can't stand to watch the news. I can't stand it. Good points all. These Clinton supporters who aren't voting for Obama make no sense to me. But that's me. I used to watch and get so caught up and upset. And now I find it a waste of my time. I know who I want to vote for. And I know why. I don't need to hash it out with the news media. Incidentally, I had some good teachers that encouraged debate, but it's the one guy who totally shot me down for making a comment that he didn't feel was worthy of his class that really stuck with me. Damn shame, that.
I rarely watch tv news for what you have described here, dear Aimee. It SICKENS me that we no longer - did we ever? - have even somewhat objective and intelligent news coverage. I wonder sometimes if this isn't why our schools suck - because people who control the information think that the general masses don't have a brain...so why should our children have brains? Oy, don't get me started.
And well said about my girl, HRC. I think she hit it out 'o the park. I think her supporters who don't get behind Obama are clearly without brains. This HRC supporter is clear: OBAMA-BIDEN!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I missed all the fun--I did not watch last night. I was going to read the news online and get a summary of what took place.
Very interesting post!
I tend to watch a lot of tv programs with closed-captioning turned on and thus I read it. I feel like I can distill the words and remove the tone of voice, the hype, etc., and focus on what the message really is - or isn't.
Bryan - fabulous input.
Great idea re: Closed Captioning, Tree!
C-SPAN has a feed from the convention with no commentary. I highly recommend it.
Very true. I am an AVID Hillary supporter. I wrote a post about my feelings on the situation this past week. However, I would NEVER vote for McCain. I think democrats need to be strong and united.
She was wonderful last night. I admire her so much. Go Obama!
I love Neil's comment.
Why you would expect 'good journalism' now is beyond me... there is always an agenda.
We have no TV since July, but I do believe that it has become the new "opiate of the masses", which is how Bush won the last election.
We gave up TV for the summer. Best thing we ever did! I've been listening to NPR, reading the paper more and surfing the web for news and I think I'm so much more informed. The TV "news" channels are garbage, pure and simple.
we agree, everyone!
Great commentary and observation Aimee. Now without Tim Russert, I avoid TV unless it is intended to amuse me.
Gah! This is why I can't even watch CNN anymore.
We watched the PBS coverage. It was a bit more palatable. I never watch CNN unless someone has a gun to my head.
I thought it was a good speech from Hillary Clinton, but not riveting. The pundits up here are all saying that the split b/w the hardcore HRC supporters and Obama supporters is too deep to be mended.
I hope not. I couldn't imagine voting for McCain just because my candidate didn't win the nomination.
I completely agree. I spent a lot of the time watching the "news" coverage thinking, Seriously? Are they still yammering on about nothing? MOVE ON PEOPLE.
There is little more that could be added on the matter. Well said, Aimee.
I swear they had better commentary during the Olympics.
NPR and PBS anything else doesn't warrant a mention. I love watching politicians being interviewed here in the UK where they are actually badgered until they answer(or actually say they will not answer) the question! The first time I saw it I almost fell to the floor in shock!
First - way to go Declan w/soccer!
Second - I loved Hillary Clinton's speech about voting for the shared issues and not the person, or the woman (although I would have loved to see her go all the way). History is being unfolded before our eyes in more than one way and I don't want it tainted with the crap the media spins. So I watched the speech and then I turned it (the tv) off. And spent the day with the public station on the radio playing jazz - I'll catch Obama somewhere here, in the internet and hopefully not be annoyed with anyone's criticism of his use of columns for the stage - gimmee a break!
I so agree. And what was really maddening was how many interesting speakers were left to wallow in the background while these idiots talked amongst themselves. I really wanted to hear some of the "real people" on the schedule - the stay at home mom, the single working mother, the former republican who switched camps, the military members, etc. NONE of them were covered on network or cable. How rude.
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