Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Power of the Twit

I've about given up on the TV "news" media as a source of information. I used to watch just to get a feel for what was happening around the world, but lately everything seems to be driven by the latest UTube vid or Twit. I remember when the lunatic fringe only got published in the letters to the editor, and only if they weren't too far out there, or in publications like The National Enquirer. It was funny to read, but no one (at least no one I knew) took it as true. Now they make the Headline News, and every major TV or print news organization feeds off the stream of instant, sensational twittering of the loud, and the loony, passing their rantings and ramblings off as being news worthy and representative of public opinion.

There are real stories out there that need to be told. There are real issues people need information about and a real need for public debate and problem solving. Unfortunately the twits and the fear mongers have the ear of the media right now and nothing else is making it through.

4 comments:

Daphne Gould said...

Sadly news programs are driven by ratings too. Sensational seems to sell. I'm not quite sure what drives our society sometimes. Reality TV (which isn't reality) reigns and sensational news has taken over.

Anonymous said...

Exactly my train of thought -- those stories that beg to be told about real people, with real problems, aren't sensational enough...ergo, don't do enough for ratings. Journalism as a whole has sunk to a new level, IMHO. (Loved your title, though!)

Unknown said...

LOL! I love this title.

jack-of-all-thumbs said...

If I, as a mid-fifties Southern male, use the web as my source of 'truth' then basic demographic math tells me there is hope; the next generation WILL be (or already is) better informed.

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