Being a news junkie in this era when news is available 24 hours a day is surprisingly difficult. Let me rephrase that. Being a news junkie with a brain in these times is difficult.
The problem lies in the fact that the news outlets have to make money. To make money, they have to sell advertising. To sell advertising they have to convince the advertisers that someone is watching. This means they have to get good ratings. Ratings equals advertisers equals money.
In order to get good ratings, the news companies have to keep big stories in front of people. This creates a new problem because on some days, there are not any big stories. But this does not mean they cannot fight for those ratings that they still need.
So when the big news does not exist, they create it. So we are back to my problem of being a news junkie with a brain. I want news, but I want news that is actually news, not some over-hyped, over-used and over-analyzed story that the cable hosts are delivering as though it is humans stepping foot on Mars.
The current over-cooked story is that of whether Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be a United States Senator. CNN's Roland Martin correctly stated the actual, constitutional requirements to be a US Senator. You, know, silly, unimportant things like minimum age and citizenship of the state you wish to represent, and...and...wait, there has to be more than that, right. Well, um, no. That's it.
But yet pundits abound with opinions about whether she is "qualified." Also most political pundits have a tone in their writing that states they hold the object of their piece in total, disgusted contempt.
After a while, this type of venom is hard to digest. But since I am a news junkie, I have to get my fix. However because the reporting quality is so bad, I switch the channel or look for another news site or blog to read.
Once in awhile I will find someone with sanity--usually not the interviewer but rather an interviewee--who states what I have thought all along. In the case of Ms. Kennedy, one analyst correctly stated that all of the media's opinions really do not matter in this issue. In this instance, the vacant senate seat will be chosen by the governor of New York, not by election. And it was quickly stated that the governor probably did not care about the press' opinions on the issue.
So once again, this is much ado about nothing. After this is settled, the press will move on to the next big story, whether real or contrived, and news junkies like me will watch until we turn away in disgust, knowing that we are a pawn in the 24-hour-a-day news game.
