sorry media, you FAIL
this might piss a lot of people off. or it may yield several "i agree with you" responses. we shall see.
i am very disappointed with the media (not only mainstream) right now. not only was 95% of the "news" last night related to michael jackson's death (with the other 5% divided between farrah fawcett's death and a drop of real international news), but i just heard that some networks canceled their prime time programming tonight to cover the jackson death.
i know that mj was/is the "king of pop." trust me. i get it. i was born in the 70s. much of my early childhood was spent in my friend suzanne's basement listening to the hits such as "thriller," "bad," and "beat it." i have my jackson memories too. but what i will never understand is how this story (and other stories like it) always take ALL precedence over any other news. i understand that the death needs to be covered. it is news. however, i find the amount of time it's receiving to be asinine. it's not like nothing else is happening in the world at the moment. i am especially upset that many media outlets have chosen to cover the jackson death while just "passing over" the situation in iran. in the grand scheme of things, what is happening in iran is (i am sorry jackson fans) much more important and relevant to the "news" than the jackson death.
this is a perfect example of why i generally loathe pop culture. for what it is, it often consumes more time and energy that it is worth. i feel the same way when congress wastes its time hearing testimony from baseball players about steroid use (come on, aren't there more important issues that need to be tackled??). i also feel the same way when beauty pageant contestants make headline news for saying stupid shit. the situation in iran, the economy, health care, clean energy, equal rights... these are all stories that are rapidly changing, yet the media chose (and is choosing again) to make the death of the king of pop (ie a pop culture icon) not only its headline story, but really the only story.
while i agree that jackson's death was untimely and out of the blue, and while i grew up in the era of "bad" and "thriller," i think in terms of importance and news worthy-ness, the death of neda should take precedence. and then there's heath care, north korea, clean energy, gay marriage, and the list just goes on and on...
i am very disappointed with the media (not only mainstream) right now. not only was 95% of the "news" last night related to michael jackson's death (with the other 5% divided between farrah fawcett's death and a drop of real international news), but i just heard that some networks canceled their prime time programming tonight to cover the jackson death.
i know that mj was/is the "king of pop." trust me. i get it. i was born in the 70s. much of my early childhood was spent in my friend suzanne's basement listening to the hits such as "thriller," "bad," and "beat it." i have my jackson memories too. but what i will never understand is how this story (and other stories like it) always take ALL precedence over any other news. i understand that the death needs to be covered. it is news. however, i find the amount of time it's receiving to be asinine. it's not like nothing else is happening in the world at the moment. i am especially upset that many media outlets have chosen to cover the jackson death while just "passing over" the situation in iran. in the grand scheme of things, what is happening in iran is (i am sorry jackson fans) much more important and relevant to the "news" than the jackson death.
this is a perfect example of why i generally loathe pop culture. for what it is, it often consumes more time and energy that it is worth. i feel the same way when congress wastes its time hearing testimony from baseball players about steroid use (come on, aren't there more important issues that need to be tackled??). i also feel the same way when beauty pageant contestants make headline news for saying stupid shit. the situation in iran, the economy, health care, clean energy, equal rights... these are all stories that are rapidly changing, yet the media chose (and is choosing again) to make the death of the king of pop (ie a pop culture icon) not only its headline story, but really the only story.
while i agree that jackson's death was untimely and out of the blue, and while i grew up in the era of "bad" and "thriller," i think in terms of importance and news worthy-ness, the death of neda should take precedence. and then there's heath care, north korea, clean energy, gay marriage, and the list just goes on and on...