News As Infotainment

Charlie Brooker hit the nail on the head with his take on the mainstream news which, in my opinion, is colossal mindfuck. No matter where you go in the U.S, you can switch from channel to channel & invariably find pretty much the same style of news reporting: Irksomely chatty newscasters hyping some decontextualized event & minutes later, over-emoting over some 'human interest' story, taking ad-libbing to nauseating heights. Sometimes I catch myself with my mouth wide open at a loss for words for what is passing as news - & why does the weather reporting have to be so hi-res & repetitive? Unless something dangerous is heading our way, a simple snapshot of the day's/week's weather will do. We don't need to know your dog's name, Doug, just the bare facts.

Many of us have long left the plantation & acquire our news from multiple sources. As one study on the mainstream media established recently, the more you rely on the mainstream news outlets for your news "hit", the less you know (another interesting study found that the sexier the anchorwoman, the less male viewers remember!). One of the key ingredients of manufacturing consent is diverting people's interest and attention away from issues about which they could become concerned. Do yourself a favor: question more & seek alernative sources.


OneLove


:::MME:::