It’s been said that the Internet is the greatest source of mis-information known to mankind. Generally, I’ve taken this with a grain of salt. I certainly don’t believe everything I read on the Internet and I try to verify “facts” that look suspicious. When I get those “warning” emails from panicky friends about the latest killer computer virus or that urban legend warning of the dangers of kidney removal, I go straight to sites like symantec.com or snopes.com to see if they are indeed true. You should too.
I’m starting to think that the biggest problem facing us in the modern world is the mainstream media. I’ve used msnbc.com as my home page for many years now because it is fairly free of pop-ups and I can configure it to present local news fairly easily. Up until today, I was happy with this arrangement.
Then, I’m looking at the site this morning and the biggest headline is a “story” about the mother of octuplets and the interview she gave to Ann Curry of NBC. The second biggest was a mea culpa from Christian Bale regarding his tirade on the set of the latest Terminator movie. In the vernacular of online communication, WTF!?!?!?!?!?!
The U.S. is in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, massive layoffs are being announced every day, we have a new President battling to enact his promise of change, and global warming is on the verge of turning Nova Scotia into a beach resort. And the “biggest” story is about a woman who now has 15 children? Has the world gone mad?
I like getting my news via the internet where I can choose what to read and watch. I like human interest stories. I even like stupid entertainment gossip. But when these are the featured stories that grab the prime spots on a webpage, what does this say about the level of disdain that the media holds for the public? Do they think (and is it true?) that the public is so simpleminded that this meets the requirement of informing us?
Most people are pressed for time and can only read a few things a day. When this tripe is proffered as the “news”, what do they expect? When people only read non-news stories, how can they possibly be expected to know enough to make an intelligent choice on a ballot?
I don’t know about you but I’m switching my homepage today. I don’t know where I’ll end up but it certainly won’t be msnbc.com. I’ll keep you posted on what I find. In the mean time, let me know what you have as a homepage and what you think about this situation.
So That's Life?
I Don’t Need No Doctor
02/07/2009It’s been said that the Internet is the greatest source of mis-information known to mankind. Generally, I’ve taken this with a grain of salt. I certainly don’t believe everything I read on the Internet and I try to verify “facts” that look suspicious. When I get those “warning” emails from panicky friends about the latest killer computer virus or that urban legend warning of the dangers of kidney removal, I go straight to sites like symantec.com or snopes.com to see if they are indeed true. You should too.
I’m starting to think that the biggest problem facing us in the modern world is the mainstream media. I’ve used msnbc.com as my home page for many years now because it is fairly free of pop-ups and I can configure it to present local news fairly easily. Up until today, I was happy with this arrangement.
Then, I’m looking at the site this morning and the biggest headline is a “story” about the mother of octuplets and the interview she gave to Ann Curry of NBC. The second biggest was a mea culpa from Christian Bale regarding his tirade on the set of the latest Terminator movie. In the vernacular of online communication, WTF!?!?!?!?!?!
The U.S. is in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, massive layoffs are being announced every day, we have a new President battling to enact his promise of change, and global warming is on the verge of turning Nova Scotia into a beach resort. And the “biggest” story is about a woman who now has 15 children? Has the world gone mad?
I like getting my news via the internet where I can choose what to read and watch. I like human interest stories. I even like stupid entertainment gossip. But when these are the featured stories that grab the prime spots on a webpage, what does this say about the level of disdain that the media holds for the public? Do they think (and is it true?) that the public is so simpleminded that this meets the requirement of informing us?
Most people are pressed for time and can only read a few things a day. When this tripe is proffered as the “news”, what do they expect? When people only read non-news stories, how can they possibly be expected to know enough to make an intelligent choice on a ballot?
I don’t know about you but I’m switching my homepage today. I don’t know where I’ll end up but it certainly won’t be msnbc.com. I’ll keep you posted on what I find. In the mean time, let me know what you have as a homepage and what you think about this situation.
Posted in Blogroll, commentary | Tagged media | 2 Comments »