In discussing the issue of whether Chris Christi will run for president, Howard Kurtz on CNN pointed out the short attention span of the mainstream media (Reliable Sources 10/02/11). Bored with the current candidates, they seek something new. The goal of the corporate media is first and foremost to make money for the stockholders. As Kurtz later points out “ratings are a reality”. So what is the goal of the audience? Is it to be informed? Is it to be entertained? Likely some combination of both. I do not believe in criticizing the media, they are doing what we expect them to do. The problem is with the small mindedness of the audience.
Fight Small-Mindedness
It is time to seriously think about the way we think.
It will never do to critcize the small-mindedness of “people”. “People” are what they always have been. The media knows what sells. Why does most of the evening news have muggings, rapes and fires (my term for their content) as their lead stories? These, always have and always will, sell. If anything, as the media has become more corporate, It will seek to influence current events so that it will increase ratings. If you create artificial controversy rather than try to educate the public, you will get higher ratings. If you are not willing to criticize the media, then they will continue to entertain rather than inform. They are only beholden to shareholders.
Alan,
Thank you for your comment. While you may turn out to be right, the point of this Blog is to challenge the notion that “people” will always be small minded. I have no delusions as to the magnitude of the challenge, but I am so deeply convinced that this is a fundamental human issue that I consider even the smallest amount of progress to be worth the effort. We can criticize the corporate media all we want but because, as you point out, their goal is to make money for the stock holders, they will only change if rating go down. The more awareness “people” have of their own needs and goals, the more they will realize how poorly they are served by the current nonsense that emanates from the corporate media and demand change.
Jim
Great stuff, you hpeled me out so much!
That saves me. Thanks for being so snesilbe!