In 2007 it was noted that there were over 6580 daily newspapers, a staggering 395 million copies sold each day. Now I don’t know about you but that is a whole lot of news. A stark contrast to Ancient Rome, where official government announcements were carved into either metal or stone and left in public places for all to read. We can argue that the first true ‘newspaper’ was the handwritten avissi that were circulated in Venice in 1556, monthly. Prior to the days we have mislabeled ‘modern times’, most people just wandered around in a clueless haze about the state of the world. I suppose trying to stave off the Plague, Inquisition, wars with pointy swords and the ransacking of whole cities, subsistence living and the extremely low levels of literacy probably played a large part in creating this state of affairs. Still, I have to wonder if these pre-modern individuals weren’t happier than us in our media saturated lives.
So here we are. All the news of the world sitting around the corner at the newstand, or merely a mouse click away. It is marvellous, it is wonderous, a piece of human ingenuity that clearly displays are superiority over the beasts of the field and the wilds. Then we have the News of the World. Well, we had the News of the World. The phone hacking scandal has seen those doors slam shut so hard that it nearly roused Rupert Murdoch from his vampiric slumber. As this news organisation is thrown on the pyre of public outrage, you know that dozens of other news ‘gathering’ enterprises are busy deleting hard drives, destroying recordings and shredding paper in a demented fury. I would never be so brazen as to argue that the reason celebrities, murder victims, victims of terrorist attacks and the widows of slain soldiers had their phones hacked was because of our insatiable appetite to have the news, and all of the news, right now. I don’t think I need to.
Then, across the pond, we have twenty-four hour a day coverage of the Casey Anthony trial. Now I cannot say with one hundred percent clarification whether or not she is responsible for the death of her daughter, Caylee. My gut tells me one thing, but my head says I have to abide by the jury’s decision that she is not guilty. I might not be a pillar of wisdom, but I consider myself wise enough to know that not guilty does not necessarily mean innocent. Still, the news channels with their very toothy commentators tell me I should be outraged, that I should inflamed by the travesty of justice that saw Casey Anthony go free. Huh. Here I was thinking that the news is supposed to give the facts, rather than form my opinion for me. Maybe CNN needs to change its name to the Cable Opinion Network, goodbye FOX News and hello FOX Opinions (*idiotic ravings of lunatic hosts free of charge).
The News of the World phone hacking controversy, the Casey Anthony trial, and the royal visit to Canada and the US all seem to be more worthy of coverage than the fact that new country has joined the world. The Republic of South Sudan has joined the global community, a new country filled with the hope of a better life for its citizens. A new country, a back page story? A new country, an amusing side to end the evening news on?
Oh, well, nothing I can do about all of this. It seems I will just have to sit and sift through all the ridiculous, so-called news to find the things that truly matter. All I have to do to find the true news is endure articles about if Elvis still alive, how that woman who gave birth to that alien baby is doing, if purple really is the new black, how many psychics it takes to solve a murder, if those ghost hunters have found that undeniable truth of the paranormal, whether or not Donald Trump’s hair is real, and who really killed Michael Jackson. I have to chuckle as I think back to that early Ancient Roman news reporter. I wonder if he would have carved, “Caesar seen at the Grove of Dionysus!”, “Cyclops Sighted!”, “Ten Skin Tips From Venus Herself”, and “Brutus and Caesar – More than Just Friends?” onto those stone tablets? Would he have shaken his head if told to do so, and thought that the Roman Empire was heading for a fall?
haha this was really funny and i do agree with you whole heartedly. Imagine blaming the readers for their dirty deeds. I don’t see any reader sitting up and demanding any of this that we want more more and more… it’s their own appetites to sell sell and sell at no matter what cost… it sickens me to the pit of my stomache that they cross those boundaries… I hope those doors stay shut!