Friday, November 2, 2007

I know what is going on!

Some quick questions before I write this blog-

-Who are the top three presidential candidates for both the republican and democratic parties?

-Who jumped up and down on Oprah's couch?

-What brand of pizzas were recently recalled? Why were they recalled?

- Who decided to leave the underwear at home when going to a club?

How many of these questions could you answer? Chances are you could answer at least two, but ideally you'd be able to answer all four. As a nation we are becoming less aware of the news that is significant to us and instead are focusing on news that has no impact on our lives. Even the evening news anchors are telling stories about the latest Hollywood screw-ups right along side stories about the President.

Carl Bernstein, who is famous for the papers he turned over in the 70s concerning the Watergate scandal, recently spoke to a group of students concerning the news. He discussed the importance of actual news versus celebrity news. His concern is that journalists are spending too much time worrying about celebrities and their lives than they are worrying about important topics such as the war in Iraq. The blame cannot all be given to journalists however. They are only writing for their audience which seems to be more interested in the life of those living in Hollywood.


This was a short article, but definitely worth a read. I have posted the link below.
http://www.topix.net/content/ap/2007/11/reporter-bernstein-raps-celebrity-news

1 comment:

Brenna Ann Abel said...

Rachel-
I very much agree with you and Carl Bernstein. I realize that the news is turning to celebrity news and such to keep the public more interested, but it's having the reverse effect on me. I really don't care what Brittany's latest dumb idea was, let the poor girl be. Can't we all see that the media has messed her up enough the way it is? Our world today is filled with reality TV shows and getting the latest grub on a celebrity, when will our generation realize how pointless this is and start living our own lives? Let's get back to being an educated nation, and not on gossip.

-Brenna