During our class discussion on Thursday we started talking about the fact that news has become unpopular, and entertainment shows and gossip is now rules the airwaves. One comment was that we are so busy in our lives that all we want is to be entertained once we get home. This resonated with me because of the familiarity I have with this view. I find that within my family (namely my mother), the automatic response to "What do you want to watch" is "I'm in the mood for a No Brainer.”
Anyways, this got me thinking as to why my mother ALWAYS wants to watch no brainers (I'm not sure if this jargon is familiar to all, or just used in my family). I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of news and current affairs nowadays is negatively oriented. Who wants to watch an hour of television showing that there were 3 shootings, 4 robberies, and a flood in your town? That the school loans you took out for your kids are getting higher interest rates, and oh yah, another politician was caught in a scandal. Watching the news can be exhausting and depressing.
The consequences of this culture of sensationalism and scandal is breeding apathy. We are no longer concerned by the negative events in our lives because we are confronted by it constantly. News organizations want the next big scoop or scandal because our attention span has become shortened, we just don’t care to hear about it anymore. Should we blame people for wanting to bring laughter and comedy into their lives? For them to want to see an underdog succeed, or a unfortunate family get a house? Our entertainment has started to fill the social good 'gap' in our lives with programs like Extreme Home Makeover and American Idol. We see the good in people in these shows, unlike the news which is splattered with the worst in people.
I don't see this trend changing anything soon, do you?
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