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The following was written by Robert Lott, president of the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce.
Thursday night (June 25), I tuned in to get my nightly news fix. All major networks, including cable news stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News,etc.) were providing nothing but celebrity death coverage (Michael Jackson)!
Non-stop, repetitive, no-news speculation. I went online to BBC to find out what happened in the world that day.
Kim Jon Il of North Korea had announced his strongest threat to date, Iran was in total shutdown with reports of massacre, terrorist bombings in Iraq were escalating, and we had an energy bill before the house that could drive the remaining manufacturing in this country abroad, and America is focused on the death of a celebrity. Walter Cronkite must be sjhaking his head side to side, and Charles Kuralt, Huntley & Brinkley, Peter Jennings are probably turning over in their graves.
At first I blamed the media, after all, they decide what news is worthy of coverage and they alone controlled the information stream to the masses. What had changed in the last fifty years?
Then, I realized the news used to be just that, the news. The evening news was a break from “entertainment” programming. A time to get serious, a time to look around and become aware of those things outside of our daily routine, which will have dramatic affect on our long term well being. That is the big change.
We used to choose our news network based on the personality of the news anchor, the news was generic. Then, the news itself became entertainment. Ratings are driven by viewership, viewership is controlled by the public, and the survival of the “show” is driven by the choices we make. Maybe the rating gurus are wrong, but they have evidently determined we would rather tune into non-stop repetitive coverage of a fallen celebrity than the hard news for the day.
So, we are to blame!
Have we become so complacent that we choose to be entertained 24/7? We have become so apathetic that we choose “Entertainment Tonight” over the “Evening News.”
Wake up America! Pay attention!
Don’t allow your world to change without your input. You can make a difference. Understand the issues and take a stand. E-mail, write, or call your elected officials and let them know how you feel. Do not allow the “vocal minority” to control your destiny.
Take a small portion of your time, away from the mind-numbing, constant barrage of drivel to educate yourself on the issues which will affect your life.
Together we can make a difference on the local, county, state and national level. Take control – get involved! Chances are, if you are reading this, you are already part of the solution and not part of the problem.
If so, recruit a friend, or better yet, two.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “We have the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen, as long as we remain honest -- which will be as long as we can keep the attention of our people alive. If they once become inattentive to public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors would all become wolves.”
Robert Lott can be reached at rwlott@cfl.rr.com