What really matters to society? Is it this looming "fiscal cliff?" What about the constant attention given to celebrity marriages, pregnancies, legal troubles, wardrobe mishaps, fat/thin photos, the sex videos nobody knew were being created for sales later on, etc... This is where digital media has taken us. Printed media takes a different approach for the most part. Printed media, instead of headlining celebrity trash, what we have is one headline after another detailing us about each and every murder that took place in the late night hours where most sane people were tucked into their beds fast asleep. My local paper does me the pleasure of breaking the paper down into sections so as to not confuse me when I try to decipher where the given crime was committed. Section A is a national portion of the paperletting me know the criminal happenings throughout my entire state as well as nationally and internationally.
Then we have the Metro section. Yes, this is the section detailing crime in my back yard. The sirens I heard the night before are explained here. Finally, tucked into a corner of a page here and there or on the back page in a small spot otherwise reserved for some obscure add for a tobacco store or liquor store, is an article designed to give a warm an fuzzy feeling despite the previous 6-8 pages of doom and gloom. These small articles are what should really matter. But after reading everything else, is there function fulfilled? Not really. Why aren't these stories first? For reasons cannot seem to grasp, digital and printed media place more importance on heartbreak and tragedy as opposed to compassion and triumph. Show us headlining photos of a child holding up a reward earned in school instead of some spoiled celebrity walking down a red carpet as though they just found a cure for cancer. Show me a picture of a middle class family and the modest home they earned instead of a million dollars home some rapper bought and will likely never live in. Why do we care. Other than envy. We don't look at these photos and stories and say how proud we are that they finally made it to the big time. It's human nature. We are envious and jealous. Period. We create these people. We buy there labels because of the name. Not the quality. Many of us live vicariously through the celebs by toting their bags, wearing their clothes, spraying on their perfume that they had absolutely nothing to do with creating. Like there s a celeb out there that has an IQ big enough to offer any input other than to say " that smells good or that looks good on me!" We make them rich. Richer than our wildest dreams. Blame ourselves for not focusing on what really matters. More to come. I need to calm down fr now!
