Screwed

So, I’ve been thinking. If the commercialization, slipping standards, et al. of the media are as rampant as they seem, then incidental benefits aside, there ought to be a way to fix that. Problems are for solving, right?

Well, if there’s a problem that hasn’t been solved, you can bet it’s not because the solution is a piece of cake. The issue with our media, as best I can tell, is at heart a collective character flaw.

Not just with those creating, but – maybe even more so – with us. The consumers.

Media is much like nutrition. Despite the fact that we all know better, there’s a continuing demand for junk food. Nutritionally void, useless “food” sells in unparalleled quantity and for pennies, while healthy produce skyrockets in price and sits untouched on the shelves. Chain stores like TGIFriday’s and Applebee’s try again and again to add healthier options to their menus to accommodate a vocal contingent who plead for it, only to remove these items soon afterwards because they simply don’t sell.

Likewise, we’ve adopted an “I don’t hear you, la la la” attitude towards the ever more undeniable shortcomings of our media. Partisans read their publications (The New Republic vs. National Review, etc.), watch their networks (MSNBC vs. Fox News), and avoid at all costs considering opposing viewpoints. Tailoring their content to satisfy their consumers, these media skew stories and omit facts – It’s a slippery and predictable slope. We want our news fast, tasty, and appealingly packaged. News becomes "news."

So what’s to be done? Should all media be non-profit? In the hands of donors? The number of sources would be decimated, and, by virtue of being funded by a group of people with at least a substantial number of similar values (se also: PBS, NPR), the content would invariably still skew towards their preferences.

The only way I can see around this is for people to begin to patronize outlets that provide extra-dry, unbiased content. We consumers would have to step outside our comfort zone and demand, as one, that people stop telling us what we want to hear and start telling it like it is.

Yeah, we’re in big trouble, I think.

Cheers!