| | Here's a test. Read the headlines below, and tell me what newspaper you think they came from:
18-wheeler falls off ramp onto car
Newborn falls through train toilet onto tracks
Bees attack pair as TV station tapes it
'Sleazy outcome' from TV show confessions
'Dumb as bricks' robbers target biker meeting
House full of feces, filth may be leveled
Teen suspended for selling fancy sammies
Bill Gates sets up his own LinkedIn profile
Treasure hunters dig for Hitler's gold
'Doomsday' seed vault opens in Norway
Watch a swimsuit model get her body painted
If you guessed "National Enquirer" or "Star" you would probably be in the majority. But no, these are in fact headlines from www.cnn.com right at this very moment. The top 6 in fact are considered so important that they appear at the top of the page. I remember as a kid, when the news came on, I was bored. But, at least it was about actual important stuff, like the toppling of the Berlin wall. Now everytime I read the news it's like watching an episode of that show where they show horrible things happening to people, what's it called, "MAXX"?, mixed with Access Hollywood.
My favorite headline is the last one. It's like, they got lazy and couldn't think of something sensational or controversial to write and were like, "ok hmm what to write.... i know, swimsuit model body painting! yup thaaat's good enough" *patting self on back*. If it were me though, I would have gone with "Swimsuit model body painting incites outrage in Muslim extremist groups: 'There will be more blood ' (click to view video)" C'mon cnn.com, at least give me 50% real news. I mean, I probably won't read it, but at least it will make me happy to know it's there. And by real news, I don't mean the latest "Hilary says Obama smells like Soul Glo, Obama camp furious" type of news.
So who's to blame for the ridiculous state of journalism these days? A lot of people would blame the media but actually it's us. The 20-30 year olds who get their news off the internet. We're the ones that visit break.com daily to look at the latest "double backflip off roof ends badly" video and then go to tmz.com, or perezhilton.com to read "Britney forgets children in Burger King bathroom, crotch shots after the jump". These sites are being propelled to record profit levels while real news sources such as the NY and LAtimes are having to cut staff just to stay in business. The sites that cave in to the ADD shock hungry crowd like cnn.com and fox news are the ones that manage to ride the wave into profitability.
So what can be done about the downward spiral of journalistic integrity? I don't know, I'm no guru, but maybe we should buy a newspaper once in a while, and no People and Us Weekly don't count. And while you're at it, read a book son!
Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my daily visit to http://icanhascheezburger.com
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| | Posted 2/28/2008 12:09 PM - 131 Views - 8 eProps - 4 comments
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