Anna Nicole Smith's Death

Anyone who's got a television or radio can attest to the virtual non-stop coverage of the death of our beloved wannabe starlet, Anna Nicole Smith. Now don't get me wrong, I feel for the tragedy that has befallen her, her son, and her young motherless daughter. The whole story is sad. However, does it warrant the attention it has gotten and continues to get? Aren't there more important things to cover that are newsworthy?

"Leave it to a crotchety old man on CNN to sum up how 95% of American news reporters felt last week. There's about 353 more important stories yet most channels had round the clock coverage on Anna Nicole Smith's death. I guess I can understand CNN and MSNBC, but when the Weather Channel had a roundtable discussion, that went going overboard." (Celebslam - http://www.celebslam.com/jack-cafferty-is-a-dick )

Nah, I don't think there's enough coverage. More Anna Nicole!

It's All About Perception!

Last year, I was finishing up my studies at SUNY Stony Brook with my Master's Project Seminar (more commonly referred to as a Master's Thesis). I had expected to have to write about my profession (teaching) which would have been boring for me, but as I was in a Liberal Arts program, I was told that I could write about anything that interested me. Well, ever since the presidential election of 2000, I've been somewhat scrutinous of the administration and how I felt people are persuaded into forming opinions based on sensationalism and partisanship as portrayed through media outlets.

So I began some intense, thorough research on the media and how it affects people's perceptions of the world. I think Americans take for granted that the news is the news and accept what they hear and read at face value. What many people don't realize is that what and how we digest news is decided upon by fewer and fewer people, many of whom share in the shared agendas.

My project, entitled "What Happened to the News?", got great reviews from both my professor and fellow students. It was entered into a competition for best written project seminar. (I have yet to know how it fared!) The process of writing this essay angered me and got me to thinking of all the crap out there that goes on in the world and how the media shapes what we see and what we don't see.

What I hope to do here is compile a list of my rants. Things that really bug me. The solution to staying informed, as proposed in my thesis, was to advise people to go out and get their news from various sources, not to just listen or read and accept what is given to them as important. The blogosphere is a great place to hear and share ideas about anything out there. So, I hope some of what I say here resonates. It is my attempt at news based on what I think is a unique perspective.

I appreciate any commentary you might want to share.