With the passing of the Democratic National Convention last week, we may now move on to bigger and better things. History has been made, and we are all now living in one giant cliche.
Or so, at least, one might be led to believe by a variety of media outlets.
This is not to say that making history is not a wonderful thing, but it is important to remember that everything isn’t just about creating milestones and cracking ceilings and taking down walls. Metaphors are wonderful linguistic devices, but there’s real action at play in all that occurs.
We are contenting ourselves with soaring rhetoric, but without the grounding effects of gravity to bring us back down to the real world. It isn’t enough to demand change or equality or rights, we must make them a reality; actions do, in fact, speak louder than words. Change can be a wonderful thing, but change is a verb too — someone has to make the change.
We are living in an era of overblown graphics, overdone news anchors and outrageous sensationalism. This tendency favoring the “Story” comes at the expense of the “story.” We neglect the real and tangible implications of policy and current events in favor of better angles, more searing images and sales.
We’re on the edge of a precipice teetering precariously into the realm of picture books. Flowery images and SAT-quality linguistics are nice, but life isn’t one big vocabulary test.
When we say “fair and balanced,” we need fair and balanced. “All the news that’s fit to print” needs to include the mediocre but important news. The big business side of the media needs to be reigned in until it “regresses” to an acceptable level of public service. We didn’t get to where we are now by passing over the process and waiting for the outcome. We err gravely in doing so now.
In the end, the “Story” is important — but educating the people is even more so. The duties bestowed upon each of us as citizens of the United States demand more. We’re failing our forefathers, mothers and everyone in between. The time has come for us to demand that news coverage be informative, and that it teach us something more than the prevalence of marital infidelity in the governing ranks. The cleavage on the anchor should not be more of a newsworthy highlight than what happened in, on or around the Hill today. Whether or not Hillary Clinton shedding a tear calls into question her ability to lead should not trump the latest from Africa. The “human interest” stories should not overshadow the human rights violations worldwide.
Media moguls are apt to cry “Internet” when questioned about changing standards in the industry. The Internet as a dominant media source has been a self-fulfilling prophecy. When people no longer feel that they can rely on the evening news to provide the kind of in-depth and serious coverage of days bygone, they turn to the Internet. Blogs are nothing more than glorified opinion pieces with more showy graphics and less fact-checking.
The advent of technology has brought us to unthinkable new heights, but somewhere along the way we all got a little too engrossed in our iPods and “Die Hard” movies, and we missed the bigger picture.
With greater technology and global interconnectedness comes greater responsibility.
This comes in the wake of the Olympics in Beijing, where media censorship was brought to the forefront. When it becomes acceptable for Chris Matthews to discuss the “thrill going up his leg,” we may be going too far toward the other extreme.
We need to demand that news coverage return to a new standard of excellence and that the media go back to serving the people.
That, my friends, is a change we can believe in. Unfortunately, believing won’t be enough.