Hypocrisy, no, make that embarrassment to the journalism industry, no, make that entry of the year in the category of “Best Unintentional Comedy” – thy name is Katie Couric.
When you think that maybe she doesn’t run on batteries provided by the right wing talking points machine and that she actually has some constructive things to say, that fleeting hope that maybe, just maybe she won’t turn out to be a complete disaster of a train wreck – she shatters that image faster than Alberto Gonzales can forget everything he did related to the US attorney firings.
Her words were ones that are not foreign (by any means) to us – she talks about how people’s priorities are too often not where they should be (empahsis mine):
Pursuing something you love should be the first thing on your post-graduate to do list. But too often, that’s not what drives young people as they look at their life goals. According to a recent survey, many say their top two priorities are number 1, being rich, and number 2, being famous. Believe me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be … and I know Williams grads are smarter than that.
But thanks to self-made You Tube productions, and so-called reality shows like The Apprentice and Survivor, … fame, even the fleeting sanjaya-type, seems easier to attain, and more seductive, than ever.
The proliferation of celebrity magazines makes Lindsey Lohan’s latest stint in rehab seem more important than what’s happening in Darfur.
The kind of fluff that accosts us on the newsstand may seem like harmless fun, but it should also come with a warning label that says it can rot your mind and distort your values.
Well, how about that? Katie and I agree on something. Agree wholeheartedly on this. We are accosted with absolutely mindless crap that takes up way too much time, rots Murka’s brain and numbs them from the horrors that are occurring in Darfur. Or the lies of this Administration, the voter suppression by those who are now in our Justice Department and on the Federal Elections Commission. As well as the daily deaths and bombings – AND complete disaster in Iraq. Not to mention the economy, what is happening in Congress and in Afghanistan.
Good thing that Katie Couric happens to be in a bit of a position to do something about this. That she can use the platform she has as anchor of what has historically been the most venerable institution in US network news. So she can talk about the atrocities in Darfur, the killings in Iraq, the torture being carried our in our names, the ever increasing price of gas or milk, the shrinking middle class, the fearmongering and lies being perpetuated by this administration and the events going on in the world and our country which shape our daily lives.
Right?
Right?
Um……. not so fast.
Seems as though Katie couldn’t resist that mind rotting, values distorting fluff:
On Thursday night, the CBS Evening News’ top story was Bush and Putin discussing missile defense, to which the network devoted two minutes and 35 seconds. The next longest item was Paris Hilton’s release from jail, which garnered two minutes and 25 seconds.
During the half-hour broadcast, the Paris Hilton “news” got more coverage on CBS than a roadside bomb killing a U.S. soldier, the immigration legislation, and passage of the stem-cell bill combined — times two.
Way to go, Katie. Twice as long on Paris Hilton than immigration, the latest killings of our troops in Iraq and the immigration legislation which Bush himself hoped would “save his legacy”. COMBINED.
You and your bosses at CBS Evening News have a lot to be proud of. Taking the mantle of journalism and smashing it to pieces. One broadcast at a time.
also in orange
strange times. This very evening the horse I am supposed to ride just before the Biblical Apocalypse was almost hit by a car. The offender was in fact caught and charged with numerous things including resisting arrest.
Anyway it is a long standing policy of the Lasthorseman to reward and promote all mentions of the retarded and or Satan inspired propaganda that comes out of MSM and it’s mind numbling effects. Sort of a shoot to kill policy if you will.
let me get this straight. The bimb spent over twice the amount of time on Paris as she did on a soldiers’ killing and other horrors in Iraq and Darfur.
Now, please correct me if i am wrong but didn’t the pig bastards on msnbc follow the car ala OJ forever? What- 30 minutes, more? what the hell.
Well, the bottom line is that if one wants to remain somewhat informed in this country, at this time in history, one had better count on the internet. And that may well go the way of the dinosours soon. So, if anyone wants to focus on Katie, go for it. Or, maybe, just maybe, the focus should be on what can be done to take back our- thats right, OUR networks.
These fuckers don’t own them- believe it or not- we do! Now thats a discussion that needs to be discussed and then acted on.
Infotainment indeed.
when she was on the Today show.
And remember the publicity photo retouching scandal?
There is no longer any news, just media. As the media is owned by fewer and fewer it stands to reason that it’s focus would get narrower and narrower. Religion is the opiate of the masses according to Karl Marx. While true as far as it goes that statement needs a corollary: television is the crack cocaine of Americans.
The purpose of media is not to inform citizens (which used to be the purpose of the press). The purpose of media is to distract citizens, to entertain, to make comatose, to divert from the real threats to their economic and social existence so that the owners of media can continue to drain America of wealth and hope. Media is the handmaiden of corporate welfare. It is the mouthpiece of American fascism. While the media from Couric to Olberman fiddles with their collective Johnsons over the fate of Paris, Rome burns and its citizens with it.