December 2, 2009
How is This Still News?
By: Elaine Levins
Since the morning after the White House State Dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the news has been flooded with speculation about the so-called White House "gatecrashers," Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Very little else about the event has been mentioned, and now the Salahi's are making the rounds on the morning shows, claiming that they were, in fact, invited, and had every right to be there.
Frankly, I don't understand why anyone cares. Obviously, they caused no actual harm to anyone at the party, and maybe this incident will lead to some increased security at this type of event. Surely it's an embarrassment to the U.S. Secret Service, but beyond the initial report of allegedly uninvited guests making it past White House security, there is nothing else about this that is newsworthy.
Then we have the reports about Tiger Woods' car accident in the early morning hours the day after Thanksgiving: original reports were that he crashed and his wife broke out the back window with a golf club to get him out of the car. Then the reports started surfacing that the role of the golf club was quite different. And, here we are, less than one week later, finding out about Tiger's numerous "alleged" extramarital affairs.
I get that this is interesting, and I'll admit to reading about it online. But the coverage of this has been ludicrous. Analysts are talking about how this will affect his image, his endorsements, his earning potential, etc. But the bottom line is this: if he cheated, he's a dirtbag. But he's a wealthy dirtbag, and quite frankly, his personal indiscretions are none of anyone else's business. And they're certainly not news.
Yet, last night President Obama gave a speech announcing that additional troops will be heading to Afghanistan. And they're heading there soon. In addition, he spoke about a timeframe for bringing troops home from both Afghanistan and Iraq. THIS IS NEWS! The media seems to forget that our soldiers are still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that we are spending billions of dollars on these military actions. Why isn't this getting more coverage?
I think it's a vicious circle. I often lament that our society is embarrassingly uninformed about what our government is doing, what's going on overseas, etc. And it would be easy to blame the mainstream media. But that's not really the whole story...
Let's face it: We're intrigued by the "tabloid" stories. The more salacious, the better. I'm as guilty of it as anyone. I read gossip blogs, and I read entertainment magazines - I call it my "brain fodder." But I also make sure to balance it with real "news" - keeping myself informed about what's going on in our country and our world. I remember in school, we used to talk about "current events" in class, and it always made me feel more connected to everyone around me. I doubt students talk about current events in classrooms anymore. That's a shame.
The media should be more responsible, reporting on the real issues that affect our society, our nation, and our world. But at the same time, we all need to make an effort to be more informed, and keep the media honest.
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