Perspective
This is a humanitarian tragedy.
This is not.
Nor is this.
Today is Thanksgiving Day. And as the relatives drive you crazy, or the turkey is too dry, or the gravy has too many lumps. Or Uncle Herman makes an inappropriate comment about silicone breasts. Or Dad falls drunkenly into the mashed potatoes on his plate (don't laugh . . . a friend of mine's mother once fell face first into her bowl of soup while drunk and nearly drowned . . . she then entered A.A.). Keep perspective in mind.
I have been amazed at the way the media will fall over itself when a single man or woman hits bottom, has a downfall, goes on a rant. To take nothing away from the ugliness . . . everyone who has visited my site HAS to know by now where I stand on compassion, so racism and bigotry makes me sick . . . it's just one jackass making a huge mistake. It may be symptomatic of a bigger societal problem at large, but get real. Front-page news?
When was the last time it was FRONT-PAGE news how many children go to bed hungry in this country? How many are beaten by their parents and remain in danger? How many are abused, neglected, and so on? When was Darfur front-page news? The fact that we're the wealthiest country on earth and not all our children are innoculated? (We have an abysmal record in medically underserved areas.) What about the homeless? It's only front page news when a hospital like Kaiser dumps them on skid row. The rest of the time, we pretend the homeless and mentally ill don't exist. Perspective.
I have seen these past two weeks--and didn't blog on it--a romance author ripped a new one by a number of sites because she dared to be honest about her expectations regarding her publisher and that they failed to meet them. The names she was called, all in the name of snark? Hurtful and unnecessary.
This should be a day of peace. A day of compassion. A day of gratefulness.
So as you break bread . . . perspective.
Keep the peace,
E
This is not.
Nor is this.
Today is Thanksgiving Day. And as the relatives drive you crazy, or the turkey is too dry, or the gravy has too many lumps. Or Uncle Herman makes an inappropriate comment about silicone breasts. Or Dad falls drunkenly into the mashed potatoes on his plate (don't laugh . . . a friend of mine's mother once fell face first into her bowl of soup while drunk and nearly drowned . . . she then entered A.A.). Keep perspective in mind.
I have been amazed at the way the media will fall over itself when a single man or woman hits bottom, has a downfall, goes on a rant. To take nothing away from the ugliness . . . everyone who has visited my site HAS to know by now where I stand on compassion, so racism and bigotry makes me sick . . . it's just one jackass making a huge mistake. It may be symptomatic of a bigger societal problem at large, but get real. Front-page news?
When was the last time it was FRONT-PAGE news how many children go to bed hungry in this country? How many are beaten by their parents and remain in danger? How many are abused, neglected, and so on? When was Darfur front-page news? The fact that we're the wealthiest country on earth and not all our children are innoculated? (We have an abysmal record in medically underserved areas.) What about the homeless? It's only front page news when a hospital like Kaiser dumps them on skid row. The rest of the time, we pretend the homeless and mentally ill don't exist. Perspective.
I have seen these past two weeks--and didn't blog on it--a romance author ripped a new one by a number of sites because she dared to be honest about her expectations regarding her publisher and that they failed to meet them. The names she was called, all in the name of snark? Hurtful and unnecessary.
This should be a day of peace. A day of compassion. A day of gratefulness.
So as you break bread . . . perspective.
Keep the peace,
E
posted by Erica Orloff at 6:59 AM
4 Comments:
Hi Erica:
This is really a sad commentary on our society in general, because the media only presents what sells. The buyers are the culprits, the ones who determine what gets put on the news. If people stopped caring about the latest celebrity gossip, it would disappear.
Stories about real tragedies of humanity half a world away just don't sell enough Twinkies. Very sad.
Amen to both Erica and Jude. THere is only one journalist in this country dedicated to covering the Darfur crisis on a regular basis, and that is Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times. (And he was recently lambasted by readers because he dared to "out" a woman who wrote him complaining that he should spend more time investigating the problems we have here at home.)
The media debate is the classic "chicken or the egg" question. Does the media create America's obsession with scandal and celebrity? Or does the media simply play into an existing voyeuristic hunger?
As a former newspaper reporter, I think it's largely the latter. I once wrote a very poignant front-page story about a teen homeless shelter that ran on Thanksgiving Day. I got letters from readers who were angry that I would dare to tarnish the front page of such a "happy" day with such a horrible story.
Want to REALLY rile up the masses? Eliminate the TV listings from the newspaper. You will NEVER see as many letters to the editor about any topic. (I know this, because I worked at a newspaper that tried this once.)
The media knows what sells -- and it ISN'T stories about Darfur. Indeed, a sad commentary on our society.
Louise
Well said, everyone.
Jude, Louise, Natalie . . .
Yes.
I love the reporting that he does, Louise. But I definitely pick and choose my media because otherwise, I would feed into a lot of crap--pure and simple. I follow the most urgent humanitarian issues, some politics, and science . . . but the negative garbage on celebs, divorces, and things like gay hatred and so on, I need a break from sometimes.
E
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