Thrill of the Blunt

Alright Mac, I'm locked and loaded and ready for another rip session on the media, yes, just what you were waiting for (This is just proof to all you doubters that I do take my fan mail seriously, deathly so). Today's topic of choice is about our Media's ceaseless belief that we the viewers must have our daily dose of celebrity gossip or we'll jump ship and take our viewing services (and our .0000004 Nielsen share) to a news service where they now how to treat their customers right. Treat their customers to their daily Surgeon General's recommended allotment of the Hollywood night-life. It seems most news sources, both electronic, paper-bound, and radio-waved are more concerned with whether T.O. (that's Terrell Owens for those of you less acquainted with the sports world) and Dovovan McNabb are on speaking terms, or if Britney Spears named her son after an exotic bird or an ice-cream flavor. Look here Jake, if that's what I want to read about, I can go pick myself up a copy of Seventeen or Tiger Beat (on newsstands now). One high-profile web page felt it necessary to assign one of its breaking news headlines to a story regarding Lance Armstrong's dog and its recovery from heart surgery. This on the night Rita became a category five and news crews were covering live the emergency landing of an airplane. Priorities folks. As well, Recently ESPN just launched its newest program, ESPN Hollywood, a daily half hour program following the tabloid worthy encounters of today's athletes. Don't get me wrong, I understand that sports, music, and the rest of the entertainment industry offer an escape from everyday stress. And that's what people enjoy. They take pleasure out of partaking in a sport, listening to some great music, watching a movie or a game, etc. Not obsessing over Shakira's preferred hair-remover. If a player, director, musician etc. wants to explain their inspiration, process of creation, training methods, etc. or just express their opinions about something of importance, that's fine. Cover that media friends. One thing that I hadn't really considered until recently but was brought to my attention by an editorial I viewed, is something that irks me more than anything else about this. Every year hundreds of reporters die in the field, just trying to get a decent picture, shot, or story to depict a story as accurately as possible. More often that not these stories take place in turmoil stricken regions and unfortunately their stories are often cut down and shoved to the back of the burner, often in favor of your rocker of choice's club hopping tendencies. And while this may be slightly less depressing it's definitely not as interesting or important, and unless the story's on Courtney Love, the reporter didn't face any sort of peril to cover it. Well, sorry for the downer folks, my advice, go eat something labeled Hostess, it'll do the soul wonders. Tune in next week for something a little more user-friendly.