Spend 5 minutes with me and you’ll come to realize that I’m not the biggest fan of our mainstream media. Every time I talk to my mom she asks me if I read the Sacramento Bee, and I have to remind her that I don’t think it’s worth the paper it’s printed on (and hence, why I won’t link to it on my page, Google it if you wish). So there, there’s my opinion of our mass-fear-mongering-pandering-media.
And I’m being generous, by the way.
So if I’m really bored at work, I’ll visit a couple news sites. My favorite is the Christian Science Monitor (As I’ve stated before, yes, I’m an atheist, but I feel that the CSM does a great job at reporting the news, is as unbiased as they come, and does a great job about not talking about Britney - intelligently done news, if you will).
If I’m really bored, I’ll check CNN for the hell of it, and I whip myself mercilessly for going to such a vile site.
Today, as CNN's main stories include the devastation from China’s earthquake and the cyclone that ravaged Myanmar, I notice this new little icon next to some of the news stories.
What the hell is that? Click.
Awesome! Sign me up!
If THAT’S not stupid and pandering, I don’t know what is.
And I’m being generous, by the way.
So if I’m really bored at work, I’ll visit a couple news sites. My favorite is the Christian Science Monitor (As I’ve stated before, yes, I’m an atheist, but I feel that the CSM does a great job at reporting the news, is as unbiased as they come, and does a great job about not talking about Britney - intelligently done news, if you will).
If I’m really bored, I’ll check CNN for the hell of it, and I whip myself mercilessly for going to such a vile site.
Today, as CNN's main stories include the devastation from China’s earthquake and the cyclone that ravaged Myanmar, I notice this new little icon next to some of the news stories.
What the hell is that? Click.
...And then it takes you to a site in which you can BUY A T-SHIRT with the headline you just clicked on. No, I am not making this up. For $15 and $4.99 shipping and handling ($19.99 for the math challenged), I can be the proud owner of a shirt that says “Nude Model Tells Why She Bared All – I saw it at CNN.com, time/date” while there are people into the six and seven digits dead or missing right now. So I get to spend money (which may or may not be from my rebate check bribe) to wear a shirt to floss a website that keeps me following the masses like sheeple do?
Awesome! Sign me up!
If THAT’S not stupid and pandering, I don’t know what is.
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8 comments:
That's weird.
I agree on the mass media - owned by corporate entities whose objective is making money, not quality journalism.
One of my favorite independent media outlets is democracynow.org
I've been watching them for years - found their broadcast by accident on a local college station. I watched them almost daily until 2005ish. Since then I have been burned out, and now only tune in occasionally. But I heartily recommend for a good daily overview, and great interviews with interesting people...
@_@ I have to collect them all! lol.
I might buy one if it was a headline about me...lol....and then again, I might not. lol.
I'm not from the US so I'm unaware as to CNN's abbreviation but I'm guessing it's probably Crappy Nuisance News - am I close?
The mainstream media seems to have moved from self-referencial to masturbatory ...
I prefer The Onion's t-shirts.
mike - I too like Democracy Now and used to watch it on cable access when we had it. Thanks for the reminder of another good source of "real" news.
garrett - A fool and his money will soon be parted.
Stuart - CNN is for Cable News Network. Their big break was during the first Gulf War - they had reporters in Baghdad during the American bombing campaign. But your guess at what the acronym stands for is fairly accurate.
Ann - Your comment made me nearly pee myself. So true.
spelled with - I always forget about The Onion. going over there now.
Love this post. Love your blog, in fact. I just discovered it today by looking through blogs of people who have tried the deodorant stone. I guess I'm sticking with my old, toxic antiperspirant. Perhaps I can get a CNN shirt to sweat on. So you can get ANY headline? I'm trying to imagine people walking around with headlines about the Austrian guy who imprisoned and raped his daughter or other atrocities. Weird. The Onion is fabulous.
I always find something interesting over at ProRev.com
(Little Rupert and his ilk can kiss my sack.)
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