Tabloidization of modern 'news coverage'

I wasn't around for Walter Cronkite, but I do remember watching "World News with Peter Jennings" every night after dinner before going to bed. As I sit here I'm wondering if Mr. Jennings would be 'reporting' on the intricacies of Tiger Woods' love life. Like seriously? Why does this dominate a broadcast? Once it is clear that he doesn't have serious injuries, why then should we care or have to hear all the gory details about his various indiscretions. Now understandably there's a market for that sort of tabloid news, and it is on the 'E channel' on 'Access Hollywood' one of those types of shows or channels, but it does not belong on the front pages of newspapers or dominate broadcast news coverage.

There are real problems in this world, in this country and our own communities: poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, illegitimate wars and misguided policies guided by ignorance, neglect and abuse of power. Those in the mainstream media 'MSM' like to sneer and talk down about 'bloggers' but in reality we’ are more informed and provide a better platform for information than any 1 hr cable broadcast. I can predict every story the Keith Olbermann, Katie Couric or any other broadcaster is going to talk about on any given night. They need to stop being so predictable and tell us something we don't know. You talk about troops for Afghanistan, yet say next to nothing about the Afghan people and how they are affected. You do zero reporting about the random Afghanis rounded up and taken to Bagram AFB, the new Gitmo w/ more torture & zero accountability. Then we feign ignorance when (on the rare chance) a prisoner is released and they return to attack us, or how they may have sympathizers due to how we may be viewed as an occupying force? (Occasionally dropping bombs on villages or schools, ‘collateral damage of war’ if you will) The media glosses over the fact that we've been there (fighting, bombing) for EIGHT years now, like seriously, you claim we went there because of 9/11 but individuals attacked us not the entire country. There are men, women and children whose lives are just as meaningful and precious as American lives, but we discuss this country and its beautiful people in a vacuum, with no respect.

Why no respect? Look no further than the idea of "American Exceptionalism" and how we convince ourselves that our country is perfect, our entire way of life is the most desired and everyone wants to migrate here. I'm proud and happy to be an American, but I don't believe that that should make me or my country feel so superior to every other citizen of the world, no matter their country, friend or foe. That idea breeds an heir of hubris, and that can be dangerous, that sort of arrogance causes us to lose sight of the bigger picture, the bigger idea of humanity that is larger than the United States of America. Our interconnectedness with people from every village and tent, and house and skyscraper from around the world should be cherished, explored, and appreciated. We are all trying to figure out this thing called life; if our MSM did their job a little better than maybe we all could "make better sense of it all." We need a more educated public, as I said earlier there are major issues to be discussed and policies created, but we can't make decisions in a vacuum, we need a more informed and thoughtful discourse, not "we're gonna kill them over there so we don't have to do it here" (thanks GWBush), we must respect all of humanity and recognize and display that in our 'news coverage.'

J. Kelly