NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Including Friday’s Feast. Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my daily Diary post. Have you noticed how quickly the Burma Cyclone disaster has gone from the news? Of course, this was inevitable as soon as the China earthquake struck. But what does this say about the news?
Well, seeing that people are still dying in Burma, and the Junta is still pretty uncooperative, it says that the news isn’t an accurate portrayal of what’s going on. Rather, it’s a ‘snapshot’. But of what?

Of what the news corporations wants us to see.

The sociologist, Baudrillard, noted this in his view that mass media produced what he called ‘infotainment’. News is not a reality, but a form of propaganda.
News corporations, like other companies, need to make money. Hence news today is always geared as much towards entertainment as anything else. And once we begin to see news as entertainment, the news can really be manipulated.

Most news channels are mouthpieces for Big Biz.

So they are unlikely to do anything that would hinder the march of Big Biz. For this reason, celebrity culture becomes part and parcel of the news. This is because celebrities encourage us to spend in order to emulate them.
But there’s much more to this Big Biz propaganda. Alongside the rise of celebrity news has come emotional news. Rarely do we see a tragedy nowadays without a roll call of victims, crying away, baring their soul, and we feel for them every time.

Of course we do, and why shouldn’t we? We ARE human.

But this is not ‘news’. Rather, it is a process whereby our emotions overpower our rationality. You see, the world works through reason, not emotion. For it to be any different would be anarchy.
Emotion is uncontrolled. And in the news placing emotion above reason, the result is the public descend into a kind of emotion-fest, and then, sated, moves on. Hence no tragedy, no annoyance, can any longer produce the rationality in the public to want to do anything about it in the long term.
In essence, by turning the news into a form of emotional entertainment, our thoughts on issues become fleeting, and Big Biz, and the puppet-politicians they’ve put in place, get on with controlling us unimpeded.
Well, that’s enough of a rant for today. After going deep, let’s have some entertainment here, too. Here we go with my this week’s Friday’s Feast.

© Anthony North, May 2008

FRIDAY’S FEAST

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Appetizer: What is the nearest big city to your home?

York. One of the most historic and beautiful cities in the world. Initially called Eboracum by the Romans, Constantine the Great rode from there to save the Roman Empire from collapse.
Guy Fawkes, who plotted to blow up Parliament, came from York, and Britain’s most infamous villain, Dick Turpin, was hanged there. Later, it was to become the centre of the railways revolution.
New York was, of course, named after it.

Soup: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?

Not telling (I suppose that gives me a 10).

Salad: Describe your hair (color, texture, length).

Light brown. Short. Beginning to thin.

Main Course: What kind of driver are you? Courteous? Aggressive? Slow?

None of the above. I stopped driving in 1984, a couple of years after I came down with chronic fatigue syndrome, as I had a habit of passing out at the wheel. And once gone, I learnt very quickly that I didn’t miss driving.
Okay, I know many need a car due to their job, where they live, etc. But it really isn’t a big deal. Even if people just drove less, think what it would do for the environment. And why do people need SUVs?
They’ll be putting a gun turret on top next.

Dessert: When was the last time you had a really bad week?

The last time I felt self-indulgent.

Okay, that’s it for this week, folks. Have a good weekend. My Diary post will be back Monday. Don’t miss it!

© Anthony North, May 2008