eWorld.UI - Matt Hawley

Ramblings of Matt

I hate the Media

April 8, 2004 17:08 by matthaw

Preface: This post is in no way trashing or slandering the men and women that serve our country. I have great respect for those men and women serving our country during these frivolous times. It is, however, slandering the media and their recent attempts of providing "the best news around."

This morning, I woke up to do my morning routine - check email, get updated on blogs, take shower, etc.  During which, I usually have the TV set to the Today Show on NBC.  Unlike every other day, today I was enraged on what I heard. No, it wasn't a touchy story they were covering, but it was just the overall content of a interview with a family member of a man who was killed in the fighting in Iraq. As I'm listening to it, my mind starts to crank out hateful messages towards the media in these dire times. I started thinking to myself, why am I even watching this current story, why does anyone? My thoughts then shifted to completely hating NBC at that current moment as Matt Lauer probed more and more personal information out of this man, who just lost his brother, all because "it makes good news."

Why must the media cover stories like this? Why must they single out individuals who have just lost family members.  I'm sure these family members want to get their story told, however, bringing them on national television the day after their relative died is not the way to do it. Let the families grieve, let them go through the normal process that any other person in this world would go through when loosing someone they love. Why should the media make their loss "special" just because they died in combat? Do you even realize that there has been approximately 600 US men and women that have died in battle in Iraq since we invaded? Why must the media choose one person or family to "portray", when there are so many others out there that have experienced the same situation.  In reality, I don't care about these stories. Let the families grieve and get their stories published in books.  Maybe then I'll care and read them...but I don't want my morning slammed with sorrowful stories that have no relevance to me.

I further extend my hatred towards the media circling around Princess Diana and Kurt Cobain.  I have nearly the same feelings towards both of these stories as I do above.  I find it absurd that the media still digs up pointless information about both of these great individuals years after their deaths.  The whole fact that every year on (or around) Kurt Cobain's date that he passed, the media (especially on MTV) hosts "specials" concerning his life/death/music.  I mean come on, the man has been dead for 10 years now, let him rest in peace. Then, there are the issues with the media constantly spouting more and more "theories" on what actually happened to Princess Diana the night she died. I remember watching (again) the Today Show awhile back, on how there were "new, never undisclosed tapes" of conversations with Princess Diana.  Again, I state... so what, let her rest in peace.

So, why am I so adament about these issues? Well, it just drives me insane on how impersonal the media is. They don't care about the person, sure it may "seem" like that when they do a story, but in reality, they're just looking for the "best story." If that involves bringing on someone who has just lost a family member just the day before, so be it...its good news, right? I'm just waiting for the day when the media fails, when it starts reporting non-biased news, or even when they report news that I give a damn about. But, I think it'll be a cold day in hell before that even happens.



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Comments

April 8. 2004 17:52

You do have the option of turning off the tv, right?

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April 8. 2004 18:36

I don't bother with TV news; I just listen to NPR.  They have great reporting and don't get into all the trashiness of most "news" news.

Jeff Key

April 8. 2004 18:44

I hate when people attribute some evil to "the media." I used to work in "the media" and always found it fascinating that people are quick to consider that the media dictates our needs to consume it, not the other way around.



My first difficult interview was with a woman that lost her house, and everything in it, in a fire. As a reporter, it absolutely sucked. I did it anyway. You know why? Because it was my duty as a journalist to provide context for an event that happened in the community I served.



We can certainly accuse "the media" for not giving a balanced report (haven't seen any interviews lately with the families of dead Iraqi civilians, especially on flag-waving Fox), but regardless of what you think, it's "the media's" duty to provide context and document history. We can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend that there's nothing going on.



It can be argued that the last half-dozen decades have been the most well documented in all of recorded history. It's easy to say that the past is the past, and that it doesn't matter, but without it, we can't learn from it.



We need "the media."

Jeff

April 8. 2004 18:49

I'm not saying we don't need the media...what I'm saying is that I'm sick and tired of the media giving us false sense that everything is alright when it isn't. Sure, some broadcasts are right on the money, whereas some are so obscured by their our indesgretion about what is right or wrong, that it makes absolutely no sense to me.  I'm sick and tired of seeing familes on television that have lost family members. I'm sick and tired of seeing stories that happend a long ago, and the media continuously brings up pointless information about what happened in the past.



I'm not saying we shouldn't learn from the past, but I'm tired of hearing "what if's" and "whys" about stuff that no one can do absolutely nothing about.



All in all, I'm but one voice that cannot change anything, however with my voice I can state my thoughts, feelings, and emotions towards the world as it stands today.

Matt Hawley

April 8. 2004 19:58

While I understand your disgust, you understand that no one FORCED that family into the studio and FORCED them to go on national TV and talk about their lost family member.



Ambushing the family at the funeral and asking the same question would make me hate "the media". In this case, I think the family volunteered to go on TV. Asking the same questions of someone who lost their house or loved one in a fire seems sensationalistic to me.



In the specific case of the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict I think that EVERY soldier/civilian lost over there deserves a news story dedicated to them. I think it puts an emphasis on the cost of any war. Listening to war stories from WWII veterans and seeing the graves of those lost reminds me of the cost that freedom sometimes carries.

Scott

April 8. 2004 21:14

I'm not asking anyone to agree with me, this topic was posted mainly to get it off my chest and possibly start a good discussion.



I too believe that each man, woman, and child that has been killed deserves the chance to get their story told, however I don't feel that getting on national television the day after is the right time to do so.  Sure, they may have not been forced into doing the interview, but like any non-known person (in the sense of movie stars, athletes, etc.), the chance of getting on national television is extremely appealing.  My beef with the media on this is why even ask them to come on.  Unless those persons come to NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, etc. and ask to share their story, I feel they are being bombarded...like you stated according to attendance at funerals.



I never said once that I was bashing the men and women who are dying for my country, its something I would never do, and I have the upmost respect for that.  However, their stories should be told, but in a manner that is appropriate, and after enough time that reality has sunk in for the family members. Most commonly, those doing the interviews are still distraught about what has happened, and end up making wild accusations that a person would normally not do. If they had enough time to let it sink in, let them come to the reality of which it is currently, and then decided to share the story, then more power to them.

Matt Hawley

April 8. 2004 22:10

Very well said Jason.

Matt Hawley

April 8. 2004 22:12

Unless every one here skipped high school or government 101, we don't necessarily need "the media".  We need the news, but that does not include "the media".  If you read Matt's blog, what are you getting?  Only Matt's view.  That is the danger of "mass media".  If someone else posts their comments, then we may have two totally different views.  If a national television show does a story on cancer clusters and their causes, we only get the view points of the reporter, their editor, and possibly any experts they bring into the story or the station's owners even.  But, in a sense, they are all paid from the same pocket.  There is no way for us to "talk back" and present a view from our vantage point.  Never make the mistake that "we need the media".  And we need them less at this point in history than at any other.  If you still think the media is a necessity, my eight year old can teach you a thing or two.

Jason Bentley

April 8. 2004 23:59

While I don't "hate" the media, I do "hate" the fact that they feel the need to stick the microphone in the face of someone who's just been through something like this.  Just like the local news asking the father of child who's just been killed by random gunfire and asking him "how he feels".  That really bothers me.

Doug Thews

April 9. 2004 04:13

or how about this one...



Gas prices....I am sick of hearing about gas prices..... great they are up again... and then they go to a reporter at the gas station interviewing something "wow these prices are sooo high"



and then the prices go down....o yeah and we dont hear about agina ....until they go back up...



blah enough already



bert

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April 30. 2004 04:11

I, much like you, hate the media.  However, I hate the media for different reasons.  It's for the endless focus on the negative aspects of what's going on in the world.  If I have to see yet one more CNN blurb on the number of soldiers killed in the war on Iraq, I'm going to throw up.  The liberal media based in the states has a political agenda, and of that I have no doubt.  I also agree with the individual that commented that you don't have to listen, watch, or view them online.  If you want to beat them, don't pay attention to them.  Get your news from sources like NPR that have less of a political slant on all the terrible things that are happening in the world.  Oh, by the way, global terrorist attacks are down by 45% since 2001.  Isn't that something that people would want to hear?

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July 6. 2004 02:37

Lotta insightful comments here.  At one point I got so irritated with the media (CNN, in this case) that I got off the couch and registered "IHateTheMedia.com".



I invite you to take a look.  I've also started a similar blog, which is available at IHateTheMedia.com or at ihatethemedia.blogspot.com

M.Sullivan

August 6. 2004 01:37

Matt, and others. Let's do something about it. Let's seek out unbiased and objective news stories on issues that actually matter and get them posted on a blog somewhere. Personally, I was brought to this site because of the recent crap coming out about John Kerry. Its not the issue that upsets me, (I realize that it's all political, both sides) it is that the media will zero in on this at the expense of the real issue which is how Kerry has voted in Congress and what issues he has supported versus what issues George W. Bush has supported.



The media will zero in on this because as a whole, they are more interested in ratings than in their so called 'responsibility'. I don't hate their impersonal reporting so much as their hypocrisy, because it is highly personal, its about who sells the most magazines and tv ads and newspapers.



Lets find those articles that are objectively and fairly written about events that matter and post them here. I'll start looking right now.



Bill Jefferson Clinton



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