This week’s “On the Media” features a wide variety of reportage on such widely divergent topics as the election, the election, the election, the election, the election, the election, the election, and The Onion.
I hate to sound cynical; I know the election’s important. Kerry’s already voted. I’m still trying to figure out what to do, considering I’m currently registered to vote in two states. I care about both elections.
But endless coverage of the same story just breeds contempt for said story. I don’t feel better informed as a voter; I feel burnt out as a consumer of news media. And I’m not the only one.
Brooke and Bob do an excellent job of finding new avenues into the story, finding interesting angles to look at it, but the ultimate truth is the same: “John McCain is running against Barack Obama for the office of President of the United States. Their polices and personal histories are different. What will America do?”
I know what I’ll be doing about the election. I’ve known for about three years. I know what Kerry did. The rest of you will have to sort that out for yourselves, and if you make the stupid choice, we’ll figure out how to deal with it.
It was nice of Bob to gush about The Onion News Network as a way to break up the campaign coverage, but there’s a key problem with his plan: that story is slotted in at the end of the program.
You can’t break up the hard news with lighter fare if the lighter fare merely follows.
To his credit, Bob did try to lighten it in the middle. He tried really hard.
He tried so hard, he interviewed a fake person from a fake group, the “Institute for Asymmetrical Warfare and Global Confrontation Metrics.” It’s clever enough, making light of the fact that Al-Qaeda really did endorse John McCain for president. It wasn’t clearly a joke, nor was it clearly a nod to the Onion feature later in the program. I’m honestly not sure what to make of it.
Really, if you want to mix it up a little, there’s a story in the last issue of “The Believer” about how Saturday morning G.I. Joe cartoons have influenced the military’s current recruitment tactics. It’s interesting, informative, infuriating, and inconclusive. Everything a story about the media and how it influences real life should be.
I’m not asking for coverage of the election to stop. I know we’ve got to have at least two more weeks, plus a postmortem or two. I’m just asking for coverage of something else while we’re at it. Sitcoms don’t stop sucking for the election. CNN Headline News doesn’t stop covering kittens in trees, car chases, and other ponderously stupid stuff.
There is still non-election media to cover. Please let us know that I’m right about that.
This recap was written by Matthew, with regards to Kerry’s earlier post about pretty much the same thing. In fact, you really ought to consider this something of a petition.
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