Noteworthy vs Notorous

• Posted on April 18, 2007
• by Karen Fayeth
• 1 Comment

Direct quote from Linda Chavez in her April 17th opinion piece in the Albuquerque Tribune.

“We seem to be losing the ability to distinguish what is noteworthy from what is simply notorious. And in the process, we are creating greater celebrity for people who don’t deserve it.”

Linda writes a nice piece discussing the shortfalls of today’s media and I think she’s right on the mark with her comments.

Current case in point: The ongoing saga of the parentage of Anna Nicole Smith’s kid was interrupted only by the now non-stop coverage of the events in Virginia.

Tragic events. Worthy of coverage. However, this morning I heard an in detail discussion of the various mental challenges in the life of the man who did this horrible thing. I know too much! I know the kid was held in a mental health institution in 2005! I don’t need to know this!

I’m so exhausted by the media, I really am.

I took a meditation class a few years back in an attempt to get my blood pressure down. One of the first things the instructor told us was to turn off the news. Don’t read it, don’t listen, don’t watch. She told us “if there is something you need to know, you will hear about it.” So far she’s been right.

I’ve done this for quite some time. Recently I’ve been slipping back a bit. Partly because I’m doing this blog so I’m looking around for ideas. But partly because the media has become so very pervasive in everyday life. Standing at the airport waiting on my bags, I am accosted by TVs from every corner blaring CNN. In the grocery I go to they’ve now installed flat screens over the cash registers pumping out content. Ostensibly to keep me occupied while I wait? I open my (free) email to check to see if a friend has sent me a note and on the opening page there are “latest headlines”.

And don’t get me started on how the results of network competition shows are now top headline news….if I have to hear the word Sanjaya one more time…..

Update: Seems Tim Goodman, the snarky television columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle is on the same page.