Thursday, July 23, 2009

Why Do People Still Watch Television News?

My good friend Sharad Karkhanis e-mailed me about a news broadcast on one of the social democratic propaganda outlets. Likewise, blog impressario Larwyn has been up in arms about "media" bias.

If you haven't read Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire or read about the history of ancient Persia or studied advanced calculus, why on earth are you watching news on television? There are many productive ways to spend your time.

Television news is not news. The people who broadcast it are entertainers and lack the education to determine what's important enough to be called news. Not enough people watch it to use the explanation that "it's important to hear what people are thinking". Nor is watching it a good way to refute the Democrats. A better way is to carry petitions for the Republicans.

The country is full of lazy bones who sit around listening to Rush Limbaugh, cuss at their radio and accomplish absolute zero. Sharad isn't one of those people, and he's devoted a huge amount of his resources to uncovering fraud in the reactionary CUNY faculty union and sending around tens of thousands of copies of his newsletter "Patriot Returns" at his own expense.

Sitting around cussing at some bozo on one of the cable news channels accomplishes nothing. Stop watching them. Carry petitions. Call your friends. Go to a tea party like the courageous Phil Orenstein.

TV news is an anachronism, a thing of the past. It is almost as antediluvian as print newspapers. If you want to see what people are thinking do this:

1. Play "Mafia Wars" on Facebook
2. Read "The Star"
3. Watch Oprah

2 comments:

Phil Orenstein said...

Thanks, Mitch. The biggest Tea Party is coming up on Sept. 12 at the Capitol. Nearly a million patriots outraged with the slide to socialism are expected to converge on DC. Be there.

Nachum Daddy said...

impressive sense of humor breaking through the stoic surface in there!