My dear friend AO and I were talking yesterday about how our lives are now so busy that we have become those people whose primary source of news information is The Daily Show. It is a demographic about which much hay has been made in the media. I think they are supposed to be between 18 and 35, single, no kids, kind of dumb, blah blah blah. We are both, in different ways, not entirely representative of that demographic, and yet the closer we get to being completely out of that demographic, the more we reflect its behavior.
I simply do not have the time I used to have to read three newspapers, troll the internet for insightful commentary, or to sit and formulate my own opinions on multiple issues of the day. Right now I spend more time with Anthony Wiggle, Elmo and Big Bird than I do with Tim Russert, Thomas Friedman and Jim Pinkerton combined. It's a sad, sad state of affairs that I know is temporary. It is however, the way it is for now.
Which explains why The Daily Show (the 8pm rerun of last night's show; not the new one--which is an even sadder state of affairs now that I write it down!) has become the show I eat dinner with after putting the Bambina to bed. Some days it is my only window into the fact that there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court or that Iraq is having a constitutional convention. From there I then log onto the net and (instead of doing client work like I'm supposed to) find commentary, insight and opposing views. But rare is the day when I have enough information to craft an opinion before watching The Daily Show.
So now I am wondering if this is an entirely shameful thing as the current thinking would have us believe. I want to believe it's not so bad that I don't watch Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw (what?! they are no longer there?! Where have I been?!!), and maybe it's okay that I glean what I can from what I can find in my limited spare time. I want to believe that it's okay as long as I am still interested in hearing about the news and making whatever brief attempts I can to locate opposing viewpoints to help me refine my thinking on the issue, rather than just saying "hell with it...I'd rather see what's up with Brangelina and Jennifer Aniston."
I want to believe I still have a shred of intellect on political issues of the day. But I'll have to ask Anthony Wiggle what he thinks first...
2 comments:
Jon Stewart refers to his own Daily Show the presentation of "Fake News". In view of the fact that they have cancelled the real news, Jon Stewart is a good replacement for Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw. As authoritative as anything teevee-ed anymore.
Of course, what's even worse is that I'm so time challenged, I use your blog as a source for current events! I figure I'll find out all the important stuff eventually.
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