What happened to reporting?
The best satirical essays are the ones that hit the truth so well, you almost forget they are fictional.
Like yesterday’s Onion’s “Let Me Explain Why Miley Cyrus’ VMA Performance Was Our Top Story This Morning.”
Chemical weapons affected 3600 Syrian civilians, yet we are lost in a whirlwind of tweets and Facebook posts about an unoriginal pop star doing a ridiculous performance on an equally irrelevant award show.
(If there is a question leading to a worthy news story hiding in the VMAs, it’s this: how many arrogant, middle-aged males in the music business were involved in creating that impressionable 20-year-old woman’s performance?
No one seems to be asking that question, but I digress…)
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Tuesday, I continued to be dismayed over the unequal attention of world news vs. entertainment news; so I reread Tim Skubick’s essay from early August titled, “Journalists are here to inform, not contribute to society’s well-being.”
I was looking for some clarity; but I went looking in the wrong place.
Skubick describes a journalist as “being an umpire. You call them as you see them, try really hard to get it right and you don’t walk on the field hoping to win a popularity contest.”
He makes some great points in his essay, even if I’m still having trouble deciphering his main theme.
But this week complicates it more: Journalism has a responsibility to report what is important, not simply sensational. Yet in a world-wide-web measured by clicks, sensational wins.
So isn’t the popularity contest already winning?
Another notable quote Skubick says in his essay is: “The harsh reality is your local blogger, and God bless them for being involved, is not the same as a seasoned reporter. But the consumer treats them all the same and the sins of one is superimposed on the other.”
The lines between “seasoned reporters” and “local bloggers” will continue to blur as publications lose credibility.
Plus, Tim should be my local blogger. He’s from Michigan, reports from Lansing. Sure, he’s a seasoned reporter, but I’m reading his essay online. Maybe he’s my local blogger, whether he wants to be called that or not.
I’ll admit, I’m feeling disenchanted today. I don’t know how to end this rant, except with an observation: I forgot which essay was satirical; the Onion’s or Tim Skubick’s.
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