When a famous person dies, what goes through your head? Fans and admirers will think, “Oh no, what happened?” Casual observers will probably think, “Not a fan, but RIP.” A few cold-hearted folks will think, “Good riddance, serves you right.”
For me though, the first thought isn’t any of the above, but a cynical, “Yeah, right.” Not because I’m in shock or denial, mind you, but because I literally don’t believe the story. It happened when I heard the news about Whitney Houston last week, it happened with Kim Jong Il before that, with Michael Jackson before that, and likely will continue to happen.
Two years ago, some of you may remember that Miley Cyrus was presumed dead for an entire weekend. The media and the Net went crazy, including most of the big, “legitimate” news stations. The source of all the frenzy wasn’t a doctor’s report, a police report, or a coroner’s report. No dear monkeys, the logic was…People are Googling it a lot, so it must be true. (It later emerged that her site got hacked, which started the rumor). And people actually believed it.
Don’t get me wrong: before that incident, I didn't believe in the media’s integrity—sure, they biased and slanted blatantly, but you could reasonably expect to get some slight idea of what actually happened. I know we deplore the state of our media on this site quite a bit, but that was truly ridiculous. And it keeps on happening.
When President Obama announced last year’s budget, Fox News reported a $2.5 trillion in tax increases; CNN reported $3 trillion in new spending; CNBC reported $2 trillion in new spending paid for by future budget cuts of $3 trillion. I know a trillion dollars is chump change these days, but really—which is it, guys?
The headlines are just as bad—witness the ESPN writer who described Jeremy Lin after a Knicks loss as “A Chink In the Armor.” That guy got fired, but didn’t anybody check it before putting it into cyberspace? Clearly not. Another hilarious example: Reporting on the recession, a US News headline read: “While Men Are Finding Work, Women Continue to Lose Jobs.” The next day, a Wall Street Journal headline screamed: “Generation Jobless: Young Men Suffer the Most as Economy Staggers.”
When Hurricane Irene hit, a News12 reporter for Long Island told viewers to write their birthdays on their bodies in Sharpie, presumably so the post-apocalyptic scientists could identify your waterlogged corpse centuries later. You can’t make this stuff up.
I don’t know about you guys, but I believe literally nothing the media reports anymore. Entrepreneurs, take note—there is unparalleled demand for somebody who not only says they practice integrity in newscasting, but also actually does it.
Real journalism is dead.
Misleading headlines Articles are full of grammatical mistakes Bullshit logic yellow journalism bloggers instead of real writers "journalists" keep pushing their opinions on people AP should go out of Business That Chris guy (Chris Chase) on yahoo sport should have been fired a long time a go
To be honest, I don't really care and it pisses me off when people act like that person was such a big part of their lives. I think it's barbaric how the media covers celebrity deaths and even worse how the general population actually tunes in to watch. It also takes up news airtime that could better be used covering real topics. I'd rather not have the death not be such a frenzy and rather have the people who actually knew the person to be the only ones actually morning.
If you like capitalism then deal with it. The media only gives us what we demand & watch. The real problem is what everyday people find 'stimulating' now. All I have to do is look around the subway in the morning and see 75% of the people on their smart phones playing Angry Birds or listening to pounding rap music to come to the conclusion that people really are getting dumber and more anti-social.
You have to differentiate between the vapid media circus (which is disgusting and wrong) and the true fans who really did admire the person and their work. When a famous actor or musician dies, the fans express their grief, and they're allowed. You can't just say, "Well, they didn't even know the person." That's disrespectful.
When my favorite singer (Ronnie James Dio) died of stomach cancer a couple of years ago, I just listened to his music the entire day. It was easier because there was almost nobody outside the metal community who really cared. Amy Winehouse got a full, front-cover, commemorative issue of Rolling Stone; he got two sentences on the back page. This after a fifty-year career, almost fifty million albums sold between five different bands, and widely considered one of the best voices in rock. And the media just basically yawned.
But you know what? I think the fans (myself included) probably liked it that way.
I must go update Wikipedia.
Another person dies, yet people start saying I loved what they did...etc. It seems that people care more about celebrities then themselves. Ridiculous.
Funny story. Late 80's a youngish Midas tackles the difficult task of rolling his virgin spliff. On the tube, a young, scant, Rihanna-ish Whitney croons "I'm Your Baby Tonight."
Young Midas ponders what a nice lass she seems to be an what sort of a lucky gent shall wind up with her.
Fast forward a few and the bitch weds Bobby "My Crack Pipe Gets HER Own Fucking Bedroom" Brown
Fast forward to this past week and Midas realizing that it was Bobby who was the whipping bitch in the relationship
This...is why I don't go for famous broads.
Fame and a vagina do not go hand in twat.
YES...Midas is back bitches!!!
I missed you so much
Really? That's why?
MIDAS! YOU'RE ALIVE?!?!!?!
the first thing i think is 'how can i profit from this?'
when whitney ate it within the day (i think ~6hrs from memory) there were 7 eBooks already published to Amazon/kindle
The life and times of Whitney Houston (or, how to leverage your pasting skillz + Jimmy Wales' generosity)
Incidentally what's 6 inches and didn't get sucked on v-day? some black lady's crack pipe
so this is the distraction du jour.
I just hate the revisionist bullshit. She wasn't a saint, she squandered insane talent because she was an addict.
someone was on here some time back saying that people are too dumb to handle freedom. yeah, it's one thing to blame the media for this circus. but they wouldn't be doing this unless there is a market. I can't even look at a tv anymore.
What about the good old journal that we all monkeys read? Would you guys say that it is one of the more informed, relatively unbiased perspectives out there?
Because expectations of a 24/7 news cycle have reached ridiculous heights. In the old days of print, reporters had a lot more time to check the facts before putting it into print. No one wants to be the last to report a story, hence why you see people take shortcuts sometimes.
Welcome back, Midas.
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