Fear & Lothing In The Media.

In these trying times, most people derive their daily news intake from blog sites claiming to be news outlets or the latest and greatest and most up-to-date-est. There is a danger in this progression.

Sadly, there remains a sub-culture within the literary world that does not try to be news. We would much rather waste some of your time with interesting stories or perspectives on the world, not revelations from some high schoolers of college freshmen with a complete lack of credible sources. As people, not just writers, we have to stop taking everything so seriously. The news won’t get better. It won’t be different. Everybody has an angle and no bias goes unnoticed.

And yet there is a rise in the number of blogs. A large part of that has to do with the desire of many to connect with others but also to reach a wider audience. Something that is necessary in an ever increasing, infinite internet--something that these days are among the only things that keeps us connected. Without this tool, we'd be alone. Completely lost in the ether.

But there are still those who write just for the sake of writing. Keeping an ongoing journal of events. Transcribed and channeled digitally. What began as a new medium for easier and quicker sharing of thoughts and ideas is no longer just a form of personal expression, but fastly becoming a way to be discovered and for people to gain recognition on topics they don’t understand, and to be the first on the scene, in a place they have never been...I would rather wait three days for a new story then read or watch the first, most incorrect and insincere versions of the truth blasted across my retinas and numbing my mind with horrible and poorly executed insights.

I don’t blame the people who want attention and crave admiration. It’s part of the human condition. And perhaps for a lucky few, it can be a road to riches. But to call it news or to compare it as such is pure hypocrisy.

News, real news is being phased out by a new, wittier generation of writers claiming to have the breaking story and all the facts. When in reality, this reality does not exist. What is considered news is now all biased information angled and aimed at entertaining a stupefied public into submission with stories colored with humor and live audiences. I have not watched the news and been enlightened or surprised by the antics displayed by my trusted news anchors, or the sheep-like callers who initiate landslides and avalanches of moronic discussion.

And yet, the irony continues. As the world becomes more advanced, it becomes less informed, by the less qualified. Take it for what is. If you get sucked into the chasm of false information, then you may never again find your way out.