Friday, December 26, 2008

I hate the media

Gosh, where do I begin? But yes, I DO hate the media...I know that's a strong word and one that shouldn't be tossed around so irresponsibly...and nobody wants to be labeled a "hater," but I do, I do hate the media. Why the visceral discontent?

Again, where do I begin? Over the next few weeks, months, years, I will attempt to explain my utter disdain for the profession, a profession I aspired to long ago (journalism), a profession that has been so bastardized as to barely resemble what myself and many other J school participants once dreamed.

Yes, I admit it. I was a journalism student...prior to and during the Lou Grant era...you know, the curmudgeonly mock news room editor for Mary Richards' (played by Mary Tyler Moore) Minneapolis TV station before his firing and eventual return as city editor for the fictional Los Angeles Tribune. Ah yes, TV fare from the late 70's and early 80's (plus WKRP in Cincinatti...but I digress)...

Yeah, I started out in the radio business...and we hated TV (and TV people/personalities)...and we had little use for print journalists either...in radio, there was room for everything...music, sports, entertainment, hard news, even comedy...but then something went horribly, horribly, wrong...Rush Limbaugh...

Well, not Rush Limbaugh per se, but talk radio in general...much like the internet today (and ugh, bloggers such as myself), talk radio took a nasty, nasty turn back in the 80's... into what is now the "he said, she said," mentality that permeates the entire media to this day...not only that, but the one up-manship that is (also) prevalent today.

What do I mean? Well, Rush Limbaugh says he was/is simply the "equal time" to NPR and PBS and network news, etc., which he claimed was becoming increasingly left leaning in viewpoint and philosophy. Then, CNN, et al, countered him. Then, Fox News counters them. Then...well, you get the picture (talk about bi-polar)...

Hence, the name, "MediaCopp," incorporating my last name and (current) profession...yes, after leaving journalism behind, I went into law enforcement (ha-ha, I get it...a cop named "Copp," I get jokes)...hey, no joke...that IS my real name. Nevertheless, much of this blog will be mediating or officiating between the factions, conservative AND liberal...so that hopefully, one day, we can find common ground...

Well, common ground without having to resort to lithium, risperdal or adderal...

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