I’m not big on believing everything Amnesty International offers. This one, though, is believable.
In a time when topics such as this abound, and seven men are campaigning for the nomination of their party for President, the major news outlets in this country decide to focus on only four candidates, Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, Kobe Bryant, and Martha Stewart. There are important things being said and done in this country. They are being ignored because they either don’t have the celebrity appeal, don’t fit someone’s ideological outlook, or are just too difficult to explain. Several times I’ve posted about how the proliferation of weblogs has helped me really see what’s happening in the world. Yes, the story is in the Washington Times. But to find it I had to stumble across a link that took me there. It is a buried story.
The first reason is most likely. Our culture adores celebrities and their trevails. We want them to be naughty, but don’t want them caught. When they are, we’re torn between wanting them punished or set free. That’s the hook our media use to keep us on point.
Me? I’d rather have a tooth extraction than listen to one more word about Michael Jackson. In an election year, it would be far better to know more about what’s going on in the world than what’s going on in his bedroom.