For several years now, many have been trumpeting the death of “traditional” media. But the Charlie Sheening of America and his record setting 1 million Twitter followers in 24 hours (now grown to more than 2 million) was created by the news media. Too bad it’s so tough to find real news like rising oil prices that threaten our economic recovery, political upheaval in Libya, Egypt and other countries, joblessness, a crumbling health care system, and the fact that we are still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. But to what has the media devoted countless hours: a troubled actor self-destructing. The media brought to the public in a big way this sordid and sad story that has only continued to grow stranger by day and has gone viral through social media.
Maybe all of us who are concerned about the state of the media can now rest more easily at night knowing that it can still have a powerful effect. Remember the 1 million followers in 24 hours. Unfortunately, I don’t think so. Why don’t the media focus on the bigger issues? Is it that we, its consumers, simply don’t want it to hear or read about anything else.? Perhaps seeing Charlie Sheen makes us fell better about ourselves in these uncertain times. At least, we are not him. Things may be bad, we comfort ourselves, but not that bad. Is that really so comforting?
What do you think? Why do we and the media spend so much time watching people fall apart? Why aren’t we focused on our real challenges and finding solutions toward them?
