When I turn on the computer, before checking my e-mail, I usually browse through a handful of news and periodical websites. To catch up on the daily events and happenings in politics, sports and such. These Web pages often have a wide variety of headlines in order to catch any random internet surfer. The latest in health, a new recipe, Wall Street, campaign races and on and on. You’ve all seen them.
So last week, when going through this routine, I couldn’t miss reading Lindsay Lohan was returning to jail. I guess she likes alcohol. In my opinion, the gossip headlines get too much attention. But I’m for freedom of the press, and people can allocate their time to reading whatever they want. It’s America. Do what you want.
Yet, as I flipped through a handful of our country’s most respected news sites, this Lohan headline dominated every square inch of my screen. My annoyance turned to disgust when I had to go all the way down to the lower right hand margin to find articles about a helicopter crash in Afghanistan and education reform.
The point of the matter is not that I had to give an extra down scroll and click to get to the article I wanted. It’s a matter of perspective.
To say most of us take many things for granted would be an understatement. We’re not even aware of how much of an understatement it really is. And I’m sure if asked which we are more concerned about, every American would say our troops or the educational future of children is more important than Lindsey Lohan.
Yet, we consistently binge on banal subject matter. And even when we try to pay attention to current events, we defer to surface details or the childish shouting of opinions.
Notwithstanding the fact that major news agencies are corporate juggernauts more concerned with grabbing readers than reporting relevant news stories, our daily readings reflect our personal priorities and concerns — as well as our country’s.
Politics and current events can be just as much of a hobby as fantasy football or online shopping. Nevertheless, when we focus all of our daily attention on relatively mundane and irrelevant subject matter, we diminish our ability to form a knowledgeable position on events when they actually do concern us.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 14 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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she also loves the crack.
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Well it seems she always gets the attention she craves by the media. Maybe if we stopped caring she'd stop the drugs.
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Well it seems she always gets the attention she craves by the media. Maybe if we stopped caring she'd stop the drugs.
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