I am only occasionally annoyed by news coverage on our local NPR station. But today's coverage of this weekend's "Carmageddon" in Los Angelas was definitely one of those rare occasions. They spent too much of their valuable air time on a nothing story - the anticipated traffic gridlock that will occur when the 405 is closed for a couple of days while DOT widens a lane or adds some space to make traffic flow more smoothly. The way overblown reaction of southern Californians would be amusing if there weren't so many more deserving stories that NPR could have been covering. I don't even feel the need to offer examples. Anything would have been better than this tripe.
The NPR people even referenced the moniker poorly. They declared that the name came from a modern day video game or movie. Here's what the NPR story actually said:
"DEL BARCO: Yes, Carmageddon, a name taken from a graphically violent video game inspired by the cult movie "Death Race 2000." L.A. County supervisor Zev Yarovsavsky coined the term for what essentially will be a widening of the road."
Are we to believe that NPR thought this was indeed the origin of the term? Are they totally unaware of "Armageddon" from the Book of Revelation in the New Testament as an example of the ultimate battle, the worst possible conflict?
And what makes the narcissistic people of southern California think that the other 300 million people in America or the 6.5 billion inhabitants of the earth care that a few thousand cars might be stuck in slow traffic this weekend if they ignore warnings. WE DON'T CARE !! Give it a rest!
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3 comments:
i am still amazed you expect anything more, even from NPR, hehehe. Not even NPR covers pro-police, pro-military stories, not "good news" news stories (in general). The media, even public media, seems to be categorically opposed to positive story.
Media generates audience by focusing on the ire-producing, shock-cultivating, fear-inducing, sensationalistic that gets folks "riled" up. Good news doesn't do this, supposedly... that is, it just doesn't sell. Arguably even Climategate is an example of how a large thrust exists within media to push an agenda aimed at manipulating the public into what is a popular attitude/mentality of socio-economic-environmental awareness.
Put differently, i would argue the media attempts to push an ethos of which it sees itself the champion if not the sole explicator (read gnosticism). Their bible the newsfiche of doom and despair, their evangelizers the popular columnists, the high and chief priests the successful editors and managers.
Terrific response, Kev.
And I don't expect responsible journalism from FOX or CNN or MSNBC. But when they are no better than Comedy Central it doesn't hurt to point that out.
We can all be relieved that "The Sky is Falling" worked and kept the cars away from the scene of the crime and drove the story off the news so quickly.
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