A conversation reported to me by my best friend, which took place at a doctor's office between her and the nurse, went something like this:
Nurse (recently returned from Germany): I don't like foreign news services.
Friend (recently returned from Ireland): Why?
Nurse: Because the images they show on their news is icky.
Friend: They are only telling the truth, more of it anyway than we get here.
Nurse: But I like our news better. It's nicer.
My query to friend: How can she think our news is nicer?
Friend: Well, it is more graphic over there.
Me: More graphic? How?
Friend: Because over there they show images of Americans beating up and abusing Iraqis.
Me: So our media coverage is nicer because we show them dead, instead of merely being abused? Of course she likes our news better. She's more offended by their portrayal of American brutality in the particular, than by the static results of a level of violence we've all become accustomed to. After all, we're supposed to be the "nice guys." Goddess forbid we be shown for being merely human instead of heros on the world stage. Sucks to be merely human, doesn't it?
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SNARCOPHAGY: n., the major media's cannibalization of the public brain through the use of pervasive spin, overblown rhetoric, and nagging pablum, the goal of which is to bypass rational voter thought, disrupt critical social dialogue, and cause a complete democratic system failure. [Take note, OED: Word and definition created by TL Patten, Dec. 2004]
About Me
- TL Patten
- Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
- 3 parts observation, 2 parts analysis, 2 parts culture vulture, 1 part burning idealism, 1 part inspiration, 1 part kite-flying child. Add a large dollop of imagination, shake, and pour over ice.
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