The Daily News

Today is June 3, 2008. It's a Thursday. And yesterday, June 2, 2008 Ingrid Betancourt, three American contractors and 11 other hostages were freed "in a daring mission" from Colombian rebels who had held them for over five years. Great news! The only problem is I didn't even know who Ingrid Betancourt was till yesterday. I know now, because that's the only thing on the news all the time.

Honestly, how many people, American or Canadian or Briton or anybody, knew who Betancourt was, what she stood for, under what conditions she was captured and why she was held prisoner? Even more importantly, how many people does this news impact? And how many people will even remember this after one week? So why is it on the news all the time?

Daring rescue of hostages.
Betancourt hugs her children.
Hostages home after five years.
...
...

Is there nothing else that could be of importance to the American people, or people in general, American or otherwise? What about the things that actually impact people's lives? Laws enacted by the government, policies undertaken by government agencies, wars, treaties, inflation, poverty, education, climate change... why are those things not reported by the news channels?

I remember the extensive coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death and whatever followed after. It's sad she died at a young age. But she was a Playboy playmate and a model! Really, was she that important? Or take Britney Spears for instance. Her first wedding, its annulment, her second wedding, her kids, her absolutely uncivilized behavior in public, her divorce... and the news coverage of it all.

Who the hell cares??

You have to be wondering, is this some kind of opium the media constantly feeds the public to keep them from thinking or asking serious questions? If so, why? And if not, then how did the journalists and the broadcasters become so dumb and what can be done about it? There is plenty of news out there that is actually important and affects people's lives. Well, to be fair, it seems people don't care about important stuff anymore anyway. They have grown accustomed to live from one useless news flash to another useless news flash. They talk about it for the next three to four days. By the end of the week they have forgotten about it. And by the time next week rolls around, there is another flashy, jazzy irrelevant breaking news item all over again.

Free press.