Reality, Ratings, and the Resulting Decline

Things used to be so simple. There were movies, celebrities, television sitcoms, news programs, and newspapers and then there was real life. Everything stayed in it’s own separate category. The closest thing we got to the gray area was Seinfeld, a show about real people doing nothing. Now, in the year 2010, the lines are not nearly as distinct. Television sitcoms have been replaced by reality shows, making celebrities out of regular people. Online media has completely eclipsed printed newspapers, which are now solely being used to supply children with materials for paper maiche projects. The advance of technology like blogs and youtube has given voices, often times strident and yelling ones, to the American public, which once again makes celebrities out of American people. Perhaps the most drastic change in the new world can be seen with the news. Now, news programs prefer to feature entertainment fluff pieces (such as what happened when the reality show celebrity when clubbing last night) over actual news stories, and are much less strict when it comes to hiring requirements for their reporters. In fact, a background in entertainment is actually preferred over a background in journalism. (Glenn Beck might not have graduated from college but he hosted a successful radio show as a shock jock!) Is it any surprise that news programs are also trying to make their “reporters” celebrities? (Exhibit A: Anderson Cooper a.k.a The Silver Fox). News programs and their viewers no longer value accuracy and integrity, virtues that were long ago replaced by the ability to talk fast and make salacious remarks. Fox News was among the first news organizations to recognize and adhere to the new rules set forth by the evolution of mass media. It’s because of this that they are currently crushing other news outlets like CNN in the ratings war, making it only a matter of time before CNN must fold and wave whatever last piece of journalistic integrity in the air like a white flag. It is the inevitable outcome. This is evident when looking at Glenn Beck's viewership numbers in comparison to those of other news programs. For example, the week of October 2^nd 2009 at the 5 p.m. time slot ranged from approximately 2,550,00 to 2,950,000 viewers per day. This was about twice as much as the viewership of CNN Situation Room, MSNBC Hardball, and Headline News all combined. We have sent a clear message to those that control the media outlets that we care less about news and more about noise. As CNN begins it’s downward climb in terms of quality of content and no doubt it’s upward slope of ratings, one by one all the other reputable news organizations will succumb as well. The lines between news and entertainment, celebrity and reality, have been erased. Being able to rant on our blogs, post videos of our opinions, and see our twitter comments on the televison news scroll might contribute to the allusion that we are actually benefiting from the phenomenon, but that is not the case. These examples of technology has not led to more transparency. In fact, it has done just the opposite. It has lowered the bar of what is now news worthy and what kind of work is acceptable.It has diverted the media from doing its job of policing and reporting on the government/politics and instead caused them to focus solely on ratings. If the American public doesn’t care if Glenn Beck is presenting news sources with legitimate journalistic integrity and accuracy, why should they care (or even notice) if the government is also devoid of the same virtues? By telling the media to focus on entertainment instead of doing their job, the American people are essentially forfeiting their own rights and encouraging deceit. It is impossible not to see the danger of living a world where the government is unchecked by the media and not held accountable for their actions. And all because the American public would rather see Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck yell and fist pump.