The Issues, No. 19 - The Media

It seems to me that the media, with all of the freedoms available to it in this great democracy of ours, has a profound responsibility to all of us to ensure that it lives up to the highest ideals of our democracy. Unfortunately, I think much of the media does not care about ideals or what effect it is having on our people and care only about how much money can be made. Sensationalism, sex and sexual infidelity, violence, and deceit are what the media knows will sell the most and so that is what they present. And what they present has a huge effect on the population. In it's simplest terms, kids grow up thinking that it's OK to be unfaithful to their spouse and that there is a legitimate place for violence and deceit in their lives.

If you look at the movies and the TV shows that are produced today, it's not hard to see that most are basically trash and contain a lot of sex, violence, and deceit for no real purpose. When you turn on your XM radio and listen to Howard Stern, there is nothing there but sex and adolescent humor. When you pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV news you get the feeling they are licking their chops waiting for the next scandal, economic recession (or, better yet, depression), or the next tragic hurricane or tornado to strike. And you feel like if they can make something bad happen they will. The media influence is just tremendous and, more often than not, totally irresponsible.

I don't know what to do about it other than to stop buying the sensational magazines, newspapers, and books; stop listening to garbage on the radio; stop going to the trashy movies; and stop listening to the TV and newspaper "cheerleaders for the funeral director" who seem to be looking for and are trying to create doomsday. And, please don't buy and/or let your kids buy the violent and sexually oriented video games either.

We need responsible media that is trying to educate and uplift us, to make us better people and a better nation. We don't need to be entertained with garbage and nonsense. Our media should be attempting to keep us out of the gutter and make us feel good about ourselves and our country --- not the opposite.