National Media - Journalists, Or Entertainers?
This great article by Doug Schmitz in MichNews.com brings it all together for us.
Yellow journalism: Weak-kneed reporters and the problem of celebrity
By Doug Schmitz
MichNews.com
Oct 7, 2005
In the world of print and television news, celebrity has proven to be a potent aphrodisiac as well as a strong elixir that many media elites have succumbed to at the expense of quality news delivery. When so-called reporters – usually the ones with the bloated paychecks – are mentioned or even “star” in cameo roles on top-rated sitcoms and in movies, they have blurred the lines between objective news reportage and the lure of fame – especially given that the Hollywood Left hates President Bush with a passion.
Yellow journalism: Weak-kneed reporters and the problem of celebrity
By Doug Schmitz
MichNews.com
Oct 7, 2005
In the world of print and television news, celebrity has proven to be a potent aphrodisiac as well as a strong elixir that many media elites have succumbed to at the expense of quality news delivery. When so-called reporters – usually the ones with the bloated paychecks – are mentioned or even “star” in cameo roles on top-rated sitcoms and in movies, they have blurred the lines between objective news reportage and the lure of fame – especially given that the Hollywood Left hates President Bush with a passion.
posted by BigBubba at 8:54 AM
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31 Comments:
We didn't lose the culture wars because we "had none". Our culture was so successful that it made all but the dumbest idiots wealthy beyond their abilities to spend wisely. And so the High culture got "massified" and was dumbed down to Low culture which was then dumbed down (in the 60's) to counter culture (our present state). And counter culture is NO culture. That's your great accomplishment mr ducky. Congrats!
-FJ
My position is that given a sufficient number of brain dead, lock step, knee jerk, pseudo intellectual progressive liberal demoracists, like the Duck, any hellish thing would be possible.
I have never watched West Wing. Janeane is a dunce and doesn't appeal at any level to my intellect. I rarely go to the movies. George Clooney is a looney. Not surprisingly you are confused about the fact that Ann Coulter is a media commentator and some people think George Clooney is an entertainer. You certainly validate the point of the article.
My latest intellectual project is reading this book on line, The Thirteenth Tribe The Khazar Empire and its Heritage by Arthur Koestler
"Our culture was so successful that it made all but the dumbest idiots wealthy beyond their abilities to spend wisely."
Your post was right on the mark, Farmer John. I have tried to be a new kinder, gentler Big Bubba, hence I must ask you to clarify the above statement. Does your statement include in some way the multi millionaire Duck?
"Culture is wealth."
Statement is the product of a really warped mind. Need I say more?
Perhaps you watch Walker Texas Ranger, Duck, but I don't. I guess it is really frustrating to you that you think that Texas provides culture and Presidents. It's mostly Presidents, Duck.
Too bad "Tank Dukakis Goes to Washington" or "The Hero of Chappaquiddick" never took off politically or as television series.
mr. ducky,
I think you and I are playing "which came first, the chicken or the egg" in the culture vs economics/ wealth game.
It takes a surplus of "time" and "wealth" to create a culture. The wealth is needed to free up the creative individuals time, so that he can transform his "spiritual" ideas into some medium that can be shared and enjoyed by others (be it art, architecture, music, literature, etc.)
It used to be that only the kings and aristocrats and pirates had sufficient wealth to create cultural artifacts by becoming the patrons and means of support for the more skillful artisans. Some of these artifacts were based upon their actual needs, others upon their higher spiritual aspirations. A castle, or an Excalibur, a suit of armour, or a shield emblazoned with a decorative "spirit" symbolically representative of it's owner (ie Aeschylus - Seven Against Thebes).
And kings had even greater wealth than nobles, and so could afford to hire the most skillful artisans and become patrons to the most skillful musicians who were able to produce what might seem to be wholy superfluous luxury items like a "Branbenburg Concerto" or a "Requiem" for the purpose of entertaining the "spirits" of the king and court.
Inferior artisans worked for the less wealthy, or produced cruder "necessities" like pots or storage jars for merchants. And even these, when sold to wealthier patrons, got "juiced up" with artwork and "spirits" like mythological themes. (ie Athenian pottery).
But as the "surplus" of wealth accumulated, it also got redistributed, as the wealthier classes spent more and more on satisfying their spiritual needs.
And more and more individuals were able, therefore, to share in the bounty (provided it was made secure by strong borders and good internal laws protecting private property) because the artisans themselves were now able to do likewise and begin spreading the wealth.
This also lead to increased populations and new pursuits for those new citizens no longer "needed" to grow food and provide life's necessities, but available to become artisans living in cities and working together to "produce" more common necessities AND, increasingly, more "spiritual" goods for the greater unwashed masses. And then the efficiencies inherent in a smart "division of labor" and "specialization" of labor enabled the mass production of many goods.
And once the common man's actual Maslow "survival" and "safety" needs were satisfied, the new artisans concentrated on fullfilling "higher" more spiritual needs or providing superfluos services. As more and more wealth was generated, this openned up new "markets" for goods. Unfortunately, this also openned up new markets for "evils".
For what makes "culture" culture is that it has a "direction". The market isn't culture. The market is an uncultivated garden with NO direction other than feeding it's suppliers. It aims at feeding EVERY seed and desire that might land within the confines of the plot, and gaining more wealth to enable it to satisfy it's own increasingly spiritual desires.
But let's face it, some human spirits lead us up and make us "better", and other spirits lead us down and make us "worse". And a culture SHOULD distinguish between these two directions, and "push" it towards making us "better".
And so we can begin to argue what "better" means. Because I don't think "better" means satisfying mans "carnal" or "destructive" desires, for these are the very elements that one must "forgoe" in order to create that surplus "time" ever so necessary in creating a culture or "eventually", a civilization. For a civilization is the result of a successful culture that is able to "internalize" those thoughts of what is "better" on the very souls of the inhabitants of that civilization. They are written into the brain's right hemisphere as a "group norm" which conscience prohibits him from violating. Superego. Ego Ideal.
And so along comes a "counterculture" which wishes to be "liberated" from these constraining "ego ideals" and "civilized norms" so that it can indulge it's baser instincts and satisfy previously denied carnal pleasure, the need to destroy, and kill, to eat ones enemies (cannabalism) and exalt in one's superiority and conquest of others.
And those, mr. ducky, those are the degenerate forces you seem to wish to unleash.
I can't say as I blame you. I do advocate taking periodic "sabbaticals" from civilized behavior and doing precisely what members of the counterculture desire to do. But I also believe that these "digressions" be infrequent, brief, and followed up by efforts to "inform" people why these sabbaticals are not to be indulged in 24/7 (ie - The Greek tragedies subsequent to Dionysian festivals).
And so, for those who think that blacks in inner cities are oppressed, I would simply point to the market place and television and say the hip-hop "culture" exists. It is focused on "degenerate" values, but nonetheless, it exists and represents that even the poorest members of American society have a surplus of wealth that they can invest in fullfilling "spiritual" as opposed to "necessary" desires.
What we can do to lend "direction" to our culture is a topic for another time. But the market is NOT a culture. It's "uncultivated".
-FJ
...and so Plato explains again, what Veblen misses. Desires fall into the class of the infinite, whereas abilities seem to fall within the class of the finite.
Would you agree that we should aspire to increase man's "abilities" and provide recommend "limits" to his "desires" and try and achieve an equilibrium? For that's where I think a man's happiness lies. In developing and utilizing his abilities to the fullest, and thereby achieving his "self-limited" desires. For this is "will to power" in action.
-FJ
BB,
Did I answer your question as to the multi-millionaire duck's role in this whole market-culture thing?
I wonder if the duck realizes that if the international markets begin to fail, and the people of Boston become unable to sell their "time" on the world market, and he could soon see the value of his properties plummet as their geographical "desirability" diminishes and Boston becomes simply the market for my garden's surplus vegetables and wife's fresh baked loaves of bread.
-FJ
For I do think it high time we "weed" out some superfluities from the market. And an "American" market limited to cultural "goods" would be just fine with me. I'll continue to forgoe hip-hop, the I-pod, and Cell-Phones.
-FJ
...and occassionally take a vacation on Bourbon Street to indulge in an UNSANCTIONED counter-cultural distraction. A smokey room, flashy women, good liquor, and a little Monk and trane being resurrected on the stage.
-FJ
samwich,
Do you have Suzie Coozie's number? I'm hoping to be in San Francisco soon, and it's been a while since I've eaten a good meal on Castro Street. Oops, almost forgot, Mrs Farmer is joining me this trip. Never mind. She know's there's a wolf at the door. Fisherman's Wharf/ Pier 39, here we come. ;-)
-FJ
Interesting reading, by the way BB. I seem to recall researching some of the connections between the Khazar's and the Arab conqueror's of Spain... letters back and forth... financing agreements and the like. But I forget the details. Perhaps you can post a "review" of the book once you're done. I'd be interested in your thoughts about this "lost" tribe of Israel.
-FJ
FJ, of course the title The Thirteenth Tribe is a playful tease. The author makes clear that the Khazars were not the thirteenth tribe and certainly were not Semites.
Research while reading,
DNA studies show that Ashkenazi Jew's DNA have a strong "far east" component. Also some interesting conclusions about "cohanim" and "levite priest" DNA. Ashkenazi Levite's DNA show the same far east component and is not as "pure" as Sephardic Levite DNA.
Early Polish synagogues were constructed in what is described as "pagoda" style because of the roof lines.
Early Polish Jews wore kaftans and skull caps. Kaftans originated in the far east. The skull cap (yarmulke) was worn under a eastern style fur rimmed hat. There is a strong probability that the word "yarmulke" came from the Turkish "yamurluk." I previously thought that the distinctive dress came from the near east. I am now inclined to think it came from Turk far east roots.
The Encyclopedia Judaica does not have a Khazar entry. Initially I am prone to think that mainstream Jewry wants to ignore this part of their history since it is not a good fit with their own beliefs about the origins of East European Jewry. In short Turk roots would be an embarrassment.
The book is a tale of languages, bi lingualism, and the encounter/merging of different peoples. I look out my door and see a similarity between my era and the Khazars the masters of bi lingualism and merging with others.
The read continues.
"Just because you're comfortable, Farmer, doesn't mean you're free."
Mr. Ducky, as a Baptist I tell you that I am indeed free because of the joy of my salvation. Sometimes I am comfortable, sometimes I am not. The promise was God's salvation for his people, not ease. I do, however, have constant comfort in that promise.
FJ, nothing more satisfying than back yard vegetables and homemade bread in the oven.
FJ, I cannot live without my cell phone, have no need for the constancy of the ipod, and certainly prefer almost anything to the unbridled lust for the misuse of women that hip hop represents.
BB,
Perhaps we differ soley on the cell phone issue do to my inherent need to "step out of time" and indulge in universal timelessness. The last thing I want to experience, while doing that, is a call from Mrs. Farmer asking me to stop off at the store and pick her up a quart of milk. Hence I refuse to wear either watch or other forms of "electronic" or "mechanical" leashes. I wear a "soft-watch" instead that lives in my head.
-FJ
BB,
You might find the following Wikipedia link interesting... the Khazar Correspondence being linked to some of the information I had researched previously
Bulan (Khazar)
-FJ
FJ, I embrace old age and senility. That's what our culture tells us, old age = senility. So, I go quietly and use my senile condition to great advantage. Oh, today is Tuesday? I thought it was Thursday, or I would have been there for sure. October? I thought it was still September. No, you called me on my cell phone three times? I forgot to put it on the battery charger again. I forgot to turn the ringer back on. I left it in the car when I went in the store. I forget, I forgot, I will forget. Get it?
FJ, I don't care for the Wikipedia concept that much. It is ok for the wary, like Big Bubba, but, not suited for the unwary.
My first stumble on your link was the statement that the Khazar language was "Old Turkic." I have a problem with that. The Khazar language was must certainly a Turkic language specifically the Oghuric(Hunnic) Branch of the Turkic Family. I guess since it is dead some may say it is an "old" Turkic language.
Second stumble was the articles assumption that the reader would understand the meaning of the terms "Bek" and "Khagan" and what the difference was between the two.
My point is that when reading Wikipedia caution is always required.
Agreed, Wikipedia for the wary. Primary Sources for the scholar. I just thouht you might get a kick out of the translations. Ooops, secondary sources that. I tell you, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew need to taught in gradeschools again!
-FJ
Veblen's ideal from "Theory of the Leisure Class" (aka - where mr. ducky is headed)
"At a farther step backward in the cultural scale -- among savage
groups -- the differentiation of employments is still less
elaborate and the invidious distinction between classes and
employments is less consistent and less rigorous. Unequivocal
instances of a primitive savage culture are hard to find. Few of
these groups or communities that are classed as "savage" show no
traces of regression from a more advanced cultural stage. But
there are groups -- some of them apparently not the result of
retrogression -- which show the traits of primitive savagery with
some fidelity. Their culture differs from that of the barbarian
communities in the absence of a leisure class and the absence, in
great measure, of the animus or spiritual attitude on which the
institution of a leisure class rests. These communities of
primitive savages in which there is no hierarchy of economic
classes make up but a small and inconspicuous fraction of the
human race. As good an instance of this phase of culture as may
be had is afforded by the tribes of the Andamans, or by the Todas
of the Nilgiri Hills. The scheme of life of these groups at the
time of their earliest contact with Europeans seems to have been
nearly typical, so far as regards the absence of a leisure class.
As a further instance might be cited the Ainu of Yezo, and, more
doubtfully, also some Bushman and Eskimo groups. Some Pueblo
communities are less confidently to be included in the same
class. Most, if not all, of the communities here cited may well
be cases of degeneration from a higher barbarism, rather than
bearers of a culture that has never risen above its present
level. If so, they are for the present purpose to be taken with
the allowance, but they may serve none the less as evidence to
the same effect as if they were really "primitive" populations.
These communities that are without a defined leisure class
resemble one another also in certain other features of their
social structure and manner of life. They are small groups and of
a simple (archaic) structure; they are commonly peaceable and
sedentary; they are poor; and individual ownership is not a
dominant feature of their economic system. At the same time it
does not follow that these are the smallest of existing
communities, or that their social structure is in all respects
the least differentiated; nor does the class necessarily include
all primitive communities which have no defined system of
individual ownership. But it is to be noted that the class seems
to include the most peaceable -- perhaps all the
characteristically peaceable -- primitive groups of men. Indeed,
the most notable trait common to members of such communities is a
certain amiable inefficiency when confronted with force or fraud."
---
Destination - extinction.
-FJ
A loaded gun and the warrior spirit is a strong deterrent to extinction.
World human population if it ever adopted Veblen's society with no leisure class...6 million.
We've only 6 billion humans to get rid of mr. ducky, then we start living in Nirvana! Woo Hoo!
-FJ
Emerson, "Suum Cuique"
The rain has spoiled the farmer's day;
Shall sorrow put my books away?
Thereby are two days lost:
Nature shall mind her own affairs,
I will attend my proper cares,
In rain, or sun, or frost.
-FJ
Apropos of almost nothing, I tried this book, Dictionary of the Khazars, didn't get too far. It's a fascinating idea for a book, told in three sections (Christian, Muslim, and Judaic) and supposedly there are two versions of the book, "male and "female," that differ in crucial sections. I'm not a big Borges fan; this book plays the same sort of textual games, and my patience for any fictional reading is at an all-time low these days, but it was sufficient to interest me in that subject.
When today's generation reads Jack's books or they listen to the music created by some of us, I believe that they see there is a different way of approaching today's life and today's sometimes seeming hopelessness that can provide answers.
--David Amram
I think with our problems with hopelessness and cynicism that [the solution] ultimately has to come from the young people themselves. We've got to realize we are the future and we make of our future what we make of it, and ultimately we have to do it for ourselves.
--Chelsea Clinton
-FJ
The message for hopelessness from thousands of years ago is still very applicable today,
Psalm 35:9 (KJV) And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
Norm, I think to describe Pavic's work as avant-garde would be an understatement.
Bubba, do you mean to say it is "avant-a-clue?"
Norm, I will confess to being clueless, or, maybe it is just too late in the day for me.
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