Spring Break
Hard news important for info diet
ANNA DEAN For The Red & Black
Issue date: 6/21/07 Section: Opinions
Finished the crossword? Take these two pop quizzes:
Quiz A:
1. Name Georgia's senators.
2. Who is Ban Ki Moon?
3. Name four countries that surround Iraq.
Quiz B:
1. Name Angelina and Brad's children.
2. Name four celebrity couples that broke up this year.
3. Who recently has been romantically linked with Justin Timberlake?
If you didn't have to think twice on the first set of questions, well, you can stop here. If you answered both quizzes correctly, welcome to my world.
But if you aced Quiz B and were stumped by Quiz A, put down your Us Weekly for a second and humor me.
All too often I hear adults say that young people know nothing about news and current events, and I want to defend my generation. I truly do. But from what I can tell, the adults are pretty much right.
The young'uns' problem is rooted in our insatiable need for sensational journalism and celebrity "news."
On some levels, I want to blame the media for force-feeding us this kind of sugary celebrity gossip in supposedly legitimate news broadcasts, newspapers and magazines.
But, I also know that the editors respond to increasing demand for this information, and that's what is driving out the news we need to know.
It seems to me that knowledge of celebrity news actually is inversely related to knowledge of hard news.
Take my Friend A. She is the girl whose main priority on Thursdays is to get the new Us Weekly. She plans each evening around E! News Live. Friend A knows absolutely nothing, I mean nothing, about politics, world news or even Athens news. "Now, who is Nancy Pelosi?" is an actual question she recently asked me.
Take my Friend B. She watches the news every morning and reads a newspaper (other than The Red & Black) when she has a break on campus, and she is completely clueless about celebrity gossip. She recently asked me which celebrity named a child Shiloh, which to her is more of a dog's name.
In no way do I exclude myself from the fascination with celebrity. I have been caught perusing People.com too. I also love ice cream - but I certainly haven't tossed out the whole food pyramid to eat ice cream at every meal.
I recently read that entertainment news is like vitamins - you should have enough to survive on, but too much surely will kill you. I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head.
So, my point isn't that you should burn your library of People, Us Weekly and star, and TiVo C-Span. Just be aware that this information is pure entertainment - a guilty pleasure.
We are about to inherit the world - including its problems. Our ever-warming planet is full of violence and political unrest, and it is up to us to do something about it. But if we know nothing of the world, we are helpless.
Let's try to change this celebrity news obsession into something more productive. The next time we turn on E! News Live, maybe we should flip to the world news, or instead of buying People at the checkout, well, let's just put it back. I don't think there is much of intellectual value at the checkout.
Then drive to Border's and buy an Economist. And dare I say it, instead of going to pinkisthenewblog.com or some other source of pure speculation, let's talk about the day's current events.
I think it's more important to know who is in line to be our next president than whether John Mayer and Jessica Simpson are on or off today.
-Anna Dean is an alumna from Birmingham, Ala., who majored in magazines.
Quiz A:
1. Name Georgia's senators.
2. Who is Ban Ki Moon?
3. Name four countries that surround Iraq.
Quiz B:
1. Name Angelina and Brad's children.
2. Name four celebrity couples that broke up this year.
3. Who recently has been romantically linked with Justin Timberlake?
If you didn't have to think twice on the first set of questions, well, you can stop here. If you answered both quizzes correctly, welcome to my world.
But if you aced Quiz B and were stumped by Quiz A, put down your Us Weekly for a second and humor me.
All too often I hear adults say that young people know nothing about news and current events, and I want to defend my generation. I truly do. But from what I can tell, the adults are pretty much right.
The young'uns' problem is rooted in our insatiable need for sensational journalism and celebrity "news."
On some levels, I want to blame the media for force-feeding us this kind of sugary celebrity gossip in supposedly legitimate news broadcasts, newspapers and magazines.
But, I also know that the editors respond to increasing demand for this information, and that's what is driving out the news we need to know.
It seems to me that knowledge of celebrity news actually is inversely related to knowledge of hard news.
Take my Friend A. She is the girl whose main priority on Thursdays is to get the new Us Weekly. She plans each evening around E! News Live. Friend A knows absolutely nothing, I mean nothing, about politics, world news or even Athens news. "Now, who is Nancy Pelosi?" is an actual question she recently asked me.
Take my Friend B. She watches the news every morning and reads a newspaper (other than The Red & Black) when she has a break on campus, and she is completely clueless about celebrity gossip. She recently asked me which celebrity named a child Shiloh, which to her is more of a dog's name.
In no way do I exclude myself from the fascination with celebrity. I have been caught perusing People.com too. I also love ice cream - but I certainly haven't tossed out the whole food pyramid to eat ice cream at every meal.
I recently read that entertainment news is like vitamins - you should have enough to survive on, but too much surely will kill you. I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head.
So, my point isn't that you should burn your library of People, Us Weekly and star, and TiVo C-Span. Just be aware that this information is pure entertainment - a guilty pleasure.
We are about to inherit the world - including its problems. Our ever-warming planet is full of violence and political unrest, and it is up to us to do something about it. But if we know nothing of the world, we are helpless.
Let's try to change this celebrity news obsession into something more productive. The next time we turn on E! News Live, maybe we should flip to the world news, or instead of buying People at the checkout, well, let's just put it back. I don't think there is much of intellectual value at the checkout.
Then drive to Border's and buy an Economist. And dare I say it, instead of going to pinkisthenewblog.com or some other source of pure speculation, let's talk about the day's current events.
I think it's more important to know who is in line to be our next president than whether John Mayer and Jessica Simpson are on or off today.
-Anna Dean is an alumna from Birmingham, Ala., who majored in magazines.
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