This is a sort of "You know what really grinds my gears" blog rant so be forewarned.

You know what really grinds my gears? The news industry. Not so much the industry as a hole but the content that it provides and how manipulated and insignificant it has become. I guess its a matter of preference really as to what "news" is important to each individual. The part that makes me angry isn't that fact that I turn on the television or log online and see stuff like:

The Octomom
American Idol
Remember "insert 80s celebrity here"
Susan Boyle
"insert big national murder investigation here" (craigslist killer)

The part that makes me angry is that this stuff gets coverage because its popular. People actively are interested in this stuff and it stays on front pages and gets repeated coverage over and over again. This isn't news. This doesn't effect my life one bit. To me, its a waste of time to think about and a waste of brain power to even care about what the hell that lady that had 8 kids said on some talk show. It scares me that in an "advanced" society as the U.S., there are hoards of people out there that consider this news and think its pertinent to their current and future livelihood.

Right now I log onto AOL.com from my work computer and the headlines read:


Accused Killer breaks down (craigslist killer)
Outbreak hits United States (swine flu)
Twists of fate (lightning strike kills motorcyclist)
Private stars divorce drama
Kim Kardashian dyes her hair blond (Holy ****!)
Serving up some eye candy - singer denies he's dating waitress
Drink Blocks Burger Fat
Major Chain offering $5 menu items
Biggest Fashion mistakes to make
ex heavyweight champ dies
neighbors from hell
fiery car wreck flies into crowd
Dealers compete for your money (this is literally is just an add for a website)
Pint Size ladies man (child gives dating advice)

I'll stop there but you get the idea. Probably the thing I was most interested in was that Swine Disease that has popped up a few places. It's even on the front page of the WSJ for Christ sake. 150 people world wide have died from it. Yes its sad, but does that warrant the coverage it has gotten? Especially when you consider the fact that 36,000 Americans die every year from Influenza (The flu).

I found this video that sums up my feelings pretty well.




In conclusion, it'd be nice if the companies responsible for reporting the news would report on topics that have real importance to world events....again, it'd be nice but it probably isn't going to happen. And I'm fine with that, I just won't take what Fox News says to heart and go about my day. What I really wish, is that the majority of this country (and the world) would stop looking at the news for their daily source of entertainment and drama and start looking to it for information and knowledge on current events that is actually educational. It'd be nice to grow up in a country where the majority of the population was not raised on a diet of The Surreal Life and E Hollywood News.

The end.