I haven’t watched The Today Show (or any other morning “news” show, for that matter) in years.  I used to watch about 45 minutes to an hour of the show every morning while I got ready for work.  My television was my alarm clock.  It would go on when it was time to get up and it would go off when it was time to leave for work. 

And then Al and I combined households and the morning routine changed somewhat, including a different alarm system.  So, I don’t see The Today Show anymore.  And I can’t really say that I’ve missed it. 

This morning, a friend and I were chatting and she was telling me that The Today Show has become The Michael Jackson Memorial Show.  Apparently, Matt Lauer was touring Neverland (which, I’m sure, will become known as Graceland West) and their “news” coverage was all about Michael Jackson, his will, who will raise his children, the controversy surrounding his upcoming concert tour, blah, blah, blah. 

And so, my friend said that she was going to write a letter to the producers of The Today Show:

Dear Producers:

I can assume by the coverage of Michael Jackson that everything is resolved in Iran, the troops are peacefully leaving the urban areas in Iraq, and Afghanistan is totally awesome?  Oh, and the drug wars in Mexico are under control, the health crisis has been solved, and the economy is peachy keen?

Honestly, Americans need to get over their fascination with celebrities.  Yes, the death of Michael Jackson warrants a bit of coverage… but this All Michael Jackson All The Time stuff is getting completely out of hand.  Is there nothing else that The Today Show could be… or should be, as a supposed news program… covering? 

I understand that The Today Show is simply providing the programming it thinks its viewership wants.  Therefore, I guess I can only bestow upon them 50% of the blame.  The other 50% of the blame goes to the people who are eating this shit up with a spoon, knife, and fork. 

Do people really care more about who is going to raise Michael Jackson’s children than they care about the situation in Iran?  Do Americans find Michael Jackson’s Last Will & Testament more newsworthy than, say, what’s going on with health care in this country?  How does the death of a celebrity trump actual news, not to mention issues that really affect people? 

Of course, I’ve never understood the whole paparazzi thing either.  Why are tabloids so willing to pay these people money for photos of celebrities… or, perhaps more accurately… why are people so interested in seeing candid photos of celebrities that it becomes good business for tabloids to offer paparazzi such outrageous sums of money for these kinds of photos? 

So, my friend and I have now dubbed The Today Show “Entertainment This Morning,” as it has officially become as sensationalistic, voyeuristic, and unnewsy (can’t you just hear Stephen Colbert’s voice when you read that word?) as Entertainment Tonight. 

Wake me up when it’s over and we can return to our regularly scheduled news programming, which has been in progress all along, but the “mainstream” media* has just chosen to ignore.  Bah!

*Thankfully, most of the blogs I read have been covering actual newsworthy current events. 

July 2nd, 2009 | Category: Current Events, Entertainment, Gripes, National | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL