Lucia

de Vernai

Read Lucia's bio and previous columns

August 18, 2008

Only Real News for You, Mr. Serious; Sure . . .

American pluralism is apparent in our media as each national newspaper site or blog carries the newest coverage of Russia’s war on Georgia next to the scoop on the Stephen Colbert run-in with angry officials of yet another Town of Canton, an “incorporated outhouse,” all under a picture banner of Michael Phelps’s gorgeous, um, face and accessorized by a Vonage ad.

These competing options force you to make a difficult choice: What’s worth reading? The trouble with so many choices is that the decision-making process is that much more complex. Trying to be conscientious, we venture into the Local section, presidential election coverage and sports (not necessarily in that order).

But let’s be honest – even if our conscience steers us clear of ESPN.com, even Fox News or the New York Times can tempt us with iPhone reviews or fall fashion previews. You know that you should be on top of the Barack Obama infanticide bill story. I could get on the civic duty soapbox and remind you your priorities . . . but that won’t change the fact that both of us would rather read about college football pre-season training than dead babies.

The pretension emanating from people that “loooooove” the Economist, Wall Street Journal or read “nothing but” Atlantic Monthly has a street name – bull. Unless you’re the type to jump out of bed and rush to a computer to see how many Southeast Asians died in the typhoon while you were sleeping or if they confirmed the John Edwards baby mama rumors, sticking to the serious stuff is more of an obligation than a pleasure. It’s a dose of what The Daily Show host Jon Stewart calls a “morning cup of sadness.”

Yet it looks like even NPR-worshipping Americans tired of another news hour with high gas prices and a struggling housing market are coming to terms with their need to see the lighter side. A 2007 Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll found that Stewart, a fake news anchor, is fourth out of American’s most admired journalists. Even if Stewart’s sense of humor (or political leanings) are not up your alley, the program has made it more acceptable to say, “Oh yes, Russia’s decision to attack Georgia at this time – given their previous territorial struggles – is quite fascinating . . . it’s also quite depressing, alarming and it makes me want to watch the U.S. open a can of it on the Russians at the Olympics.”

It’s not a matter of trivializing or ignoring hard news. Rather it is a way of acknowledging the effect it has on us. As much as human nature loves to rubberneck at every accident and disaster the AP can photograph, striking balance in the kind of news we consume, and being honest about it, may make the process less of a dreaded compulsion. After years of hiding RADAR magazine under my bed for fear of compromising my serious, “legit” news-only persona, now indulging my light-news cravings makes reading the Economist more bearable. Come to think of it, putting up my Michael Phelps poster may help with that too . . .

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