What's Trending, What's most Popular and When's The Latest Upgrade?

There is so much information out there these days that it seems like all anyone pays attention to are:

*What's trending according to Yahoo News
*Most Popular on Youtube
*Most Popular on Facebook
*When is the newest iPhone upgrade is going to be released?

It's as though the news creators, of which there are countless, realize you have too many choices.  To combat this, they narrow things down into bullet point headlines, scrolling news timelines and screenshots to make it easier.  [Or more than likely, to steer you toward the things they want you to read about.]

I believe it may have been Walter Cronkite who first coined the term, infotainment, to describe how the reporting of hard news was morphing into something else entirely.  He spoke of the concept way back when the internet was still in its infancy and most people I knew (including myself) didn't have a cell phone yet and e-mail was a mind-boggling concept.

The informative news broadcasts of current events from our parents' day and age, is becoming more and more diluted by popular culture.  Now, there are no boundaries to what constitutes "news."  In fact, what's trending is more driven by the public than ever before.  Just look at the shows that hit the top ten on the Nielsen Ratings any given week.

Things that made headlines this week:

Nurse Jackie actress, Merritt Wever wins best supporting actress in a comedy and proceeds to give the quickest Emmy speech ever-- out of what can best be described as good old-fashioned stage fright.  I watched the video, as did many people.  In my opinion, it's far from newsworthy, more like a fluff of a news item.  I will admit that the frightened Wever is adorable as she flees the spotlight, Emmy in hand.  Her reaction is much like many of us would have-- if we were convinced we were a dark horse in an Emmy race and then we end up winning.




Sarah Silverman is still Jewish.  After an appearance on FXX's Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell, the Jewish comedian is spotted wearing a cross necklace.  Oh, the horror!  Who the f*** cares?  Sarah must be laughing about this.  I mean, really.  I'm not Jewish, but I do have a Star of David necklace that I've worn out in public.  No one gives me shit about it.  Ever.  But then again, maybe they think I really am Jewish.  I sorta look the part, I suppose, but I'm not a public figure so no one cares anyway.  Everyone feels the need to be nitpicky about crap when you're a public figure like Sarah.  Wear whatever you want, Sarah.  Oh, and also, when you're done with those rock-star black boots you were also wearing during that interview, I'll take 'em off your hands, er feet.    

Louis C.K. hates cell phones.  The Youtube video of the comedian's appearance on Conan this week, quickly went viral.  For the record, Louis C.K. never actually said that he hated cell phones.  He was just commenting on how they've taken away a few crucial elements that make us human:  Things like face-to-face interaction, the ability to feel empathy, being unafraid to be sad, really, f***ing sad, and the ability to just be-- without anything else.  Louis C.K. was just giving his own opinion on things that the more intelligent of us have already thought.  And that, by the way, is one of the secrets behind the popularity of his FX show, Louie.  Minus the phone and the little screen, take some time to just sit there and stare at a wall and get to know yourself and your own thoughts.  You may in fact, learn something.

Post content Copyright © 2013 by KLiedle

Stop The Presses; Roll The Cameras

"I hate snoops," Holly Golightly proclaims early on in Breakfast At Tiffany's. She'd taken care of herself a long time and felt no need to answer to anybody. And why should she?

I'm a snoop. That's right, I said it--er, wrote it. Given a choice, I'd prefer the term sleuth, but that implies that I'm playing detective and searching for something in particular. And I am no Nancy Drew-- that's for sure. I wouldn't even consider myself in the class of Harriet The Spy. I barely got through that little wimpy kid's diary-- I mean journal, but whatever.

This dirty little trait of mine dates back to childhood. In those days, I was an expert at unwrapping gifts and re-wrapping them to perfection with no one being the wiser. I got away with it for years of Christmases past until my little brother squealed on me. [ I could've told him that his beloved Castle Grayskull was from mom instead of that jolly red giant named Santa, but I didn't want to be mean.] Instead, I took to bugging phone lines and writing in ultra-mysterious code I thought no one could crack... [ 1=A, 2=B, 3=C.] I coiled a bunch of wires together and built a crystal radio that picked up strange signals when tapped into our rotary phone. On most days, I could be found in a tree somewhere, high above the rooftop, looking down on the world and eavesdropping on people. Naturally, these tendencies led to my interest in writing.

Later, I went to journalism school. There, I was forced to read books by the likes of Katherine Graham and Walter Cronkite. Cronkite complained that good, solid journalism was quickly being replaced by what he called infotainment. The integrity of news media and print media itself, he feared, could become something of the past. This was after AOL's annoying You've got mail, but before Kindle and ipods and TMZ took over.

Newspapers ceasing to exist? I thought Cronkite was being a bit of an alarmist. Less than a decade later, my favorite newsstand is now a Tijuana-style vendor stand of noisy, blinking electronic toys and ipod/cell phone accessories. The only magazines left on those dwindling racks are tabloids that everyone reads for infotainment sake, but no one admits to buying.

Lately, I've been spending quite a bit of time in an old newspaper building. As the newspaper moved out, the film crews moved in. This one is playing host to no less than three television pilots in the next few weeks. As the size of the newspaper shrank, so did its news staff. [They moved into a much smaller building to cut their losses.] At the old haunt, the hallways are long and narrow. The lunch room still has tables and a humming refrigerator. Circulation sits abandoned; Advertising is hauntingly quiet, and the presses have been cold now for quite some time.

If there's anywhere where the temptation to snoop beckons, it's on a film-set---especially on-location and especially in an old newspaper building. The typically brutal, long hours and sheer boredom contribute to the childish curiosity of snooping. After twelve hours, you kinda sorta wonder what might be in that desk drawer. You might want to do some sleuthing, that is detective work, to see what was left behind.

Paperclips, old business cards, and photo sensitive tape only tell part of the story. What was this so-called newspaper world like? I'm on the case. I open a drawer or two, in the name of sleuthing. I flip through a pile of papers as part of my investigative work. I am using my journalism degree after all, I tell myself. I find canisters of mints emblazoned with the logos of old sponsors and complimentary ticket vouchers for any Clippers game... during the '93-'94 season. I wonder if they'll swap them out. Probably not. I toss them aside. Then in the bottom drawer of a desk in one corner office, I find a golden nugget--a relic of the not-so-distant past. On a sheet of yellow-lined legal paper, a former newspaper executive handwrote:

"... The business graveyard is crowded with the tombstones of enterprises, including newspapers, that refused to recognize economic reality."

Even the newspaper business, with its most famous saying: All the news that's fit to print [The New York Times] was ill-advised as to how quickly technology would replace it. Turns out, I did think of Cronkite well beyond that journalism class. In those moments of ahem, investigative work, I stopped to ponder how the collapse of one enterprise [the newspaper business] could benefit the likes of another [the film/tv industry.]

Stop The Presses. Roll The Cameras and we begin again...

Every enterprise, every business must change to fit the new era. We may not know exactly what the new rules are, but one thing's for sure: Those who blink will lose the fight.

"Old anchormen, you see, don't fade away, they just keep coming back for more. And that's the way it is."
--Walter Cronkite (1981)

P.S. And that little wimpy kid's diary--I mean journal, but whatever-- apparently, it's now a major motion picture. We've definitely entered a new era and even if we're surrounded by a bunch of morons, it's time we face up to it.

Copyright © 2010 by KLiedle

Photo/illustration credit/Flickr as follows:
Harriet The Spy/Louise Fitzhugh, News Presses/Belly Button Window
Nancy Drew/Peril In Pink