So! Charlie Sheen went to rehab, apparently. While this doesn’t necessarily come as a shock or even a surprise (Charlie could do anything: worship the occult, drive a tractor into a children’s hospital, sell coke, and America would still plonk down on the couch for Two and a Half Men, probably in even greater numbers) the surprise came from where I heard about it. Ok magazine? No. Woman’s Day? Ok, I’ll cut the suspense: half-way through 3 News. Maybe it was a slow news day (a puppy search-and-rescue story promptly followed) but come on, Mikey Mc-R!
In any case, I think ‘Sheenwatch’ qualifies as what Dan Rather – the ex-newsreader whose voice whistles like a kettle – calls ‘junk media’. Junk media is a product of media concentration. (Reminder: nowadays there are six media conglomerates that the Monopoly guy gave all the best properties to and most of the control. … in this case the Oligopoly guy, I guess.) You don’t get to be as colossal as they are by promulgating substance as a guiding ethos: ratings are key. This basically involves extensive ‘McDonaldsisation’ (I can’t believe that’s a legitimate term but apparently it is). That is, to get where they are, you need to become the Pepsi of media, the Kentucky Fried Chicken of newspapers, and the Starbucks of television news: News media systems become analogous to fast food restaurants. Your products suck, you’re fully aware of it, but they’re enjoyable to consume: that’s where the Charlie, Tiger, and MJ updates come in.
Junk principles are recognised norms for shows like Rock of Love Bus, The Hills, and American Idol, which we already know are sensationalist, vapid, and over-the-top. The problem is that there’s been a trickle-down effect, where we’re learning American standards for television news through osmosis. It’s not that Charlie doing lines of coke off strippers’ backs or whatever he’s up to isn’t interesting; it’s just that it isn’t newsworthy. On the other hand, Bill Clinton sleeping with his rotund secretary is an example of personal information that we need to know about (The leader of the free world should probably be thinking about the United States Congress rather than extramarital sexual congress and so on with the half-baked wordplays ad nauseam). So there are distinctions to be made, but at least try not to swallow too much junk media, it’s bad for you.
The Media and Me - 02
