J. Ojanpera

Every time I read a news story, I have to activate my "political agenda filters" to make sure I get the information and not the ridiculous spin from the source. This is not a new phenomenon.  I like to think that most journalists try really hard to make their work great, but the corporations they work for -the people who are sleeping with this party or that party- have lost the point of disseminating information and exchanged facts for political agendas. It seems to be a giant ass-kiss, and we are left to sort through it. Hopefully someone is sorting through it. The truth is that Americans have taken passive reading to the stratosphere, and just want to be entertained. Southpark is a great example of this. It is more informational to watch an episode of a raunchy cartoon than it is to sit down and read a well thought political report. That's what America has been begging for; please make it easy. Unfortunately, some things cannot be dumbed down enough to reach the passiv...

One day I wondered what it would be like to be a journalist. It was a Wednesday. I met my obligations that day despite entertaining my wonderings. By the end of the day, I added up how much media, created by "professionals", that I had taken in. I listened to forty-five minutes of news/talk radio, which consists of weather, traffic, local news, national news, commercials, and two local hosts making tongue-in-cheek cracks at the headlines. I listen to this program in the morning while taking two of my girls to school; but only when they are too tired to talk, and excluding the days when they want to listen to REM. It is my way of ensuring myself of being "informed". Only forty-five minutes? Yeah, that's it. It has proven to be sufficient to date. I realized that if you want to know something, your options should not include great quantities of mass media. There is always a message being solicited whether you are conscious of it or not. This media has followed th...