The Virtual Record of My Opinionated Rantings

"If I had to make a choice, to choose the government without the press or to have the press without the government, I will select the latter without hesitation."

-Thomas Jefferson

Any time you study something, it’s great to have access to an expert in that field. The best way to learn Mandarin would be by having a study buddy who just happened to be from China. The best way to learn about cooking would be from a master chef. The best way to learn about the print news media is from someone who lived in it.

Bob Wiggington is one of those people. He spent years working as a journalist, doing everything from hiring reporters to traveling to high-conflict areas in Afghanistan, before he ended up teaching at Lindenwood University. On Monday, I, along with my fellow classmates, had the opportunity to just listen to him talk.

Despite the demanding deadlines and people who couldn’t have been crueler, Mr. Wiggington told us that working as a journalist was likely to be, “the greatest job I could ever have because I felt like I was doing something.” Newspapers have always been the citizens second line of defense against the government (with the first being the Constitution). He pointed out that with the widespread layoffs that are a result of more and more people getting their news either online or not at all are going to cause us as a nation widespread problems dealing with our government. When the politicians are only hiding their dirty laundry from 100 people instead of 100,000 it becomes infinitely easier to simpler.

Over the last week, I’ve been thinking about this. Is the only reason the media may fail to do their watchdog duties because there are fewer journalists? Is there more to the story? I spent one week paying more attention than ever before to the print media, and some things became clear.

First, I found it impossible not to agree with Mr. Wiggington on the fact that many papers (USA Today, St. Louis Post Dispatch) may very well be to busy pandering for readers to actually care about stories and content any more. Brightly colored cover pages illustrate every story with blown up shots of sports teams, politicians, and celebrities to the point where one can’t tell the lead story from the filler.

Another thing that may worry me and no one else is the fact that, for the last few months at least, it would seem that all brackets of the news media are too busy falling head-over-heels in love with Barack Obama to report objectively on just about anything political. Were we to rely wholly on the print news media, we would know only that this “Mr. McCain” has been trying to steal lovely Senator Obama’s thunder. For my token bit of editorial in this blog, I must say that I hope in the end of this love fest, the press gets herpes, because they obviously aren’t using protection.

Then again, that last sentence obviously has nothing to do with the facts and everything to do with the fact that I’m racist.

Media...what is media? (You are probably reading this and wondering why I'm bothering with such a stupid hypothetical question, seeing as the only people who may read this are in my class on the subject, but bear with me.) I tried defining the term myself in a clear and concise manner, but I failed miserably. As a result, like any good Gen Y-er, I went to Google for the answer.
Among other things, media is defined as, "A vehicle or group of vehicles used to convey information, news, entertainment, and advertising messages to an audience." Now that I had a proper definition to work with, I could really wow the Internet!

Like it was supposed to, this got me thinking about what this mysterious being is and how it impacts me. Then I realized I am too strong of will and mind to be impacted by such things (that was sarcasm. I felt I should point this out seeing as it's in writing and not in person), so I focused more on the effect it has on my sisters.

My sisters, Kara and Lauren, and 12 and 10, respectively, and I love them to death. They are also heavily influenced by the media, specifically the pop-tween genre (don't Google that term, I just made it up). They have their Jonas Brothers T-shirts from the $100 a ticket concert they went to, they own copies of every High School Musical movie and like to sing and dance like prostitots the girls in the movies. They love Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana (which they tell me are two totally different musical styles and attitudes) and they use Disney’s made-up slang.

I finally learned that there is actually a name for this phenomenon. My sisters, as young and short as they are, are models. Well, they participate in modeling, a behavior in which they take on the behaviors, clothing, and sometimes even speech patterns that the media tells them are preferable. Don't get me wrong; if my sisters are going to be influenced by what television calls cool, I'd much rather they get their influence by some teenage boys wearing purity rings or a teen star who just wants people to like her for who she is.


As dangerous as it is, I started thinking more. "Self," I said, observing how ridiculous it was to talk to myself at 2AM, "if Kara and Lauren, who are so young and who are only exposed to a select amount of media, can exhibit this behavior, what would happen if I took a closer look at my peers?"

While waiting for my room mate to fall asleep after that odd awakening, I figured out the answer. While my sisters and their friends may blatantly model themselves after Disney stars, my political circle definitely proves that we only hear what we want to, but we let what we want to hear influence us by giving more fuel to the fire of our political fervor.

My conservative friends get their news from Fox News, while the more liberal among them tend towards internet sources (blogs, The Daily Kos, and other such sites). In most arguments between these groups, the respective side will quote verbatim from the canon of their particular news source. In 9 cases out of 10, these supposed "news bites" will be more biased than [insert something really biased here].

I suppose that all I'm trying to say here is that the media holds great power over our nation, specifically the future of it. This power is a responsibility, though they seem to treat it like a toy at times. I never thought I'd write an argument where Disney ends up acting infinitely more responsible than the people giving us the news.

Oh well, there's a first time for everything.

On a warm day in September, sitting in a swing outside of Roemer Hall I met Ruben, a freshman student from Panama. Wearing his Abercrombie shorts and Chuck Taylor’s, he seemed more than acclimated to the American social scene.

I figured I break the ice with a pretty standard American greeting.
“How much influence does American media have on you in Panama?”

The answer was “a lot. We are very, very influenced by American media.”

I asked him to clarify.

He told me that on cable, he “had 300 channels, and 230 of them were American. 70% of our broadcasting is from the states.”

He said that for international news, almost everyone watches CNN (and BBC, but we don’t care about those silly Brits, do we?), but for obvious reasons they watch local television for national news.

Ruben’s favorite shows are all on MTV. I learned this when he started talking about shows I’ve never seen. Then again, I spend more time on the internet than in front of the TV.

Not only did he know more about American television than I do, but also about American fashion. When I asked him about what sort of American advertisements he’d seen, he mentioned Abercrombie, Dolce and Gibbana, and American Eagle. “These brands I’m saying, I knew them from before I came here.”

I asked if he and his friends act and dress like Americans and he said that depends a lot on your social circle and social standings. “Cheap places sell American clothes, but they’re knock-offs.” He and his friends watch American television and he arrived in the states with an Americanized wardrobe.

“How about American movies. How many do you have in Panama?”
“Oh…a lot…”
“All of them?” I asked.
“All of the good ones. About 85% of the movies are American. When you go to the movie theater, most of them are American.”

In Panama they have access to newspapers like The New York Times and The Miami Herald, but when I asked if he read them often he replied no, that only the “elite people read those.”

“Does the government have any restrictions on the media?”
“No,” was his simpler reply. There are no restrictions on speech, but he said they also don’t have many problems with things like hate speech that would require governmental interference.

When I asked him about the internet, he told me that he has a Facebook account and his homepage is MSN. After a short pause to swap Facebook information, we got back to business.

Ruben was great at beating me to the punch when it came to questions. “Panama has a lot of different kinds of people…but mostly Americans. Americans and Panamanians obviously.” He went on to say, “If you have a country that is mostly Spanish people, they will be influenced by Spain…a small country might not be influenced by much…we have a lot of Americans, so we are influenced by America.”

I would try to make a better conclusion, but I don’t think I can.

Millennials, like the generations before us, are an anomaly to our elders. We are something new and unique and mind blowing. The entire market is changing to accommodate us, and we can’t but bask in the glory…

But are we all that different?

The answer, I’d have to say, is yes. While I’m sure there are gross exceptions to the rule, I’ve gone through the checklist to see if I’m fit to call myself a member of Generation Y and found that I’m fairly textbook.

I get up in the morning and allow myself time to check my e-mail, web comics, and news blogs before class. I have a Facebook and a MySpace and (obviously) a blog. I am readily capable of navigating Google and YouTube. I’m writing all of this on my laptop while listening to music that may or may not have been downloaded from a website based in Russia. The only time my cell phone leaves my pocket is to charge at night while I sleep…or stay up IMing the same people I would be calling. The apparent monotony of the Internet is endlessly amusing when you have the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel.

What I’m saying is that yes, I am a pretty standard example of Generation Y, but only in the technological aspect.

I understand to demands of a job, and I don’t intend to be allowed to work in shorts, wearing flip-flops, or during any hours I please. I don’t honestly think that as many of my contemporaries as some sources would want us to think do. Certainly, a fun workplace is a perk, but one would have to be entirely idiotic to believe that they will spend their days making the fortunes they feel they deserve lounging on a couch in torn jeans after stumbling into work around noon.

Then again, who am I to have an opinion as to this generation’s character but a naive an optimistic member of it?

Included below for, really, just my own amusement is a spoof on the 60 Minutes coverage of Generation Y.

...I was just filled with an overwhelming desire to talk about something none of my friends want to hear about at 1AM.

Sarah Palin, John McCain's VP pick, is a headstrong, intelligent, beautiful woman with integrity, grit, and...what is that other important thing...oh yeah, EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE.

I'm sorry to burst any liberal bubbles (that's a lie; I'm not the least bit sorry to do so), but she has as much, if not more experience in an executive capacity than Senator Obama would have after his term in office, should the American people choose to lose what few wits they have elect him. (And if his time as President would be anything like his time as Senator, he'd spend most of that term campaigning for Emperor.)

Please, I beg of you, try to tell me that being Governor of Alaska makes her less prepared than being a Community Organizer (whatever that is) in Chicago. Please.

Try to point out that being a member of Congress makes Obama, who managed to find time to write two memoirs but no legislation, who voted 'present' over 130 times, more eligible for the presidency simply as a result of his proximity to the nation's capitol. I keep forgetting that experience pandering to the bureaucracy is more important than experience leading people and making real decisions. (It should be noted that in her time both as Mayor and as Governor, Sarah Palin never once voted 'present.' Then again, 'present' isn't an option when you have real responsibilities.)

Jump down her throat for sticking to her platform which is pro-life and pro-family by not aborting her own child when she learned he was suffering from Downs Syndrome, and by not casting out her pregnant daughter Bristol, who is marrying the father of her own child.

While no one would have any qualms if Mr. Palin were the nominee, please remind me that she should not be running for office as that will take time away from her family. I hear Democratic women are allowed to have jobs and things...radical idea when it comes to bite you in the butt, isn't it?

Also, I invite anyone to correct me if I was misguided in my belief that Obama didn't write his own acceptance speech any more than Sarah Palin did.

So yes, bring to me your poor, your weak, your huddled masses. Bring me your confused and your self-righteous. Better yet...bring me an argument against Palin that won't hurt the Democratic ticket if applied to the illustrious Freshman Senator or his running mate. And in the mean time...tell me that Piper isn't adorable.