The Loss of Integrity

The Loss of Integrity
-an opinion piece-
By Damon Fillman

PHILADELPHIA--The mainstream media (NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, etc) have single-handedly ruined any kind of semblance this country has had in terms of informational integrity. Important events occur daily that require exposure, yet the major media outlets across this nation continue to over-implement stories that simply have no real significance or value. I've never advocated or praised death, but some people don't deserve to linger in the eternal limelight that is the television.

Ed McMahon, a meager television celebrity who once hosted a show entitled Tv Bloopers and Practical Jokes on NBC, which perpetuated the idea of mindless entertainment that newcomers like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel keep intact, should not run headlines in any news outlet when Iran's Guardian Council rules out annuling the election. http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/23/headlines).

Even the tobacco bill, which Obama signed today, is more significant than McMahon's death because it gives tobacco companies a big, fat, lipstick-seal of approval for their products. Doesn't the American public feel safer when they buy products approved by the Food and Drug Administration?

McMahon's posthumous presence in the media represents a bigger problem within American culture: backtracking and back-logging trivial moments that erase culturual fortitude and dig us deeper into a mentally decomposing state.
Out of all the years Ed McMahon has had a voice (with an audience) and the influence to sell it, he has said absolutely nothing. Since when is groveling to Johhny Carson, to Dick Clark, to your televised "superiors" considered a delicacy?

What made today's events even worse was that after CNN salivated over the opportunity to grab more viewers after a cultural "icon" died, they reveled in the fact that they had McMahon on their own Larry King Live several times. McMahon's death not only shot CNN's ratings up, it also allowed them to brag and promote Larry King Live.

There have been many deaths this year that warrant exposure, men and
women who have been outspoken, progressive and never submissive. To name a few (whether you agree with his or her positions is insigificant as they at least had things to say) John Saville, George Vainer, Ricardo Rangel, and Jack Eddy.

Even men and women who are still alive, detained and in dire need of global awareness(for which television can contribute) are under-exposed and dying in the shadows. How often does the mainstream media report on Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy activist who has been unjustifiably imprisoned in her own home for the past thirteen years?

What we as a culture need is a massive overhaul of ideals. What we currently have can't even be characterized as ideals, but as vomit that is consistently regurgitated and ingested. And if we are to admire our elected leaders, then maybe we should listen to Obama when he suggests forgetting former President George W. Bush's many unconstitutional actions, and moving forward. If Obama said it again, would that get your attention?