I’m serving a writing residency right now in the upper Michigan woods–no TV, no McDonald’s, no newspaper. Other than the noticeable lack of such Dollar Menu stars as the Sausage Biscuit, it’s marvelous.
One problem: I still get news.
Oh look– it’s that story, again, some more. Via
This is because I still have internet access. Which I would wither up and blow away without, I’m the first to admit. But even if I weren’t a poli-news junkie, constantly refreshing my daily crack mix of blogs, news sites, and Twitter feeds, the fact that Kelly Preston had a “silent birth” would still make its way to me. Even non-news websites cram the home pages with news headlines, streaming updates, and Twitter trending topics– even when there’s really no news at all. It can make even a 30something nostalgic for the days when TV news broadcasts were fifteen minutes long– no features about dog fashion shows, no banter, no yelling from the sports desk.
Sometimes the saturation is helpful when there really is actual news– on the day I flew cross country across three connecting flights to get here, the new Congress was taking the oath. I was able to follow the story simply by glancing up at the walls of the gates and newsstands and my rolly bag and I shuffled past.
There’s a price we pay for about a dozen 24-hour news stations all running the same five stories, aside from that pesky little problem we sometimes have if everybody’s running with identically wrong information. If you’re in the market to standardize a society, that’s good. We’re all going to get the same content whether in San Diego, Austin, or Maine. But here’s the thing: Information shouldn’t come off a Dollar Menu.
