My grandfather subscribed to the Washington Post for twenty years. And, for at least eighteen of those years, he bitched about the Washington Post. They were a bunch of liberals, in his mind, and thus the paper was unreadable. He still read it. Probably so that he could bitch about it.
Having said that, I can't read the Washington Post anymore. It's not so much that they're "biased", although honestly, I don't know how you can look at an editorial board that ranges from Bill Kristol to George Will and complain that they're too liberal. The problem is that either their editorial board or their readership are not much interested in the same things I am, and they're interested in things that don't interest me very much at all.
Case in point: we were gone for the last week, so I wanted to catch up on the news. According to my favorite bloggers, there have been huge protests in Iran, which the regime has cracked down on with great force. I've been reluctant to talk about "revolution" in Iran, but it seems increasingly safe to talk about illegitimacy. This, it would seem to me, is really important.
When I went to the Washington Post website, however, I found no stories whatsoever on this issue. None. Instead, the three main stories were about some dumb douche who tried and failed to blow up a plane. This, clearly, is the most important thing happening in the world.
Now, I understand that some people care deeply whenever some nutcase tries to blow things up. And I'm certainly glad that the guy failed. But, I just can't relate to those people who think that one creep with a bomb is all-important, but a venerable and ancient nation yearning for modernist reforms is totally unimportant.
Ultimately, I feel like news sources like the Washington Post are aimed at those people who believe that danger is lurking everywhere in the world, and who seek out validation of that belief whenever possible. If you're looking to gain a deeper understanding of the world, you're out of luck. If you like to run around screaming on a regular basis, they're happy to oblige.
Having said that, I feel no need to read or bitch about the Washington Post ever again.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
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2 comments:
slightly tangent, but not so far away... I just finished reading Chuck Palahniuk's latest, Pygmy. It seems to have been authored on the premise "What if all our worst fears are TRUE!!?!"
Not his best book, but a fast read, and certainly shines some light on this mentality.
I didn't even know he had a new book. My brother-in-law is a fan- I should ask him about it.
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