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Re: Colonial Resistence
JOHN LANGDON (LANGDON@GANDLF.UINDY.EDU)
Mon, 6 Dec 1993 10:29:19 -0500
In message writes:
> Apparently, Americans can decide that I have these rights and
> that they will be exewrcised on my behalf in this case, and in this way.
> How did I come by American rights? How did I lose Canadian responsibilities?
> Is this about *our* freedom to know, or about *your* freedom to tell? Sex
> sells, but when did it become my duty to buy?
No one seems to have addressed this part of your question. The answer is that
the American press has imposed on our rights as well as yours. Their right to
tell us about such lurid fare supercedes anyone else's right to ignore it. Yes,
I can (and do) choose not to watch television, etc. (I read about this
particular case in Newsweek), but when you consider how thoroughly the "Long
Island Lolita," the "Hollywood Madam" and the "Separated Member" have permeated
our culture, it appears we really are at the mercy of what the media decides
they want us to know. "We" in this case refers to anyone in the broadcasting
range.
I think it is a telling sign of the degeneration of the media that
(1) any interesting story becomes an obsession with the press to the point that
important but non-sensational news gets ignored; and
(2) so much of the story quickly devolves into coverage of media coverage.
What you suffer from is not neoColonialism but tyranny of the tabloid mentality.
JOHN H. LANGDON email LANGDON@GANDLF.UINDY.EDU
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY FAX (317) 788-3569
UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS PHONE (317) 788-3447
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46227
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