In this regular feature, I’ll provide some headlines from the Net which strike me as fine examples of the Mainstream Media’s relentless efforts to dumb down, distract and otherwise confuse the public… I should begin by letting you know that I’m absolutely a fan of pop culture (in reasonable doses), but the Mainstream Media can often aim astonishingly low. Granted, they need to make a buck, and preying on base instincts while harnessing the cost benefits of mind-numbing redundancy has proven a perennially effective profit model. And, “Heck,” they argue, “Why should the media aim higher when they’re simply giving the public what they want!?” Point taken, but where does the public turn to get what they actually need? With wars raging around the globe, America sliding ever downward in global prestige and financial autonomy, oil filling the Gulf of Mexico, hard drugs crippling societies and municipalities failing economically, our friends in Mainstream Media are essentially arguing we should ignore the problems and go about shopping for banal trivialities. Here’s a look at a few recent headlines from MSNBC: Read the rest of this entry »