The more and more research I continue to do about the news gathering habits of our generation... the more I'm starting to disrespect my own peer group. Even scarier is the next wave of punkly messy-headed hooked in kids. Maybe I'm just getting old. Some of it is ok, like a graf I took out of this article about the shifting generational habits.
"People call our generation apathetic. We're not apathetic toward the news, we just don't want to hear the same old bull crap all the time," said John Fiske, a 22-year-old law student in San Diego and a classic Gen Yer. "Nobody caters to us," he said, adding that the big television news cable networks—CNN, Fox News, MSNBC—"think they can attract young people by playing rap music at the beginning and end of their shows. We see right through it."
True. But it seems that more and more the habit of bleeding out to alternatives is becoming suspect. I guess because it's hard to pinpoint exactly what we want. Like our parents. Their goals where pretty simple: raise a family, picket fence, golden retriever, minivan, solid job, close circle of friends, respect.
Our generation has somehow seemed to poisoned itself. Actually, it seems that we have poisoned ourselves with... ourselves. Everyone is famous. Anyone can be a YouTube star or a MySpace vixen. Hell, its tough nowadays to find someone who isn't connected to an aging reality show reject. Life-styles of the broke and famous. This USATODAY article seemed to capture our spirit pretty damn well.
"Eighty-one percent of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed in a Pew Research Center poll released today said getting rich is their generation's most important or second-most-important life goal; 51% said the same about being famous."
I'm weary because I'm not sure if its the format of news that is changing, but news itself. Are we trying to bring hard news back to our generation? Are we trying to dilute news with sugarcoated garbage so the next generation can swallow it? Or are we saying news isn't important anymore. That because we don't respect current news the way our parents did, that news really isn't that relevant in itself anymore... unless of course its about gadgets, video games, avatars, funny stuff, pseudo-reality or of course, celebrity gossip.
I digress, read the latest GEN-Y headlines for yourself.
Still not convinced? Why not do some "research." And of course everyone knows the best way to that. After all, we probably wrote it.
We need some serious talk about making this project ABOUT NEWS. Talk to you guys tonight.
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