Opinion: "The Information Age" - Part 2 of 2........

What we are witnessing is not an entirely new phenomenon. In the late the late 19th century there was a similar information explosion and as today it was driven by technology. The Second Industrial Revolution was nearing it peak in the late 19th century. One of the by-products was the ability to mass-produce newspapers. As more and more newspapers were published the need increased to draw more and more readers. The publishers did so by focusing on sensationalized news and often misleading stories. This trend became known as "Yellow Journalism". It reached its zenith in the late 1890’s during the crisis with Cuba over the sinking of the battleship USS Maine in Havana harbor. Though cause of the Maine’s demise was not clearly know, many used it as opportunity to blame Spain. One of the most influential newspapermen, at the time, William Randolph Hurst said "You provide the pictures and I’ll provide the war." Other papers at the time took up the battle cry "Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!" The result of all of this was the Spanish-American War.

Can anyone argue that we not living in a similar age now? Sensationalized news, celebrity gossip, human-interest stories and trivial events being blown out of proportion dominate our news. The obsession with the Michael Jackson trial, the Scott Peterson trial, the OJ Trial are all examples as is non-stop coverage of JoLo, Britney Spears and the all the rest. All this leads to a distorted sense of reality.

Crime in this country is much less of a problem then it was 25 years ago. During the late 70’s and 80’s people actually questioned the very future of the country. However, with every abduction and murder leading every news broadcast and with the associated commentary and analysis the public comes to believe that the world is going straight to hell. This is not necessarily true.

The recent death of Pope John Paul II is another example of gross media overkill. The day the Pope took most gravely ill the cable news channels began a non-stop death vigil. They did this to the exclusion of all other news. This obsession with ratings and the bottom line has lead the major media in this country to become myopic.

One could even argue that the media’s treatment of events since 9/11 and the government’s response have born a striking resemblance to those of the late 1890’s and the event surrounding the sinking of the Maine.

"Amusing Ourselves to Death" was a book written in the mid-1980’s by Neil Postman. It was a warning about the negative effects of television on society. In a recent issue of the "Weekly Standard" columnist Andrew Ferguson referred to Postman’s work in his column on effects of television. He notes that Postman’s dystopian vision of modern life was less Orwell’s "1984" but more Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World". Postman writes:

"no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy,
maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to
adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books.
What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to
ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read
one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information.
Huxley feared those who would give us so much that
we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell
feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley
feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.
Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley
feared we would become a trivial culture."

Can any serious observer of modern American society deny that part of this analysis is not correct? Have we not in large part become a "trivial culture"? I would argue that to deny this truth is equivalent to burying ones head in the sand.

Another negative side effect of the information explosion is what I call the cherry picking of information. In the past individuals engaging in political debate had more the less the same sources and a common frame of reference. Today news and information runs the entire length of the political spectrum from far left to far right. As a result people are able to get their news from sources that match their own political opinions and biases. Be it newspapers, talk radio or websites. Consequently, when there are political disagreements there is no longer agreement on a common set of facts. Each persons "facts" are suited to their own positions. What used to be an honest intellectual debate has degenerated into little more than professional wrestling. It is a glorified shouting match where each party regurgitates their "facts" until the next commercial break. When it comes to politics we no longer talk to each other we talk at each other. Both sides thinking they have the "facts" on their side. Jeff Greenfield on CNN asked some time ago whether their was any source of information that both sides in a political debate would regard as credible. Sadly, for at least the time being I think the answer to that question is a resounding NO.

The Information Age is upon us and there is no turning back. Quite frankly, with all its faults, I would not have it any other way. Despite all, the proliferation of information has been a good thing. In the end, we all need to be wiser consumers of information. We need to learn to read between the lines. We need to use this abundance to our advantage and expose ourselves to as many different points of view as possible. We need to think for ourselves. We need to learn that more is not always better. We need to realize you can’t believe everything you see and read. Most importantly, we need to tune it out once is awhile and concentrate on what really matters in our lives. This will take some effort but if we can do these things we will be just fine.

Sources:

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/yellow.htm

Andrew Ferguson, "Turn Them Off. Turn Them All Off." The Weekly Standard, March 28, 2004

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_American_War