Watching NBC's <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/dateline_front.asp?ta=y">Dateline</a> tonight. The whole show dedicated to Danger Behind the Wheel with sleep-deprived drivers and a story they originally aired 5 YEARS AGO about road rage. It seemed so innocent, so, "helpful." Yet, the commercials appear and what do I see, but... <img src="http://www.nbc.com/promotes_images/283.jpg"> <img src="http://www.nbc.com/imgs/mov_201x176_roadrage.jpg"> That's right, ROAD RAGE, the movie!!! <i>Road Rage Saturday, August 25 9/8pm Yasmine Bleeth (Baywatch) and John Wesley Shipp (Dawson's Creek) star as a couple tormented by an angry driver (Jere Burns, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles) when his "road rage" spins out of control. TV-14</i> Great.
And not even an original movie idea. I liked it better the first time I saw it. It was called the Duel.
They are doing it a lot in Austin with the local news and I think it is disgusting. The worst case I know of is on Sunday nights. Fox used to show the new X-files at 8, then a re-run at 9, and the news at 10. I used to like that since I am an X-files fan, but they have changed the format. Now they run the new X-files at 8, the news at 9, and an X-files re-run at 10. This is all a crappy plan to make you watch the local news and to top it off they ALWAYS do a tie-in to the X-files.... which is freakin' stupid, because they have to do things like "Talk to an Austin woman who was abducted by aliens last year".
My Soap Box for the Day The first thing everyone should accept is that there is no such thing as news stories anymore. It is all entertainment media. Who ever pays the most $$$ to get the story, has the most successive alarming headlines or has the most financially profitable ax to grind is the "true news medium" in todays culture. The next thing you must realize is that there are probably as many true journalists out there as there are credible centers playing this fine professional game of basketball. The most compelling reason to call yourself a journalist is the protection that it affords while you publically decide what the truth is for all the sheep that you have enticed into listening to you. And get paid handsomely for doing so, I might add. The next thing to remember, but unfortuantley likely not the last, is that the art of being able to sell your public duty to the highest bidder is an art form in itself. A journalist must be able to lie with a straight face (" ... Carrol O'Connor dies while in love nest with Sally Struthers infant alien ..." or " ... Insert Current Political Faction with ties to your industry,Company or Owner Here has the will of the people.... ") and yet stately and firmly claim thier undeniable right to do so as a protection built into the constitution by our fore fathers .... because .... and this is where the straight face comes into it .... our forefathers wanted to protect the citizen populace against overbearing, tyrannical power-mongers. I used to place journalists well above lawyers on my list of accomplished and respected professions/people. Not quite as high as teachers, blood donors and Mother Theresa. But up there somewhere in that direction. But as attorneys have plummeted over the years, the profession of journalism has more than kept pace. It now occupies the same place concurrently with the slugs of the legal system. In the darkest, dankest reaches of that rat infested hole called the bottom of the s**t barrel. Even the ones that on occasion stand up with some brief honest and unbiased approach ...... still deserve our unabashed disgust. Because even these harbingers of glad tidings will not publish, print, document or comment on the prostitutional attitudes and prevailing lack of mores from the other 99.9999999% in their profession. I see no difference between Dan Rather and Jerry Springer except it is arguable who makes the most money. No difference between Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw and the WWF's "Mad Man Donkey", except it is arguable who makes the most sense. No difference between Larry King or Sam Donaldson and Papa Soprano except the previous two wear toupees and Soprano does not. Just business folks. Just trying to make some money. Nothing personal. Just trying to entertain. Lead-in Announcer: " ..... No Americans Involved as Bomb Blast kills 117 women and children in the Middle East ...... and ..... Great News for Egg lovers ... these two stories all in the next hour .... but first a message from our sponsors ..... OPEC your friendly fuel people - Power to the Right People .... and .... the makers of EggoPros the hybrid chemically enhanced alternative to old style hen-laying .... are you ready for the future ...... A sad state ... that fifth estate.
