Posted by David Kopel:
Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_12_21-2008_12_27.shtml#1229970196
In my December 13 [1]column for the Rocky Mountain News, I pointed to
declining interest in reading as one of the reasons for the financial
problems of newspapers. One response I received was from a
professional sports journalist. I've editted it a little bit, and
omitted some details. The writer's point of view is strongly stated,
but, I think, basically correct:
...It was nice to see the word "cretin" to describe the vast
numbers out there who don't think reading is important.
All I can say to people who don't care right now about whether
there's a local newspaper or two in town - or don't think it's
important to democracy - is: enjoy living in a Big Brother,
oligarchy some day real soon. Because if there is no independent,
operable press keeping a check on power and exposing its wrongs
then that is for sure where we'll be headed as a country.
I also think it is NO coincidence that our country is where it's at
right now, because people aren't reading enough - and newspapers,
included.
Everybody just wants to be "entertained" now, and for them that
means having nothing to do with books or newspapers and everything
to do with stupid video games, "reality" (there's a laugh, there's
nothing real about it) TV and other total wastes of time.
Now that many of these people are out of a job and wondering why,
because they often didn't/don't have the intellectual capacity to
do think themselves out of their predicament and why they got into
it in the first place - my response is: maybe you should spent more
time reading newspapers and learning about your world and your
community, instead of wanting to be "entertained" all the time by
stupid stuff.
And I'll also freely admit that sports has played a large role in
our great dumbing down of society. ESPN is a great, wildly
profitable business. It's also a killer of young men's minds.
People who might normally spend a day reading or going outdoors and
meeting people and learning more about the world instead stay shut
indoors watching crap like televised poker and two-hour long NFL
pre-game shows and moronic round-the-horn gasbag, sports "debate"
shows.
Add in all the dumb radios sports talk, regional 24-hour sports
networks, and you've got a lot of absolute crap that young guys
spend their time watching instead of picking up a good read.
I work in the sports media business, so I sound like a hypocrite,
and maybe I am. But I think I'm telling the truth. I TRY to at
least engage my audience a little bit, with some humor and
intelligence, and not just blowhardedness, like many TV sports
media types do.
References
1.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/13/kopel-web-not-bias-offing-papers/
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