Could you please tell me some more about athletes' marital problems, CNN?
It is an unfortunate fact of life that "news" services in US are in sorry, tepid state; and to get decent news coverage one has to use better international sources (BBC, or any european agency), or turn to non-daily/non-TV alternatives (magazines, which still offer reasonable in-depth coverage). But this on-going idiotic episode with a celebrity golf player's domestic issues takes the cake as the low point for this decade (maybe competing with media's criticless bashing of UN Iraq nuclear inspectors back in 2002 -- but I digress).
1. What could POSSIBLY be more important issue?
But hey, there have been recent orgies of lesser relevant news (did Michael Jackson's or Ann-Nicole Smith's deaths really warrant being top news entries). Why is this any different? Aside from being even less relevant -- honestly, gossip pages, or perhaps sports section (... which is ridiculously inflated part of local newspapers and TV programmes, anyway...) would have been better placements; and for respectable publications, possibly not even those -- than anything comparable in recent history, there is the thing that there has actually been lots of newsworthy things to write about.
Like, say, that gathering of world leaders in Copenhagen; discussing urgent (and eventually life-and-death) matters of saving the world. And in domestic section, well, there's plenty of economic stuff to write about, or the thing about medical industry and insurance. Oh, and hey, wasn't there a war of sizable portions also going on (actually, two, but who's counting).
In fact, I can't think of a reason for this even ranking on page 7 of thursday edition of the local newspaper. There are tabloids, after all, that could cover this stuff. Well, except that in US, it's not "newspapers vs tabloids"; it's mainstream (tabloid level) and fringes ("news of the world"). Even mainstream sells manufactured controversies (trademark of tabloid in other countries) and social porn.
And yet, somehow what irritates me most is that I noticed that CNN followed up on this stupid episode like a hawk; as if it really was a major story.
2. What did that "N" originally mean?
So why pick on CNN? After all, CNN is to News what MTV is to Music -- sad, irrelevant misnomer. Ted Turner would be rolling in his grave was he not alive. I guess it has more to do with the fact that CNN is ostensibly in the news business. Newspapers and most other networks are in general "media" business; they are also News dilettantes, spewing some amateur-level newsy stuff. But clearly TV networks are more into general entertainment; and newspapers into advertising with some commentary columns (well, actually, they also do do some local news stuff -- useful and sometimes noteworthy -- maybe I am being too harsh -- but only local, seldom even reaching to regional level).
So it's that when even entities that claim to do News fail to do that, well, that's pathetic.
3. Message to mr. Woods
Ok; enough ranting about sad state of US media. But here's a personal message for the nominal cause of this red herring of a news: Tiger, go stuff that golf club up your ass. Sideways. I don't care about your business (personal or otherwise) -- but it appears that your messy business has suddenly become my business. Stop it. Go, disappear. And for crying out loud, don't cry out loud in public. It is so pathetically unmanly that I feel nauseous. So, grow a spine (a pair you apparently already have). Whatever else you do, do NOT cause more media events. You are rich enough to afford to do whatever that other stupid athlete did after murdering his wife (of hey, yeah, come to think of that, do not do what that guy did in the end -- just the initial part of trying to keep low profile).
