What is up, media?

By Ari | May 6, 09 09:33 AM

pets-people.jpgI think the more I read the news the more irritated I get with the media. I wish they were more critical. I wish they didn't just repeat each other endlessly. I wish they spent their time more wisely.

But then I remember that capitalism is probably the cause of these ills. If you're so focused on clicks or issues sold or your stock value, you'll do anything to get people to read you. Even that means you have to spend your time making slideshows like this one I just found while reading Google News, instead of covering, oh, I don't know, maternal health as impacted by economics, or US-led bombings in Afghanistan, or other issues of substance.


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Lately -- possibly because I'm moving into a model where I probably will have to 'monetize clicks' -- I've been hyper-aware of my clicks, that each click is a vote for that sort of content. Some of those mindless stories (though not 'pets with wigs') seem like they might be fun for a few moments, but by the time I'm closing the tab I think "I'm telling this site that I want to see more of this." So I try to be selective.

One exception I sometime make is to click on ads placed by people whose politics I don't like -- with the idea that it will cost them a few extra cents for their message to be ignored. But squaring that with the click-is-a-vote idea is a bit dodgy.

Posted by: Orion | May 6, 2009 10:07 AM

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