The Dumbest Things the Media is Wasting Time On

I teach a media and publishing class, and every week we take a different approach to looking at and critiquing the mass media market. We've looked at media through the lens of cultural influences, religious influences, celebrity influences, political influences, patriotic influences, international influences, emphasis on social issues, evident bias, and evident spin. Thus, each week I end up burying myself in news stories looking for current, relevant examples of just how the media is targeting today's consumers, and what is repeatedly being put, sometimes ad nausea, in front of audiences. I realize that by putting these stories on the blog, I'm just perpetuating the trends, but I hope a little critical commentary on each one will allow (or force) you to think about how you've responded to repeated exposure of these ideas.

1. The Red Starbucks Cup Story:
If you need a quick catch up - Last week Starbucks started taking a lot of heat for revealing this year's holiday cups which are simply red with the Starbucks logo in the middle. Personally, I like the simple, minimal design, but a couple very loud Christian groups have started protesting that the cups weren't "Christmassy" enough, and that they represented society's repeated attacks against the real "reason for the season." Most recently, Donald Trump chimed in to question whether or not we should be boycotting Starbucks as a result.

Why it's dumb - The levels of idiocy in this story seem never-ending. As if Starbucks was trying to make a big Christian Christmas statement with their previous red cup designs? In case you're not a Starbucks aficionado, here are some past cup designs that are apparently deemed as "more acceptable" and "more Christian."

  
 As you can see, none of the designs actually include any Christian iconography at all, but rather very secular Christmas imagery...snow, trees, ornaments, stars, etc. I suppose, by default, tress and ornaments and lights and snow all get associated with the Christian celebration, but really REALLY there's hardly a leg to stand on when it comes to this story. So why and how did it take on a life of its own and end up getting so much attention.

The story you're not being told - Yesterday, sick of hearing about the 'scandal' of the red Starbucks cup, I sought out the truth as to how this story got legs. Turns out it started with a conservative, Evangelical youtube video blogger who sees life in general as an attack on Christian values. He went to a Starbucks, ordered a beverage under the name 'Merry Christmas' so that the barista would have to write something Christian on his cup, and filmed the whole thing, inviting his followers to do the same in the name of preserving the "reason for the season." This guy's reach?? 2,000,000 followers, whom quickly started commenting, sharing, and buzzing about what he had done. As soon as that many people started talking about it, the mainstream media had to take notice, and when the mainstream media took notice, the major mouthpieces of Christian churches, lobbyists, etc. all had something to say about it. Thus, the story took off...not because it was actual news...but because the actions of one, extremist video blogger got a lot of attention for nothing of consequence!

2. The mysterious creature found in California after the "UFO Sighting":
If you need a quick catch up - Earlier this week, a bright light was seen streaking across the sky in southern California. Residents, expectedly, panicked and social media blew up with theories about UFOs and meteors. Things calmed down a little bit after the US military confirmed the light as a planned missile test from a ballistic submarine in the Pacific. Consequently, the fact that it was a missile freaks me out more than if it would have been a UFO. But since the event, media has continued to buzz about a "mysterious creature" that was found not long after the light disappeared.

Why it's dumb - Alien/UFO government cover up stories have been going on forever, and are old news. As to the mysterious creature, I was going to post a picture, but it's kind of gross so I didn't want to! When I looked at it, my first thought was that someone had skinned a cat. It does have a particular animalistic quality to it. If it did indeed show up in someone's back yard the night of the lights however, it seems mere coincidence as...

The Story You're Not Being Told - Snopes, among other online fact checking sites, have identified the creature as the half consumed animal fetus. The general consensus seems to be a deer fetus, and after regrettable Googling 'deer fetus' I would tend to agree with this assessment. What's more, LAX has confirmed that they received notice from the Navy earlier in November that the missile tests would be happening, and adjusted their flight patterns accordingly. Tests are scheduled to last through November 15th, so don't be surprised if another UFO story surfaces before the end of the week!

And finally...the thing that no one is talking about yet, but I predict will be the next thing that we all get upset about...
Yesterday, in response to a question about faith and an Atheist being in the White House, Ted Cruz said that he believed, "The president of the United States should start every morning on their knees."

Beyond the obvious response of religious discrimination...I'm wondering how long before someone points out that the suggested connotation for the female candidates is not really religious at all...and that one of those females is a Clinton, well...

If that ends up going viral, you heard it here first!!

Happy Trails,