I Can See Clearly Now...
Feb. 26th, 2004 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sisabetNormally I avoid current events here in my LJ like the plague (this is sacred fantasy/therapy -cause I am too cheap to pay for counseling - space) but the whole Howard Stern thing seems a bit insane. The TV made it seem as if Howard was fired from his show, like he was going off the air, or like this was a huge deal for his syndication. In reality, while Clear Channel is huge nationwide - they only carry the Stern radio show in six markets - which is a tiny fraction of his overall audience. Of course one of those markets was Louisville, Ky - but hell - that show has been picked up and dropped several times in Louisville. There is always someone that wants to air it.
I'm a bit concerned about Clear Channel's zero tolerance policy - seems like a guilty when acused situation and in my experience zero tolerance policies are scary since the world rarely reacts in absolutes. Hell, I think Clear Channel is scary in its own right - media giants in and of themselves are disconcerting and then you add in something named "Clear Channel" and I start to feel all brain washed and part of the Umbrella Corporation in Resident Evil. Must eaaat braiiiinnss...
Here is the deal. I like Howard Stern's show. I wish I could find it in Lexington and Dawn says it plays here - but so far I haven't heard it. Oh well - no big loss - but if I could, I would listen to his show. Is it lowbrow? Yes, yes it is. Is it offensive? Almost daily. Why do I/did I like it? It was honest. At least as honest as you are gonna get on a broadcast show and I appreciate that. It was also frequently funny along with being profane - was it funny/profane on the level of South Park? No, but then what is? Yeah, I usually found something to grr about listening to it and there were a few times I had to change the channel (man did not like the Buffy Musical at all and made frequent digs), so I did. But see - that was my choice as an adult - whether or not to listen.
Here is another thing: I don't have to agree with everything someone says to watch/listen/read what they have to say. I am an adult, and while easily influenced by logic and chocolate, I do possess the ability to make up my own mind. I can watch Bill O'Reilly's show (and while marveling at the insanity) not lose my soul. I can watch Michael Moore's "The Awful Truth" and not accept that I am blindly getting the complete story cause guess what? Everyone is biased. You, me, that guy over there. Oh, dude - that guy over there? He is soooo freaking biased. You cannot trust a word he says. Trust me. I am impartial.
::dons halo::
No one is impartial anymore and the people that tried to remain objective lost it due to the influx of opinions from all sides. It was self-preservation and an understandable reaction, but it makes it harder to know what is going on in the world. Here is my solution: Trust no one. Yeah - I know it is dated and all '90's paranoia, but if you ask me, we peaked on paranoia too soon and we burned out due to our neurosis. Now we need to adopt a calmer, gentler paranoia. No more, "OMIGOD, they are all out to get me, what'll I do, what'll I do???" Now we need to state quietly, "Well, no one is out to get me personally because that is stupidly egotistical, but they are all pursuing their own agenda and therefore I cannot trust anyone/anything implicitly for information that is not tainted with their opinion, so now I will have to do some hard work at uncovering the issues and what is happening and then make the even harder connection with how it affects me and how I feel about this particular thing."
Independent Thought. New and improved and in stores everywhere. Available Immediately.
This post has expressed an opinion. No actual real facts were harmed in the making of this post.
I'm a bit concerned about Clear Channel's zero tolerance policy - seems like a guilty when acused situation and in my experience zero tolerance policies are scary since the world rarely reacts in absolutes. Hell, I think Clear Channel is scary in its own right - media giants in and of themselves are disconcerting and then you add in something named "Clear Channel" and I start to feel all brain washed and part of the Umbrella Corporation in Resident Evil. Must eaaat braiiiinnss...
Here is the deal. I like Howard Stern's show. I wish I could find it in Lexington and Dawn says it plays here - but so far I haven't heard it. Oh well - no big loss - but if I could, I would listen to his show. Is it lowbrow? Yes, yes it is. Is it offensive? Almost daily. Why do I/did I like it? It was honest. At least as honest as you are gonna get on a broadcast show and I appreciate that. It was also frequently funny along with being profane - was it funny/profane on the level of South Park? No, but then what is? Yeah, I usually found something to grr about listening to it and there were a few times I had to change the channel (man did not like the Buffy Musical at all and made frequent digs), so I did. But see - that was my choice as an adult - whether or not to listen.
Here is another thing: I don't have to agree with everything someone says to watch/listen/read what they have to say. I am an adult, and while easily influenced by logic and chocolate, I do possess the ability to make up my own mind. I can watch Bill O'Reilly's show (and while marveling at the insanity) not lose my soul. I can watch Michael Moore's "The Awful Truth" and not accept that I am blindly getting the complete story cause guess what? Everyone is biased. You, me, that guy over there. Oh, dude - that guy over there? He is soooo freaking biased. You cannot trust a word he says. Trust me. I am impartial.
::dons halo::
No one is impartial anymore and the people that tried to remain objective lost it due to the influx of opinions from all sides. It was self-preservation and an understandable reaction, but it makes it harder to know what is going on in the world. Here is my solution: Trust no one. Yeah - I know it is dated and all '90's paranoia, but if you ask me, we peaked on paranoia too soon and we burned out due to our neurosis. Now we need to adopt a calmer, gentler paranoia. No more, "OMIGOD, they are all out to get me, what'll I do, what'll I do???" Now we need to state quietly, "Well, no one is out to get me personally because that is stupidly egotistical, but they are all pursuing their own agenda and therefore I cannot trust anyone/anything implicitly for information that is not tainted with their opinion, so now I will have to do some hard work at uncovering the issues and what is happening and then make the even harder connection with how it affects me and how I feel about this particular thing."
Independent Thought. New and improved and in stores everywhere. Available Immediately.
This post has expressed an opinion. No actual real facts were harmed in the making of this post.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-02-26 02:33 pm (UTC)That so needs to be an icon.
Mer
"Right there with you, little brother."
Date: 2004-02-26 03:01 pm (UTC)And ITA as well about media bias. This is why grown-ups have to sit up and pay attention. Assuming that *any* source of information is impartial is a big mistake.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-26 03:56 pm (UTC)Clear Channel
Date: 2004-02-26 04:29 pm (UTC)What a freakin' police state this country is turning into.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-26 10:16 pm (UTC)Sun
no subject
Date: 2004-02-27 02:12 am (UTC)Stern gets booted
Date: 2004-02-28 02:12 pm (UTC)And Stern got the boot not long after he really started going anti-Bush in his show.
If you want a tinfoil conspiracy... the Jackson/Timberlake stunt was intentional, sparks a "controversy", FCC creates new rules, and Clear Channel offers a Bush critic as a sacrificial lamb.