A month without Sarah Palin sounds fantastic to many people, which is why a Washington Post columnist is calling for a Palin-free February.
Dana Milbank wrote a column in which he called on journalists to refuse to mention Palin’s name in February. Milibank said he has written 42 columns about Palin since she was named as John McCain’s vice presidential candidate; Milbank writes that other journalists have mentioned her even more.
However controversial she may be, Palin has one thing going for her: The issues she talks about matter. I’m not saying this as a Palin ideologue. I disagree with Palin on virtually every political issue, and I laughed as hard as anyone at Tina Fey’s impressions of her during the election.
I may not agree with Palin but I appreciate that ideas she has could affect me personally. Her Twitter discusses topics like the economy, the national debt and gas prices. Her Facebook’s notes section is full of her thoughts on foreign policy, extending tax cuts for the wealthy and shutting down National Public Radio. These things matter because they impact the way I live my life.
However, Charlie Sheen’s hernia and subsequent entrance into rehab do not affect the quality of our lives at all. Yet, CNN broadcast that story repeatedly and placed it in the headlines of CNN.com. After CNN’s intrepid reporting on Bill Clinton’s weight loss for his daughter’s wedding, however, Sheen’s drama seems like hard news.
We don’t need a break from Palin. We need a break from inane pop culture.
The way our society views news is incredibly bizarre. On Jan. 28, riots broke out across Egypt. Protestors were calling for the Egyptian president’s resignation. The government responded by blocking access to the Internet. The situation impacts our nation’s relations with Egypt, and many Americans are caught in the violent situation.
Naturally, newspapers and other news outlets reported on this story, as they should. But some of their other headlines that day focused on Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush’s ‘bromance’ (CNN.com), 80s pop stars Debbie Gibson and Tiffany co-starring in “Mega Python vs. Gatoroid” (Yahoo News), famous Knicks fans (CBS.com) and the Kardashian sisters (The Boston Globe).
I know that celebrities sell papers. I know that George Clooney is way hotter than the British prime minister. What I don’t know is when and why Kim Kardashian graduated from the entertainment section to the headline news section of news outlets.
It’s time to purge ourselves of this celebrity gossip. Instead of ignoring Palin’s frequent political positions, we ought to block out trashy celebrity scandals and unimportant articles about who Taylor Swift is dating this week. These stories are fun, but they aren’t news. They belong in specialty magazines like People and Us Weekly, not in the headline sections of major news organizations.
No one person should dominate the news, but Palin is far more deserving of our media attention. Focusing on Palin’s many tweets and Facebook posts gets old, but her thoughts are far less vapid than Snooki and J-WOWW. Palin has the capabilities to change our everyday lives. Jersey Shore does not.
Palin’s commentary is not always necessary. But is she more relevant than many things making headlines? You betcha.
— Kate McPherson, University College freshman
The Oklahoma Daily is pleased to provide you the opportunity to share your thoughts about this article. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or straying from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of OUDaily.com. Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register
mixo6753 1 year, 3 months ago
Thank you so much. This piece has reminded me that there are still people left who have some culture. I completely agree with your opinion. I dont care about Kim Kardashian...at all. Im an american soldier who has the possibility of getting deployed to Egypt. The riots in Egypt is something I didnt know and wouldnt have known had it not been for you. So agian I thank you for writing about what matters. I will be reading your columns from now on.
pretty_proliferation 1 year, 3 months ago
As disagreeable as politics may be, I do agree that we should be more informed with world, national and state news rather than the "news" involving famous individuals. Why glorify them while we have serious issues on our hands? Maybe it's to deter the attention of the bad towards something a little lighter, or maybe it's to satiate and perpetuate our instinctual curiosity.