As a blogger these days using news judgment to figure out what to write about is a snap. Facebook’s daily misdeed? check. Homeland on Showtime has gotten good after a slow start? check check. Someone rescued some puppies from a maniac? Awesome.
Finding something zesty in what passes for politics in 2018 is just as easy. Trump and his ilk are a daily content fount of click-worthy, likely illegal, definitely entertaining, stuff to report on. But in all honesty, I stared at a blank screen yesterday and just said f*ck it, I’m not ready. I went outside to plant stuff in my garden.
Stay with me on this one. Political news is filled with so many salacious details these days that the temptation—actually the natural human response—is to be enraptured by an hourly flow of indecent nonsense. Modern-day news media is just as readily available and its addictive pitfalls mirror that of porn.
CAN WE PLEASE HAVE *ONE* CABLE NEWS GRAPHIC THAT ISN’T A PORN MOVIE TITLE #maddow pic.twitter.com/6N9fjXSzoi
— Will Is Social Chair Of Fani Willis Fan Club ⚖️ 🌻 (@bywillpollock) April 19, 2018
Mind you, it doesn’t help that Trump’s reported and proven transgressions are pornographic:
• asking Russian hookers to pee on a bed (via Steele Dossier)
• having extra-marital affairs with porn stars and Playboy models (Vox)
• getting spanked with a Forbes magazine by Stormy Daniels (Mother Jones)
• asking that same porn star to have unprotected sex (The Root)
• being a self-confessed serial assaulter (Inside Edition)
• that time Trump & Comey talked about hookers (WaPo)
Addiction to porn is a serious behavioral problem, writes Leah Miller for Project Know (emphasis mine):
Porn addiction is considered a behavioral addiction that is characterized by an ever-growing compulsion to view pornographic content or material. In the past, a person suffering from an addiction to pornography would primarily satisfy his or her craving for pornographic content by viewing or storing pornographic videos, magazines, and photos. Now, the tools available to feed a porn addiction have since evolved thanks to the internet and other technologies, allowing anonymous access to unlimited pornography at all levels of explicitness.
The tools available to feed news addiction mirror that of the porn industry: it’s everywhere, 24/7/365. And it’s not just that the news sounds like porn; it’s that media companies which rely on ratings are basically counting on your behavior to mimic that of a compulsion. I catch myself behaving that way, scouring twitter for the latest sexy bombshell that I can write a joke about.
Trump white house: "gals should observe lifelong chastity"
also white house: "raw-dogging porn stars is ok because the penis is free"
— Will Is Social Chair Of Fani Willis Fan Club ⚖️ 🌻 (@bywillpollock) April 18, 2018
Please, for the love of Stormy Daniels: find news sources that are anchored in fact. Look for writers, on-air reporters, pundits, etc., who aren’t obsessed with maintaining access to president* Trump or who aren’t spewing cult-speak from a hive mind. Think for yourselves. Shut off the daily White House briefing and go about your day, because Sarah HuckleCountry SandleWood’s lies are more frequent than Trump’s twitter tirades. Yes, really.
Discernment will include rejecting sites that actually have “Fact” in their name:
god bless @PolitiFact—4 @PressSec lies, total. THAT is hilarious. #maddow https://t.co/ETl6oSvYll pic.twitter.com/Eg2DR6wX6G
— Will Is Social Chair Of Fani Willis Fan Club ⚖️ 🌻 (@bywillpollock) April 20, 2018
Resist the temptation to gawk like a crazed rubbernecker, and instead, be extra discerning with where and from whom you consume today’s news. Our republic depends on it. Midterms are coming up in November and everything we do should be working toward that goal. 🔴
Will Pollock
is an Atlanta-based freelance multimedia journalist focusing on pop-culture, politics, journalism & media, retail, real estate, travel, politics, and human interest.
He is the author of two books (Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way. Sign up for the mailing list, follow on Twitter—and check out the book links below. Make sure to comment often—cranky does love company after all.
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