By Dave Mesrey
Despite mountains of
evidence illustrating its utter fucking insanity, Americans continue to
publicly fund the construction of shiny new sports stadiums for the benefit of
a few, all while our public school systems are in shambles, leading to an
ever-ignorant public who cannot or will not recognize these stadium schemes for
what they are.
All the while, the
state of American journalism is so sad that few well-trained journalists (RIP, copy editors) can even afford to work in their field
anymore.
The few well-paid
journalists left, like WXYZ-TV Channel 7’s Carolyn Clifford (sorry to pick on
you, Carolyn; my TV reception’s not so good, and I can't afford no stinkin' cable), are all
too often reduced to the role of cheerleader.
What Detroit's Channel 7
did tonight in prime time (an hour-long special gushing over the shiny new Pizzarena downtown) was a disservice to the viewing public and a disgrace to the fourth
estate.
At the very least,
WXYZ should've displayed an onscreen graphic identifying it as a paid
promotion.
Instead, Clifford & Company acted as if the Ilitch family's sparkling corporate playpen would solve all the city's woes.
America needs to
find a way — and find it fast — to fund major, legitimate journalistic
enterprises that truly serve the public good. And I'm not just talking about NPR and PBS.
Instead of
continuing to set aside public funds for another wealthy businessman to build another fucking big top
(bread! circuses! stadia!), maybe it's time to start earmarking public dollars to help
support a truly independent mass media — professionally trained reporters
who aren't beholden to their corporate overlords, free to inform and educate
the public instead of merely entertaining them.
As demonstrators
marched in the streets of Detroit tonight outside the gilded gates of Little Caesars Arena to protest the headlining act and his (ahem) complicated relationship with the
Confederate flag, Channel 7's Clifford displayed nary a clue as to why anyone anywhere would object to Kid Rock christening yet another field of schemes.
Independent journalism is in its death throes, comrades.
The question is: Can we can stop the bleeding before it's too late?
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