This is news?
Wow, the mainstream news media really sucks lately.
And I think the last time I bought a gallon of milk was 2 years ago.
The next story to read on CNN after this is the 25 profiles of what people are going to do with their stimulus rebate checks.
I have to admit, I did read these, and most of these are just people plotting to buy more cars or get extensive car repairs done so that they can capitalize on any future gas tax holidays.
Here’s another funny graphic from the CNN site:
I really like the graphical presentation of this. Clearly this is Issue #1. It’s even more important than that Obama lapel flag pin thing.
Also, a whole article about the price of pizza. That sounds entrancing.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
The cost of milk is definitely news. Food prices, especially for grains, are going up all over the world, causing a potential food crisis. The cost of grains is killing dairy farmers because it drives up the price of milk causing people to stop buying it. Plus, milk is a basic human staple, and when poor people can’t afford it, they start to suffer. It’s agriculturally significant, economically significant, and significant on a human level.
Sorry for the rant, I write about this stuff all the time in my current job.
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 am
My problem is that I think that all of this media (let’s focus on CNN for this example) is superficial pandering to get more page views.
These issues are more complicated than “Forget Gas, worry about Milk”.
Really there are much deeper underlying issues like Peak Oil, corruption in the government, our shaky financial system, birth rates, etc etc. These things are hard to write about and keep people’s interest, so they aren’t going to be discussed in any detail on sites like CNN.
(I’m sorry if my post was overly sarcastic or came off as elitist.)
I think there are more in-depth news outlets out there that cover these issues in detail, but even papers like the NYTimes write ridiculous stories that are all about getting page views rather than presenting a real story. A week or so ago there was a story in the Times saying that blogging leads to death. I have a hard time believing that that story is about anything but making a story out of nothing to get traffic.
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:28 am
I have another one for you.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/29/autos/gas_engine_improvements/index.htm?postversion=2008050216
Headline: Gas Engines are Here to Stay
Their source for this information:
“For the foreseeable future, the gasoline engine will stay the predominant power source,” said Uwe Grebe, General Motors’ executive director for advanced powertrain engineering.
Awesome reporting.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:58 am
I started writing a bunch of stuff here on these topics but I erased it…think I’d rather just talk to you guys long-distance sometime instead…
I hope you take in enough progressive news/analysis content b/c that fragmented, distorted, headline-oriented mainstream news diet can get you down fast (at least for me)…
Don’t let the bastards get you down!
Particularly milk-drinking, pizza-eating, gas-guzzling, flashy-headline-reading bastards!!
;]
Now where’s that stimulus rebate check….. It’s time for my brain-control Rx refills……..
May 7th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Haha I agree completely.
I do feel bad for not being clearer that I wasn’t saying that hunger isn’t a problem… just that CNN sucks.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Yeah, what the heck? Milk is already over $4 here in DC (as is gas). Freakin’ crap…
April 28th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Liebe gr??e aus Bayern. Wriklich schicker und vorallem Informativer Blog. Weiter so! :-)