Carr gets it right: In today’s Times, David Carr writes another worthwhile media column, examining the press corps’ reaction to the Obamakids’ interview. We were struck by this passage:
CARR (7/14/08): Malia was more than ready for her moment, gushing about seeing her mother in People magazine along with “important people” like Angelina Jolie.“We’re always looking for younger readers, so it was a nice moment,” said Larry Hackett, managing editor of People. “And I have to say, I find the flap mystifying.”
Let’s be cruel. Things have deteriorated to the point where staffers at People are mystified by the inanity of the political press corps.
Remember the basic analytical category: Your political press spends vast chunks of time on things that aren’t worth discussing. If citizens want to improve the dialogue, we must avoid being drawn into these disputes. We must remind the public of the basic problem: Most of what gets discussed is sheer trivia. Topics that appeal to Dowd/Barnicle/Carlson are, at heart, not worth discussing.
They gave us Bush by discussing these topics. (Naomi Wolf told Al Gore to wear earth tones!) Happy with how that turned out?
