Trivia - replace information with junk trivia

A subtle form or acculturation is the undermining of real sources of information by substituting repetitive trivia in the name of meaningful news. See how often any of the following appeared on your favorite newscasts. Do an actual count over the course of a week or so. You’ll be amazed at how formulaic and substanceless most of the so-called ‘news’ really is.

Intelligent political debate has been obviated and obscured by trivia: game shows and reality television; fashion; political leadership races (where nothing of substance is discussed but media coverage is immense); Hollywood stars; movies; sensationalist "news"; and so on ad nauseam. Obfuscation indeed.

Some of the more common forms of this obfuscation are:

  • Brand name news: Some teenage singer’s new line of fashion accessories, some hamburger chain’s latest store opens in some third world country, some fashion designer has some new look for the season
  • Sex news: Some star’s sexuality or homosexuality, some movie star naked in some new movie, some politician’s latest sex exploits masking the real store of the laws he signed.
  • Up and down news: The stock market is up or down, the crime rate is up or down, unemployment is up or down, inflation is up or down, the interest rate is up or down, weather is up or down.
  • Hollywood news: Anything about the latest fad, the latest actor/actress, singer, the latest movie, TV show.
  • Fad news: The latest internet craze, dot-com craze, diet craze, fashion craze, drug craze, video game craze, and, of course, the always newsworthy latest crazed killer.
  • Anniversary news: Commemorating the a shooting incident, a bombing incident, cult murders, Princess Diana, the Gulf War anniversary.
  • Sports news: Super Bowl, Super Salaries, Super Injuries, and Super Drug Problems. Non-participative sports for a non-participative democracy.
  • Political news: The political news season, when political candidates promise anything to be elected. Any news masking the fact that real power is in the hands of unelected corporate CEOs, including those who determine what gets onto the news.
  • Health news: The latest pandemic scare and the latest for-profit solution in the form of a drug, the latest finding that coffee is good/bad for you, the latest report that your child is at risk from [fill in whatever you wish], the latest virus found in a hamburger
  • Religious news: Jesus' image was found in a bar of soap in Kentucky, some religious leader said something about we should all be kind to each other
  • and so on...

If you are interested in the topic, writings by Ellul, Bourdeau, Parenti, Chomsky, and any text on critical theory have some fascinating insights and hard data to offer regarding the use of trivia as a substitute for thought -)