Author Stephen King made a provocative nomination for Time magazine’s 2007 Person of the Year: Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. His reasoning is that the pair “symbolize the media’s growing obsession with issues of personality over substance.†King noted: “People care more about the details of Spears’ child-custody case than they do about where the billions the U.S. government has poured into Iraq have gone. It’s time for a discussion about whether the news media have chucked their responsibilities and run off to Tabloid Disneyland.â€
By the way, Time has an online form you can use to submit your own nominations.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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29 Comments
Interesting suggestion. As has been noted – the ‘man of the year’ is NOT supposed to be someone we like but rather someone who shows impact.
Hmm skewer the American public for its salacious appetite for trite crap?
Nah, anybody that NEEDS that message wouldn’t “get it”.
The conservative media reports on people like this because it means they don’t have to do any investigation on real subjects which may make their corporate owners or political allies look bad.
Let the people digest fluff.
I nominate Anna Nicole Smith as the most important person of 2007.
Hmmm, well having a choice of what magazine covers to look at…
Back from your busy day of helping people less fortunate than you already, Kansas?
heh
The comment at 02:14 are the types of comments I’m not suppose to reply to.
Evidently, someone is totally obsessed with me and cannot resist.
I agree with Phantom: It’s gotta be Anna Nicole Smith.
I would include a link to this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b46eqqijCO0
The comment at 02:14 are the types of comments I’m not suppose to reply to.
Yet you DID reply. You’re busted.
How about Anna Nicole and OJ?
Hey, anybody else go to work today?
You just saw more people already this morning than Kansas has seen in a month.
Remember Senor Wences on the Ed Sullivan Show, and that little box that was supposed to have a head in it that always said, “S’A'right”?
Kansas is that head in a box.
Ok now that has to be a STUNT!
GEEZ! Watch bush make Kathy Evans Secretary of Education or something.
Bimbo or hooker of the year is a better fit or hey…how BTK as person of the year
Bimbo or hooker of the year is a better fit or hey…how about BTK as person of the year
Please stop trolling GMC, idiot.
Thank you.
These 2 or even 4 as People of the Year? No Way!! Only to show our kids what rich b’s can get away with and make it sound like everyone does it.How about our own Dr. Warren and the new pediatrics ER. Now thats a start for People of the Year. Some one who is for people, helping, giving etc.
Btk didn’t nearly get as much National coverage as Anna Nicole.
The comment at 02:14 are the types of comments I’m not suppose to reply to.
Yet you DID reply. You’re busted.
Posted by: Solomon | December 05, 2007 at 02:22 PM
You sure you are not a Lib?
You sure write like a high and mighty Lib. I mean of all the posters you could single out, you pick me.
I think there is some prior knowledge here and something smells fishy.
“GMC70″ chimes in with:
“Bimbo or hooker of the year is a better fit…”
So now the prosecutor is revealing an inclination to believe Emiliy Sander had it coming.
Man Stephen King rules. This is a great topic. Trillions are missing from the Pentagon (literally) and all people want are more American Idols, NFL and Mc Donalds’. The Republican “debate” on CNN last week was a testament to how retarded they think we are. A dying currency is merely a footnote to what hijinx that zany Paris has been up to. 30 million illegal aliens are in our country with the border just wide-open and the hot teacher is arrested again and gets front page. O.J. takes the place of the NAFTA Superhighway.
I’ll put links up here to show you all that don’t know this stuff.
Trillions Missing from the Pentagon:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml
The Dying Dollar:http://www.newsweek.com/id/71888
30 Million Illegal Aliens:http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0607/31/ldt.01.html
NAFTA Superhighway:http://www.infratrans.gov.ab.ca/INFTRA_Content/docType56/Production/pol306.htm
MH
As Rage has noted, the 3:13-3:14 posts are not from me; a careful examination of the nics will make same clear.
On a more serious note, this line:”It’s time for a discussion about whether the news media have chucked their responsibilities and run off to Tabloid Disneyland.”
Well, DUH. That’s been the case for at least a decade now. And while I don’t give the media a pass for such abandonment of responsibility, it also has to be noted that the media is simply responding to what the public buys. When news exists to generate ratings, this is the crap you get.
As much as I had to tolerate the usual left bias of ABC / CBS / NBC, I long for the days pre-cable, when a network’s news division wasn’t driven entirely by ratings.
Papers are little better. As their readership goes down (largely due to alternative sources of news – CNN, internet, etc.), their pursuit of the lowest common denominator increases to try to generate readership.
And this crap is the result.
So yes, I blame the media, but I also blame ourselves. In the famous words of Pogo, “we have met the enemy, and they is us.”
Ho GMC. Yeah, I wondered about ‘gmc’ earlier. I agree with you about the media and us. Larry King interviewed one of these nobodies right after she did her jail time – I DEFINITELY made it a point to NOT watch.
News about Brittney is usually on page 2. She ran over three people’s feet the other day and one was a cop. She really grabs the headlines and everyone wants to know what she is up to. I agree. She should be man of the year.
Phillip I love you, you have really got the extra mile. I don’t see Stephen King as somebody of interest to you. Glad you wrote this article, he is one of my favorite authors. I defiantly agree with you on this one, as I do on most, but this one is funny, because I could see Stephen King writing a bestseller, hope it comes out soon…
I vote for George Tiller:Saves young girls from facing responsibility.Saves taxpayer money spent on unwanted welfare babies.Keeps thousands of right-wingers busy by simply doing his job.Puts Wichita Kansas ‘on the map’.All this with ‘no comment’.Here-here, George
I agree on nomination of ANNA NICOLE SMITH. Since her death, she has been shown on dates, cuddling her baby, reminiscing about her life … on celluloid, actively engaged in life?
Perhaps Anna, Brittany, Lindsey and some of the other cardboard media types do represent the best of America.
What does this portend for our U.S. presidential race? Zombies anyone?
Even if it was as a movement, nominating these people as people of the year can not be a smart move. Most people wont read it as an ironic stature and it will only cause more adoration amoung young teenagers who will want to frame themselves after these women. Would it still be something to laugh about after looking at children in the future.
You may have a point–about others missing the point–but you think we’re LAUGHING about it??
I suspect I trust the native intelligence of young people more than you do. Perhaps more than I trust yours (sorry).