What's the real issue?

We say that the media has too much control. We say that it tells us how to act and what to think--that the Big 6 or Big 8 or however many Bigs there are have far too much power over the public.

To me, these sound like excuses.

Saying that the media tells us what to think and leaving it at that is simply an excuse for us not to try to think. Even saying that the media is a negative influence on children is an excuse for the problems that we have allowed. I don't mean to say that the media doesn't tell us what to think or that it doesn't negatively affect kids. What I want to say is that we have a responsibility to own up to the problems in our society. Aren't we, as individuals and as American citizens, responsible for our own knowledge? Aren't we responsible for the well-being of younger generations? We can't blame everything on media. We create media, therefore the problems in the media are a reflection of the problems in us.

The media is not going to raise the standard. The government is not going to raise the standard. Deregulation of media conglomerates is not going to change anything. I'd like to borrow a quote that one of my friends has listed on her facebook site (I apologize, I don't know who to give the credit for this): "One of the greatest delusions is the hope that the evils in this world can be cured by legislation." Unless the individuals in a society want to see a change and are willing to work for it, new laws are not going to help.

We have to raise the standard. If we refused to watch and applaud programming with sick humor, if we responded to the nightly news with curiosity and a real desire for truth and put that desire into action by researching issues on our own, if we took responsibility for our choices and our actions and for the welfare of the people around us, would things change? I don't know. I'm just one person. You're just one person. But I believe it would be a good start.