Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Media and independent business

Recently people have complained that the media was paying more attention to a scantily clad celebrity than to the situation in Syria.  What media? I get my news from public radio -- both via the radio and via web sites.  It all seems very sensible.

I don't watch TV at all, and don't listen to commercial radio, but I do sometimes see advertisements on web sites, and I also see web sites of profit-oriented media, which include not only advertisements, but stories designed to attract profit, stories about a celebrity's sex life, or tips on how to tell if you are dating a sociopath.

Even though I mostly shield myself from it, I realize that junk in the media is very widespread.  I'm grateful that we still have alternatives like public radio and Yes Magazine.  We need to support these alternatives so that they will continue to be there for us.

In my community, we also have a farmer's market and an independent bookstore.  Our food co-op went out of business, but a neighboring city has a good one.  Not everyone has these things.  When my mother asked me stepfather if there were any independent bookstores in the area where they live, he said, "You mean like Barnes and Noble?"  Some people don't even know what an independent bookstore is because they haven't seen one.

Let's not take these things for granted.  Let's support the things we value, so they don't disappear.

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