Once More, The Media Is The Message

I guess the media are the message or the messages. One of the most common English language errors is to use the plural noun media as a singular noun. Occasionally you will get a double plural, "medias" (as well as the less frequent agendas or datas). We can excuse people confusing media as a singular noun because news people are a giant senseless mob. Sad but true.

I will watch the Super Bowl later today. I did not watch most of the regular and post season mostly because I was sick of the news mob interjecting themselves into the story. Spectator sports work because they sell escape. If the know-it-alls treat the events as forums to expound on the virtues of gun control or the evils of domestic violence or the tragedy of head injuries, something is lost. As high minded as these platitudes might be, they certainly destroy the escapist entertainment.

There was a time when sports reporting was the last refuge of good journalism. If you wanted to know who what when where, the sports guys delivered. Hubris set in and the Bob Costas's of the world insisted on being recognized as oracles at large. They would sanction personnel and policies much as their big brothers in news media were doing. It was time we all bowed down to our superiors.

People can talk about left vs right, conservative vs liberal, Tea Party vs Establishment, etc. Still it does seem like it is often the media vs the people. Andy Rooney's summary of the 2004 presidential election will live on in infamy. "Half of the media liked John Kerry. The other half hated George Bush."

I have ignored most of the Deflategate scandal because it does not rise to the level of a real scandal. Indianapolis did not lose by 38 points because footballs were deflated to the degree that they could not even recognize the deflation. And the Patriots outscored the Colts 28-0 in the second half with fully inflated balls. Facts just do not matter any more.

The sports media generated a witch hunt and then experienced a collective Midol moment when the lynch mob was not activated. They are the rightful shapers of public opinion--all opinion--and Tom Brady is the latest Chris Christie. Ultimately, the news mob was thwarted. I would be cheering on the Patriots today even if I did not live in New England. Screw the news mob. Je suis Belichick!