I have noted to those around me on occasion that I find it interesting that “the news” has never been pertinent to my life in any way. With the simple exception of the local weather (which is inevitable anyway), no news story on the radio, from the newspaper, or on television has ever pertained to me enough to require any action or illicit a response of any kind on my part.

While curious, I never paid much attention to this somewhat bizarre phenomenon. However, today I was reading Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. In the book, Postman puts forth the proposition than in the previous century, our public discourse was shaped by the medium, print, into a discourse of reason and that the public discourse of this century has been shaped by the medium, television, into a discourse of superficial nonsense.

While exploring the concept of decontextualized news (basically everything that comes from the Associated Press, with anonymity of both author and audience) Postman asks:

“How often does it occur that information provided you on morning radio or television, or in the morning newspaper, causes you to alter your plans for the day, or to take some action you would not otherwise have taken, or provides insight in to some problem you are required to solve?”

Good question Mr. Postman. The answer is never.