Phillip Graham said that journalism is the first draft of history. He was correct as most historians use newspapers as the starting point for the analysis of the past. I’ve watched with interest the coverage of the events in Iran, the debate over health care and the unexpected death of Michael Jackson. I understand that Michael Jackson was, and will always be a cultural phenomenon and icon. I understand the importance of pop culture as it relates to our larger world, but I can’t help but think that the media has missed an opportunity to seize on the public’s renewed interest in current events in failing to spoon feed a little analysis to the general public of two events that will very probably shape all of our lives for a long time. And what of the historians twenty years from now. Where will they start in their analysis of the events of our time? Will the first draft of those historical events come from blogs and tabloid television? Or will the dearth of reporting of the major events that are sure to affect our legacy be viewed as the very reason for our decline as a people and become the main point of analysis for historians? One cannot be sure until it is written. We do know that the Roman Civilization devolved into a republic of the ignorant. We also know that they failed. George Santayana said that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I sincerely hope that our country learns from the history of other great civilizations and pays close attention. We cannot all become pop culture savants awash in a sea of political ignorance lest we fall as the Romans did.
Trialdawg
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
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