One More Reason to Get a College Degree

I turned on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings this evening at 6:35 p.m., which happened to be without Peter Jennings. Elizabeth Vargas was the substitute. By the end of the broadcast, my Mass Media course with the late Dr. Mike Davis (from my days as an undergrad at Union University) was paying off, even 13 years later. Let me explain.

Dr. Davis taught us that advertisers drive the agenda for the news.

When I tuned in, they were finishing a story from Cape Canaveral, FLORIDA on the scheduled shuttle launch for tomorrow. This story was followed by a short mention of the dust cloud crossing the Atlantic with a promised impact on the southern half of FLORIDA. This was followed immediately by a commercial for FLORIDA Orange Juice. Coincidence? Maybe.

Later in the broadcast, Vargas reported on Lance Armstrong's first day of retirement, mentioning his amazing story of being a CANCER survivor. Next, she said that upon returning from the commercial break, we would hear of how Senator Arlen Specter was dealing with CANCER. During the break, the first two commercials targeted CANCER patients, one promoting a prescription pill that enabled CANCER patients who were on chemotherapy to be able to resume their normal lifestyles. After the commercial break the story on Senator Specter focused on how he maintained his grueling schedule in spite of his fight with CANCER. I was waiting for him to credit his good fortune to the aforementioned drug. Coincidence? What do you think?

What I just described is not unusual at all. In fact, if you will start paying close attention to the contents, and even the wording, of the "news" stories, you will often find that they are designed to prime the pump for the advertising around the corner. At times, it can come across as so obvious, that it can be downright amusing. In fact, I consider watching the news and tying it to the advertisers an entertaining venture. I know...get a life. Just try it yourself sometime. You'll never watch the news the same way again.

See Mom, all the money for my college educatoin payed off!