Saturday, November 21, 2009

And In Future News...

Did you hear Oprah is leaving... in 2011? It was all over the news last night, which is weird because, again, she's not going anywhere for two years. This is more like future news. I get that she's a cultural icon and a huge figure in the TV world, but shouldn't we worry more about what is happening in the world today? There is kind of a lot going on, so you would think news stations would have no problem coming up with 22 minutes of other things to cover, especially when you figure sports and weather are taking up six of those. Really, there isn't 18 minutes of relevant stuff happening in the world today that we need to instead cover a billionaire talk show host announcing her retirement two years prior to it actually happening? (Especially when her affiliates could come together over the next two years and come up with a mega-offer that keeps her on the air past 2011?)

I'm just wondering what this could mean for the news industry when things that will happen eventually become breaking news events. Can't you just see Fox News (and it would totally be Fox News in this scenario) breaking into it's coverage of car chase with the headline, "One Way Or Another, Obama Won't Be President In 2017!" Well, yeah, but that's not news, that's more of a law. And it doesn't just happen in politics. I get annoyed whenever NASA launches a new probe and then says crazy stuff like, "We could land people on Mars by 2025!" Yes, well you could, but how about we get further along with the technology before we start making declarations and putting out deadlines. Before that it's not news, it's speculation. Aliens could show up in 2020 and make all your work irrelevant. Let's concentrate on the here and now.

-Do you ever think that companies give out crappy coupons, just to drive you to the better coupons they are also giving out? Ever since I ordered Domino's online, I have been on their mailing list and receive coupons via email. The one I got last night, when I was jonesing for some pizza, was for a pasta bread bowl and large pizza for $15. But, without being on their mailing list and just by watching the national TV commercials I also knew I could order a bread bowl and 2 medium pizzas for $15. Basically with the second coupon I could get more stuff for the same amount of money. I think Domino's is using their coupons as a sort of 'idiot test' for the country. If they use the first one, which clearly is not as good a deal as the second one then you must be an idiot and don't deserve the savings. But, here's the larger question: is it wrong that I spent a half an hour thinking about this?

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