The news cycle is totally idiotic. There's absolutely no sense of any journalistic prioritization. But at least we can do our own informational reachouts. It takes effort, but I'd rather take the time than rely on the numb nuts who run media which are supposed to do that job but don't. - phil baumann

I don't mean just the mainstream media, I mean social and new media. We are like little kids...anything distracts us. Gay rights, the economy, torture, none of it matters because ooohhh shiny! /disgust - Neal Jansons from IM

Oh, I completely agree. But before teh internet, we didn't have much choice in where to reach out. We at least have that ability if we're proactive. But you're so right: the attention-span in social media is worse than a fly on crack. It's a very memetic environment, with very few investments made in wanting to plumb a topic as long as it takes to advance an intelligent convo. It's getting more & more frustrating. - phil baumann

It's things like this that belie the optimistic "social technologies and the internet will make everything better" rhetoric...no, they will just make a bigger venue for self-destructive indulgent stupidity if none of us take any responsibility for changing the way we act. - Neal Jansons from IM

Nailed. I guess we can think of technologies as Enablers. They can enable the good and the bad, the remarkable or the mediocre. A hammer is only as good as the carpenter or psycho using it. - phil baumann

Right...and so long as we could say "Oh, the people are wonderful, they just get manipulated and oppressed by screwed up immoral leaders" this happy-shiny, save the world rhetoric made sense, but now that we have a couple years of seeing humanity's face and voice when no one is making it be anything but itself, I think we need to start questioning the idea, no matter how much it might sound abhorrent, that humanity deserves saving. No matter how much my inner good guy screams bloody murder at that, it seems to me that there comes a time when you have to draw a line and say "live up to your much-vaunted potential or be judged accordingly". I am getting tired of wasting my time and effort trying to address meaningful issues and help right wrongs when it just doesn't work and people don't really care...they pretend to care, but the next amusement comes along and off they go. - Neal Jansons from IM

There is a sense of journalistic prioritization. It's on what (the news companies think) people want to learn about. And I think they are pretty much right. People in America care a lot more about Michael Jackson's death - someone who has touched their lives and been a significant and formative part of their cultural consciousness for over 20 years. It doesn't bother me in the least that the news outlets are talking a lot more about Michael Jackson. Humans are animals with behavior patterns that are fairly predictable. Whether or not you think we ought to focus on things with a moral imperative, we WILL focus on things with a human imperative. - Zach Landes

And that's my point...the human imperative doesn't seem very defendable once we see it in action; it seems credulous, easily led, shallow, and stupid. - Neal Jansons from IM

Zach - I have no problem with people paying attention to Michael Jackson (I grew up watching him when he was part of the Jackson 5, so there's some meaning for me too), but I think the concern here is that some channels should offer more consistent focus. Switching from something like Iran's troubles to Michael Jackson within 24 hours can't be a healthy way for our society to mature. It raises the question: how sincere or serious are people when the meme-du-jour is hotly debated for a day? - phil baumann

The only problem I have with that is that most of it is meaningless waffle to fill space and air time, tragic as it might be I'm not interested in what all other celebrities have to say about it or whatever. And I do despair, I don't know if I should despair more about the drivel people seem to be interested in or about what the media thinks we should be interested in. - M F

I accept human choices as human. I don't accept the concepts of good or evil. With such a view, there is not much I think that can be done, at least without major changes in human perception brought on by even bigger changes in society, in order to change the media. - Zach Landes

Bread and circuses, baby. Nothing has changed in two thousand years. We're just going faster. - Chris Baskind

Seriously, before Iran and Twitter where did all of you people get your news? Biggie said it best: "Cuz this typea shit happens every day." ...all over the world. - Mona Nomura

@Chris mostly, yeah. And @Mona have my babies? - Zach Landes

This sounds good; but really lots of people are oppressed everyday and we don't talk about it. Part of the Iranian obsession was our own vanity that our favorite technologies were playing a part. - James Watters

Not sure what to feel about this post. Why even single out the Iranians. There is all kinda things going on all over the world some as bad Iran. What are you gonna do? The common person feels they have enough to deal with that they don't want to have to think about the plight of others half a world away. As for traditional news media well they cover what brings ratings. Its a business, nothing more nothing less. I get my news from alternative sources and yes I look at what interests me at the time. I have to focus on the things that I can change and hope that others will keep my wave in the ocean going. - nef 919 from twhirl

The internet is moreso "obsessed" with the flavor of the week/day and that will only continue. How are we measuring "stickiness" should take precedence. - dhamza

James has a great point, and so does Patricia. There is an emotional and narcissistic element to these things. And Mona is right...this typea shit does happen everyday, and I often have my boxers in a wad about it; I guess I am just an idiot...I keep expecting people to care and getting bitter when they don't or when they pretend to. - Neal Jansons

Neal - we cannot tell people how to think or feel, though their choices are telling of our failed educational system. - Mona Nomura

Thanks Neal. - James Watters

Mona - we can tell them, they just don't have to listen or obey. I am just saying that I have an ideal in my heart about humanity, and I am getting more and more disillusioned. - Neal Jansons from IM

There's truth to that, Mona. As I was watching a political nutcase the other day it occurred to me that you'd really have to be poorly educated to buy what he was selling. Keep 'em dumb, scared, and down on the farm. Our kids need *much* better history, geography, and critical thinking skills. - Chris Baskind

That's a valid point, Patricia. People's basic need for validation is getting fulfilled en masse for the first time in recorded history, and that in itself can be considered a good. - Neal Jansons from IM

Just a sobering thought: Iran, too, is flavor of the week. We dont hear from Burma anymore, cause it's not "exciting" enough. Iran is exciting... But it's a lot of it is self centered hot air... James said it well "our own vanity that our favorite technologies were playing a part" Making your icon green or changing your location to "iran" does nothing for iranians - it just makes you feel good and all excited that you can be a part of events. It's all an online bubble media storm within a small circle of peers. Cheap instant pushbutton engagement. But where were you when our governments did everything to mess Iran up for decade after decade - and did anyone say anything then? If you didnt, frankly, it's all hypocrisy to care now. - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Sad but true, Joelle. - Neal Jansons

Machiavelli quote. "Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed." - James Watters

So much self-entitlement these days. Why should other news stories have to trend higher than others? - Brandon

the good thing though is that we are no longer dependent on a few editors in a few media outlets to decide what is flavour of the week, and what is news and what gets ignored. The less good news is, we are doing it ourselves. Of course we are human and get caught in vanity, but there's more variety of us, so there is a chance to revisit, push an ongoing story back in the (albeit very small) public eye etc. They can't bury stories that are unpleasant or disturbing or just "not getting any better" - thats the good news. The bad news is that the reason they did this was that us humans cannot keep everything in our minds especially if it is tough, complex or unpleasant. They hid stories, we have lolcats and celebrity storms - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Ya that's true! it's like Iran was trending on Twitter... Only because there was no other more "important" news to talk about. - Malcolm Bastien

Who said they "should" do anything? My claim is that our fickle, self-serving obsessions reveal something about moral character. - Neal Jansons

@Joelle, the media has rarely decided this themselves, only the public. they are a business driven by what eyeballs are drawn to them. We alone created the media by our appetites for it. if anything, the web has broken than, not media's tight grip on information alone. - Patricia

@Neal, agreed. When will we the people ostracize this type, then? Why do we let these people take the platform, then? - Patricia

We all have our own 'important' news issues, in the same way that we all have our own important issues in life. I guess if you've nothing to worry about in life, but the demise of a celebrity (and I'm not debasing that demise or the celebrity here), then I guess you're very fortunate, or of course shallow. - Ian May

who cares if one trend is higher than another, it's comparing apples and oranges! Of course more people are talking about someone familiar dying than unknown people far away (it's the same mechanism as the "200 dead, 5 americans" storyline) - that is the difference between gossip and news. If anything it just says something about us doing what is easy and talking about things that we know more about - the situation in Iran is complicated and you need access to news (and understanding) to say anything interesting, compelling or novel - whereas everyone can say something about Michael Jackson without risk. All I can do about Iran is repeat what is reported, I just dont know anything to contribute... (note: I cant say anything interesting about Jackson either, so I shut up - but most people have emotional memories they can share) - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Patricia - I agree with your sentiment, but I hesitate to cut the world up into such a dichotomy. I think most people have both altruistic and selfish drives, but are generally discouraged from engaging in the examination and reasoning necessary to put them into their proper relations. - Neal Jansons from IM

I don't roll with any posse. I used to be involved in a lot of activism back in the late 90s in Santa Cruz, and saw that the activist community was mostly just young students and old hippies working out their authority issues. Maybe you found the mythical good guys to hang with, but I don't think there are such a thing. IMO, there are no "good guys", there are just "the other guys". - Neal Jansons from IM

Selective attention doesn't help when it is the masses and the leaders that actually make the world how it is. Besides, I don't really care about those people...they are not who my criticism is aimed at. My criticism is aimed at those who go from "OMG genocide!" to "OMG kittens!" with no sense of gravity or priority. Whoever isn't in that group may ignore my pissiness (actually, you are all free to ignore my pissiness anytime :p) - Neal Jansons from IM

Great conversation, Neal. I liked it earlier to make sure I read it. ;) A few of my thoughts after having read it are here ---> Showing solidarity with people and movements that only seem a world away is sometimes all that many are able to do. Altruism is never misguided IMHO. My personal decision to turn my icon green is partially a result of having invested the time to study the history of our relations with Iran prior to recent events. I wrote book reviews a long time ago acknowledging and recognizing the complexity of these issues, Books that are extremely critical of American policy. Separating the wheat from the chaff on issues is always harder with increasing complexity. Enable communities of those that care about issues wherever they may be and you increase participation and quality of the contribution. Conversely, I completely understand Joelle's point about the vanity of some meme participation and have wondered myself if these activities really help or hinder. - Eric Logan

Wow, Eric, nice response. It is a complex issue. My real complaint is the lack of priorities...Flying Spaghetti Monster forbid that a genocide or nuclear assault happens on the same day of an iPhone release. - Neal Jansons from IM

It's been proven many times in multiple studies that most people live in a bubble and only pay attention to what affects their daily lives. A large majority of Americans have no personal investment in anything going on in Iran, so they basically don't care. Sad, but true. I don't think it has anything at all to do with education and everything to do with narcissism and self-gratification as a society. Re: the green icons and the memes, I think anything that raises awareness is a good thing, especially if it causes one person to ask what it means who otherwise wouldn't know. - Trish R

@Trish I almost agree with you - until you state that its about "narcissism and self-gratification as a society". Do you really mean as a society? Or do you think that it could be something that goes a little bit deeper. If anything, I would imagine that human society reduces narcissism as it requires humans to live in extremely large groups in which they have to make sacrifices for people they will never meet. - Zach Landes

I read a good article about slactivism and how if you actually have to DO something, or put in any effort, then you'd have fewer social media slactavists. I think it also speaks to the attention span of the slactavist, who isn't really invested in the cause so much as jumping on the bandwagon. - Miss Elle

I'm sympathetic to your POV on this, Neal but I'd argue that Iran's systematic oppression is not news—it is, in fact, old news to say the state of Iran mistreats its citizens. The protests against the election are the news. Michael Jackson was not much in the news before he died (I didn't even know he was planning a major tour in a month!) but his death is very big news considering his past and the circumstances. These items have a life cycle in the mainstream media and on the minds of Americans (I'm going on the assumption that you are referring to US news not international). Michael Jackson was a uniquely American icon with a uniquely American story. He influenced popular culture in the US for decades. His death, tragic, as it was, and his life, twisted, sad and unfortunate as it may have been, doesn't belie the point that he had a tremendous role in American life for millions and millions of people for a very, very long time. I'd argue (as other have) that Iran is getting a disportionate amount of media (and social media) attention while similar and even more tragic abuses are occurring all over the world at the same time. It is human nature and the nature of the news cycle that tragic events closer to home (no matter how unbalanced you may think they are) claim more attention to people than events halfway across the world. And as we all know very well, celebrity gossip and news is a huge distraction for us. The lives and deaths of people we see on television, on the big screen and hear on the radio are fascinating to most of the population because we either resent them and glory in their misfortunes or envy their fame and fortune and live vicariously through their every moment. The actions of the people protesting in Iran are sympathetic, inspiring and important but they are not the cult of personality distraction that Americans (and probably not limited to us but the entire world) love to hear about. Michael Jackson was a true cult of personality (he appointed... more... - Lon Cohen

I get the sentiment, but I'd say the condemnation of priorities is too strong. Of course it's important to do what you can for the Iranians. But a lot of people have a personal memory of Michael Jackson. You've essentially dismissed that connection entirely. - Hutch Carpenter

And those are my priorities...human suffering, the fight against oppression, political freedom, etc are more important than people getting to have their nostalgia stroked. Emotions and memories are important, but there is a point where they become irrelevant. That point is where people die and suffer and that is ignored so people can get their serotonin on. IOW, anyone who would put the satisfaction of that emotional connection before the actual welfare of other human beings is a self-involved douche. - Neal Jansons from IM

Ouch Neal! First, the obsession with MJ - those are his rabid fans parked outside his house. I don't think of them as "self-involved douches". That characterization just doesn't seem to fit them. As for the ROW, there really isn't an obsession with MJ. Except to appreciate the artist. And that what he was, an artist. - Hutch Carpenter

I am not talking about the sheeple outside his house. I am talking about how the media, both new and traditional, went tits up about the umpteen billion important things...two wars, the energy bill, gay rights, Iran vote conflict, torture memos, hate crime bill, etc etc etc ad infinitum, ad nauseum and decided a washed-up, overrated, freak of the worst kind of corporate music was the most important thing in the world. The idjits outside his house are just those with too little to do and too little to think about... but the media and specifically social media most assuredly DO. I am used to the corporate media, manipulated as they are, using such distractions, but new/social media has no excuse. I am sick of people pretending to care about a genocide here, a massacre there, just so they can get some feel-good juice from their hind-brain before moving on to the next lolcat. Put up or shut up, because this social revolution through online tools is just going to become Idiocracy unless we hold ourselves and each other responsible. - Neal Jansons from IM

Well, look at it this way. If all the media ever did is cover the atrocities of the world, most people would tune it out. Think of your own days. Are you 24/7 with Iran on your mind? Of course not. Media are no different. They do mix it up. There has been plenty of Iran coverage, really there has been. So when a major cultural icon dies, one that millions, no billions, have some connection to passes away, they'll cover that too. - Hutch Carpenter

Neal: mainstream media owners promote whatever agenda best optimizes the acquisition of wealth and power for themselves and their social networks (including family, ethnic and religious networks). Much of that agenda consists of distractions (celebrity gossip, sex scandals, etc.) designed to divert public attention from the real machinery of power. The majority of people (including social media "thought leaders") are pushovers for this kind of manipulation. This is the way things really are. - Sean McBride

Also - I've never found it useful to castigate people for their natural interests. We're humans, too diverse and complex to force into a specific box of what "we should be focused on". - Hutch Carpenter

Uh-huh. I have an RSS reader and I can see the headlines since MJ's death same as anyone else. Iran stuff hasn't updated, energy bill barely mentioned, and the rest of it has been silenced. What about the "Holy Grail" torture memo being suppressed again? Obama using executive orders to detain Gitmo prisoners indefinitely without trial? It just goes on and on. - Neal Jansons from IM

Sean: I know. You know I know. The thing is that social media and new media don't have to follow suit. - Neal Jansons from IM

Looking at CNN.com right now. Lead is that the military arrests Honduras's president. There's a special section for Michael Jackson coverage. And a special section for Iranian coverage. - Hutch Carpenter

Well, then we disagree on the very notion of priority of attention. I am glad our ancestors and our genes don't agree with you, either, or we would either still be stuck in the caves (after all, who is to say early humans "should have" focussed on civilization) or we would be extinct (damn, I suppose that tiger might eat me but damn that sunset is pretty). - Neal Jansons from IM

A front page with sections is problematic for this discussion. I am talking about the volume of articles and coverage. A frontpage doesn't show that, an RSS reader does. - Neal Jansons from IM

Neal: I appreciate your passion, but not so much the conclusions to which it leads. I'm definitely more interested in Iran than MJ, but that doesn't make me less douchey than anyone else. I mean, let's face it... the only reason I care more about the plight of Iranians than the plight of millions of other suffering souls is that *my* people have a significant strategic interest in the freedom of *their* people. I've got a meth-head brother, an effectively fatherless niece and nephew, an aging mom, a screw-up father, and a burned-out wife to worry about... followed by local economic troubles... followed by national economic troubles... followed by homeland political trouble... and so on. If the rest of humanity is in a similar (or worse) boat (and I suspect they are), and they have as little actual power over events as I have (and I know the do), then I don't blame 'em for flitting from distraction to distraction. Human worth isn't defined by attention span, or what we focus upon, but by individual capacity to deviate from the norm. We've all got it, and while not enough of us indulge it, the state of affairs ain't as dire as it feels to you right now. - Roger Benningfield

That's where we actually agree Neal. Natural human interests. Survival is one of those. Avoiding the tiger is a "gimme" in terms of attention. For the civilization argument, again, it's natural human interests. Those who insisted on "going it alone" were at a disadvantage. It was in your interest to participate in emerging civilization. - Hutch Carpenter

Neal, I appreciate your passion, buddy, but Roger just about sums up my take on it 100%. - Derrick

And as a side note, there seems to be an amazing amount of people on the internet who feel that they must automatically take the apologists position anytime anything is criticized. A solid position pro or con is not inherently a bad thing and strong opinions don't need this pacification. I don't care about 1) The human factor, 2) The feelings of the poor privileged people who want to treasure their nostalgia, or 3) People's inner worth (I don't even believe in such a concept of valuation for humans...why exactly are humans so important? oh yeah, because they are the ones who decided what is important)...I care about RESULTS. The RESULT of this media pandering bullshit is that real issues get ignored. - Neal Jansons from IM

Neal: what percentage of the population anywhere in the world can think outside the box defined by mainstream media? 5%? 1%? Why would one expect to find much independent and original thinking going on in social media? Within social media, creative discussion is going on among only a few small networks and communities. Most of the discussion in social media as a whole is oriented around topics like Michael Jackson. When policy discussion does occur, it is usually poorly informed and regurgitates mainstream media talking points. - Sean McBride

Again, the apologist's position...people have it hard, so their amazing lack of priorities is "understandable". Well, people are also semi-evolved apes, driven by instincts more suited to the savanna than the streetcorner...so what? Shall we say it is "understandable" if they shit in their hand and throw it at people, or say that, even given our "understandable" position, we should strive for something better? - Neal Jansons from IM

Sean, I don't have the same poor estimate of people thinking "outside the box" as you do. For one, there are a lot of boxes, some of them mutually exclusive. People don't lie in one camp or another, either. Some people think "outside the box" about some things, some of the time. Again, this is just an excuse. So people are limited...can I not cry out for a higher ideal than catering to the lowest common denominator of those limits? - Neal Jansons from IM

Neal: I share your frustration -- cry away. :) But don't expect very much to change. - Sean McBride

Oh I never do. To paraphrase a bad fiction book, I am just a voice crying out in the wilderness. - Neal Jansons from IM

Quoting myself from last Friday: "John Ensign! Iranian unrest! Mark Sanford! Farrah Fawcett! Michael Jackson! A big exciting blur signifying nothing. Most consumers of mainstream media have the attention span of a guppy. Nothing connects. Nothing is sustained." - Sean McBride

Neal: What you're seeing as apologia seem to me to simply be attempts to convey to you, in the kindest way possible, that you're coming off at least as self-focused as those you decry. After all, you're the one claiming your ideals are "higher". If humans have no inherent value as you suggest, than neither does (in the general case) injustice or death or any of the other things you'd rather read about. Just the opposite, actually, since MJ's all-important results were objectively greater than those of 99% of oppressed Iranians. While I'm quite open to an argument against "the inherent value of life" and an argument for screwed-up media priorities, they'd be easier to consider if you weren't so busy trying to elevate yourself above the unwashed while making them. (FWIW, I'm not saying this to be obnoxious, because I truly appreciate how much you care. I just think you're despairing a bit much.) - Roger Benningfield

I'm going to completely forget about Iran and focus entirely on Billy Mays. Because, you know, it's impossible to be concerned about more than one thing at a time. - Akiva Moskovitz

Neal and Sean - if you had the magic wand, what would media and human attention be focused on right now? What would it look like? - Hutch Carpenter

Roger, to claim to be evaluating things according to the correct standard and that another is mistaken is not self-elevation unless the claim is based on authority (it is better because I say so). I am saying the standard is clear and obvious: human suffering>entertainment (to humans), thus those who choose to elevate the latter over the former are incorrect. This is my claim. And Akiva: individuals might be able to be concerned about many things at a time, since that is an internal mental state, but in the physical world, there is a discrete opportunity cost to focussing on one thing rather than another...you might be able to be equally concerned about two things at once, but you only have so much time, resources, and energy to act on that concern. How you divvy up those resources among your concerns are your priorities, and I am saying that anyone who puts more time/energy/resources into celebrity gossip than major affairs of state and human suffering has their priorities out of whack. - Neal Jansons from IM

Interesting question, Hutch. I think I am probably going to come down with Singer on this one and make a utilitarian argument...wherever there is the most avoidable human suffering is where our attention should be focused first. When we run out of those, then social justice issues, then social progress issues (connected, but not the same thing, justice is about righting wrongs, progress is about improving conditions). So I would start with genocides and hunger, move to political repression and social oppression, then move to plans for improvement. If I had a magic wand that controlled public attention and the media, that would be my run-down of priorities. - Neal Jansons

Hutch: a very brief answer: Glenn Greenwald (Unclaimed Territory) usually keeps his eye on the ball: http://www.salon.com/opinion... He has been primarily focused on the widening and disturbing gap between Obama's campaign promises and his actual policies. There are a few dozen feeds out there which are relentlessly bearing down on substantive policy issues. Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish is another: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_dai... Most Americans lack the literacy to parse Greenwald's and Sullivan's sentences, never mind wrestle conceptually with the policy arguments and issues they explore. - Sean McBride

Greenwald and Sullivan have strongly challenged the mainstream media, especially The Washington Post in recent months. The MSM hate to be challenged. They would much prefer for Americans to be preoccupied with Mark Sanford's marital problems or the death of Michael Jackson than to be paying attention to and understanding the internal politics of the owners and controllers of the MSM. - Sean McBride

Sean has a great one there...the issue of Obama's rhetoric versus his actions since taking office is a big one that all the hero-worship people need to think about. I am personally afraid we have been bamboozled yet again and simply trade Beast Rabban for Feyd Rautha (Dune reference for the non-geeky). - Neal Jansons from IM

Thinking outside the MSM box: a few feeds: Alternet, Andrew Sullivan (Daily Dish), Antiwar.com, Common Dreams, Consortiumnews, Counterpunch, Democracy Now!, Dissident Voice, Glenn Greenwald (Unclaimed Territory), GlobalResearch, Haaretz, Information Clearing House, Jeremy Scahill (Rebel Reports), Jim Lobe (LobeLog), Juan Cole (Informed Comment), OpEdNews, Philip Weiss (Mondoweiss), Stephen M. Walt, The Nation, Think Progress, Truthdig, Truthout, Washington Note. They obviously don't get everything right (and they often disagree with one another), but they are always engaged in critical and skeptical thinking that goes far beyond the narrow and suffocating limits defined by the MSM. - Sean McBride

The social media thought leaders I respect have paid very little attention to either Mark Sanford or Michael Jackson. Among other things, they are still trying to understand the Iran situation by pulling together all the available data -- data which the MSM often don't attend to or even acknowledge. - Sean McBride