Friday, October 23, 2009

Global What?


According to Dictionary.com, global warming is an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect. Do Americans believe this to be an important issue? Is it less important than our war in Iraq, or our fight for a universal health care system, or maybe more even the recent death of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson? Global warming and the attention contributed to it is an issue that seems to be a concern to the "Political Animal" Steven Benen. Although global warming is certainly an important problem, it's level of importance seems to have declined according to a survey done by the Pew Research Center that Benen employed in his blog to prove his argument.

Benen's blog, "Public Concern Over Global Warming Fades," grants the bulk of the blame to Republicans for focusing more on other issues such as our economy, and the remaining blame is presented to the media for following the Republicans. Benen feels that what Americans see on the news is what will be followed, which is true. I agree with this because everything that is giving attention in America is lead by the media. What's on the news is what is considered as "in" for the time being, like a fad. For example, I'm almost positive that global warming was not a concern for American on October 3, 1995. Why? On October 3, 1995, almost 95 percent of America was tuned in on any and every TV station to hear the verdict of the OJ Simpson murder case. This is because every time you turned on the TV to any local or national news station, there was up to date detailed coverage on the OJ Simpson case. If the media as well as politicians drew more attention to issues like global warming, America's attention on this issue would increase and there would be more people trying to contribute to solving this problem so we will have a place to live years from now!

We all feed off of each other. Americans depend on the politicians to help "fix" America, politicians depend on the media for gaining support, and the media depends on Americans for ratings. If we could all get on the same page and focus on obstacles that really mattered, then the world would be a better place!

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