So obviously I’m lousy at taking breaks; although, truth be told, I’m making much progress on the damned taxes, so I’m back for Sunday Night Funnerific-a-go-go, AKA “Four Prompts in One Poem.” Whew!
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
In the past, a vast empire of
mighty newspapers broadened minds.
The scale of subscribers was enormous;
most papers did not more than inform us.
Eventually “news” skirted the real story
under orders from rich men who tend to
eat the truth raw and spit it out, tattered and
slimy, pro-corporate, inaccurate drool.
The print version has since been scattered
all over cyberspace – in case you haven’t
notices, HuffPost will soon make The Daily News
a ghost (it’s on the edge, like most).
As for TV, I mist over remembering
Cronkite and Murrow, mirrors of our national
conscience (back when there was such a thing).
Now it’s “Happy News,” reported by interns and
delivered by softly curved Barbies with white smiles and
a light-skinned Black meteorologist. They report on
straw polls; they pitch their network’s upcoming
programs. Even the crawl crawls, clueless.
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
(Inhale.) Sunday Scribblings wanted a poem on the word “Subscribe”; Brain Miller at dverse Poets wanted writings on media; Brenda Warren, at The Sunday Whirl, gave us a dozen words, and Poets United (all the poetry that’s fit to print!) has Poetry Pantry. So that’s FOUR prompts in one poem, and it’s still properly snarky, as befits my sharp little pencil.
I do miss real journalism… Moyers is all I have left, except for BBC.com! Peace (and a plea for something more than birdcage liner), Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
claudia
mirrors of our national
conscience (back when there was such a thing)…ha..true that…sometimes it’s frightening how things change in our fast-paced world..wonder where this development will take us and we surely pay the price for it in one or the other way..
p.s. smuggled your link in…
oldegg
When I think of some fantastic journalism of the past being used as fire lighters I feel almost ashamed. This hurts as when I do buy a paper the first thing I do is pull out the sections that are unreadable, to be recycled. Al Jazeera news is pretty good…I wonder what that means?
Michael (contemplativemoorings)
I actually think this trend is a good one in my own peculiar way…The amount of cultural conformity required to get people to accept their news, their information from one source (or a few sources) is far too much, I believe…There is plenty of good reporting going on now, it’s just coming from a diverse array of sources and from people who have many different viewpoints (even some abhorrent viewpoints)…It requires a very open mind to access all of this information, but that’s not at all a bad thing…
Polly Robinson
Oh wow … that’s the way to do it, four in one!
vivinfrance
Oh how true – journalism is now known as the meja, and truth and straightforward reporting are hardly seen or heard these days.
A very clever poem, Amy, and the 4-prompt challenge is met with aplomb!
Tony
Nice work – four prompts for the rice of one poem. It’s not all bad – and the corporate giants still control most of it.
Jack
Journalism has definitely mutated in a bad way. I think millions of people could not care less, though. It’s heartening to see the attack you’ve written, and, you have my compliments.
Stan Ski
Even the BBC aren’t what they used to be…!
Roger Green
I was a big fan of ABC News, but once Peter Jennings died, the transition has been awful.
Sabio Lantz
Fun commentary on change. “Old” means “lamenting the perfect past”.
I am glad you hit the Huffington Post — most poets take pokes at Fox News!
Fun commentary, nicely written!
brian miller
rich men who tend to
eat the truth raw and spit it out, tattered and
slimy, pro-corporate, inaccurate drool….ha aint that the truth…news is no longer news but propaganda…esp on TV…there is just no cronkite or brokaw…sad bit of truth here, ina fun way though…
ManicDdaily
Agh. Agree with all, as you know. A terrible situation. Some very good lines here – the ones Brian cited particularly resonant, but throughout. k.
Mary
You can always be relied on to call it as you see it, Amy! Truth is all so relative these days.
brenda w
Four prompts, successfully mastered. I’m impressed, Amy. I like the media prompt. You’ve tackled it with intelligence and a bit of humor. Kudos!
Shakti Ghosal
You have spoken of a trend that is transforming the media industry everywhere. Technology would only drive this faster and faster. How do we look at our individual processes to take advantage of this trend?
Shakti
laughwithme45
Great combo of prompts! Now that so much is online, it won’t even make for birdcage liner!
tigerbrite
Brilliant as usual. The second stanza stands out 🙂
wolfsrosebud
certainly looks like you got it right
kimnelsonwrites
Yep… BBC is good. I still love reading the Sunday New York Times!
Pamela
Snark is good coming from you, Amelita. I glaze over listening to some of them on CNN, BBC is much better in my opinion. My husband doesn’t like the Huff, he says it is too liberal. Well done, chica.
Pamela
anl4
You did a great job of picking off those prompts!
ninotaziz
Oh Amy, I hear you.
Sherry Blue Sky
Amy, this is so right on……news with a pro-corporate slant. I was a cub reporter from the age of fourteen on a daily newspaper where we all pounded out our stories on underwood typewriters, and in the back were the presses, with men setting the lines of reverse print which they could read upside down and backwards. And the editor often did run thru the room yelling ‘STOP THE PRESSES!’ It is all so different now. I love your writing!
Laurie Kolp
This is great, Amy! News has taken on a whole new look and objective, with much of it being so subjective and anchors who may as well be models.
thecheesewolf
a great subject for a poem and brilliantly handled. I love those last three words… they have the sound of your meaning (if that makes sense). Great stuff.
Sara v
Amy–you nailed it! It is sad, the drivel that has become the “news” I don’t even watch it anymore (quit quite awhile ago actually–it depresses me). Love the commentary at the end about bird cage liner–thank you for the great words and the laugh! Hugs–Sara
keiths ramblings
It’s called progress! But I still love the smell, sound and look of a crumpled newspaper!
Pamela Smyk Cleary (PSC)
I am SO with you on this one, Amy! Nice job!
I “poemed” a similar complaint in the April 2011 PAD — “Current Events (None of my Business)” and I still feel the same about news reporting today. Wish I had that poem on my blog so I could include a link for you. Maybe one of these days…. I think you’d enjoy it — as I did this. Thanks! 🙂
Tumblewords
Terrific and so true. I, too, favor Moyers and BBC. C-Span to know what was REALLY said so it’s easier to pick the truthers…
Mr. Walker
Amy, never would have known there were four prompts in there, if you hadn’t told me. I didn’t even notice the wordle words. Great poem, with your usual fire and clear vision. Thanks.
Richard
purplepeninportland
You did it! You nailed four prompts with a perfect poem. I loved the crawler part, since I am a huge non-fan of that river.
magicalmysticalteacher
It’s definitely a new world, journalistically speaking!
Whirling with James Joyce