Trivial Pursuits.

“Trivial” Pursuit is a board game from Canada in which winning is determined by a player’s ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions.
In his blog-post today (http://eureferendum.com/), Doctor North again demonstrates that he is not a member of the “Bo-Jo FC” (Boris Johnson Fan Club).
That the UK’s government is digging itself and the country into a very deep hole is unarguable! Rather than just repeat a variation of Doctor North’s words of wisdom, today we look at some aspects of how the country got into this very fine mess in the first place!
Many commentators and politicians from across the political spectrum will oft state that it is essential to have a free and vibrant press to hold the powers that be to account and to expose corruption, failure, incompetence and scandal when it occurs.
In this they are all 100% correct!
Our problems is that our free press is not functioning properly. Now it is all very well to start carping on about the media but the FACT of the matter is that they are not the only ones to blame. Some of the blame has to be borne by the consumers of the news media. US!
At this point I must bring to the readers attention a failing of mine; I can go into too much detail. Having been “in sales” during times of my working career, this tendency is something I have sought at various times to stop. When selling a product be it a good or a service it is important to retain the prospective customer’s attention. It is a FACT that most people’s attention spans are rather small.
The other FACT is that with the notable exception of the Balderdash Broadcasting Commissariat, the media are for the most part private businesses whose #1 priority is to make a profit! It is a FACT that wordy detailed reports about the details of intergovernmental negotiations are of interest to a small number of persons – that include Doctor North!
The result of this is that the mainstream news industry concentrate on trivia such as what a particular female celebrity might be wearing or what gentleman caller is paying his attentions to her.
The media serve up this trivia because this is what most people wish to read and high online readerships means that the owners of the websites can reap a decent return in the form of commissions from advertisers! No readers – means No commissions! No commissions means No business! It really is that simple!