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Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume Three
Spring 2004
Sly Fox : The Cultural Impact of One Network - Page 6
by Reina Singh
The conundrum we face now is deciding who is to blame for the downward spiral of the news. It is easy to blame the powers-that-be, Murdoch, Ailes and the rest, because they control what the public does and does not see. Yet, there are nights when the public would rather hear about the Kobe Bryant case that suicide bombings in Iraq. Seitz indicts “[c]able news channels, for openly drooling over big trials and celebrity scandals. . . while downplaying the fighting in Iraq whenever they could get away with it. By the way, if you only get your news from CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, you might forget that Americans and their allies are still risking life and limb in Afghanistan” (1). These cable news networks are now a form of escapism that the public uses to forget about the daily perils that plague our society. Cases like the Kobe Bryant trial enable the public to establish a moral code; we are able to judge the rich and powerful, and for one brief second, we forget that they are the ones subliminally creating the moral code that radiates from our television screens. One may wonder why someone like Bill O’Reilly has the number one rated show on cable news. It is because we want to watch him, just as if we cannot take our eyes off a train wreck. The networks realize this and they constantly compete with each other to introduce the next O’Reilly, and to be the network that enraptures America.
It is interesting that the Fox Corporation owns the rights to The Simpsons because the show acts a paradox—it is both the symbol and antithesis of mass culture in America. The general appeal of the show is unsurpassed in history, yet it satirizes everything about our very existence, identifying the show as elite culture. The popularity of the show ensures the intellectually elite that their “messages” are transmitting to the masses; however, once the rest of America watches the show it is up to the individual to dissect and separate the seamless union between entertainment and satire. If the majority of the audience fails to distinguish the two, we can safely say that The Simpsons will soon go the way of the American media, and sooner or later, we will has to start searching for new venues that will properly discuss, evaluate and critique the machinations within popular culture.
works cited
Auletta, Ken. “Vox Fox: How Roger Ailes and Fox News Are Changing
CableNews.” The New Yorker. May 26, 2003: 58.
Bonne, Jon. “The Simspons, Back From the Pit.” msnbc.com 11 November 2003. MSNBC News http://www.msnbc.msn.com/.
Doyle, Larry, et.al. “Girly News.” snpp.com. 19 April 1998. The Simpsons Archives. http://www.snpp.com.
Fiske, John. “Popular Culture.” Critical Terms for Literary Study. 2 nd Ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin, eds. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago, 1995.
Martin, Tom et.al. “Sunday, Cruddy Sunday.” snpp.com. January 21, 1999.
The Simpsons Archives. http://www.snpp.com.
Mason, Robert. “If You’re Disgusted with Us, I Don’t Blame You: Television and
American Politics Today.” American Politics and Society Today. Robert Singh, ed. Malden, MA: 2002. 57-80.
Niven, David. Tilt? The Search for Media Bias. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger
Publishers, 2002.
Seitz, Matt Zoller and Sepinwall, Alan. “Season’s Grievances.” The Star Ledger.
December 23, 2003: 1-2.
Singh, Robert. “Subverting American Values? The Simpsons, South Park and the Cartoon Culture War.” American Politics and Society Today. Robert Singh, ed. Malden, MA: 2002.
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