30 January 2010

The procession* of simulacra

As with Hollywood, so with this golden age of news-o-tainment. People will trust any old nutjob if they somehow inhabit the role, and then they're hooked. There was a long-running series of US pharmaceutical ads that would feature doctors from daytime soaps, who'd begin with the words "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV …" And viewers would flock to buy the medicine. The guys on Fox News aren't newscasters, but they do play them on TV – so we can't be all that surprised when people buy those drugs too.
--------
Marina Hyde
Of course we trust team Fox.
The Guardian 20–Jan–2010 >>>
(*sic)

02 January 2010

The calm & the storm

8.05 pm New Year’s Eve Daylesford