When I see lengthy displays of the candidates and their wives comparing their shoes, clothes and hairdos in the daily newspapers, I feel like I am reading the National Enquirer. If I wanted sensation rather than substance I would read the Enquirer. Instead, I read newspapers to get today’s news.
We have two candidates running for president. The candidate elected will represent us to the world. He will influence foreign and domestic policy. We have two wars raging that are draining the economy and costing thousands of lives. We have hurricanes battering the coasts and Caribbean islands. The intensity of these storms may be linked to climate change. We have rising energy costs, and energy use that fuels global warming as we well as war. We have a crumbling economy with rising unemployment. We have a national housing crisis with forecloses at an all-time high. We have increasing homelessness and more people turning to food pantries to survive. We have gun violence in our cities and schools. We may also have a new Cold War in the making.
Can’t we get information about what the candidates will do about these problems as opposed to their choice of shoes? Isn’t this the role of media to inform the public? Or is it simply about image over substance?
Virginia Pratt
Jamaica Plain