Political Swoosh
People are lighting their Nike shoes on fire because Colin Kaepernick is featured in a new ad for the brand. Is this a news story or simply a desperate plight for attention?
Maybe the more pertinent question is, how did we get here?
Well, if we look back a generation ago, we had news sources that were on our television or on the shelves that we could rely on to bring us information that we could trust. They were limited, but they didn’t feel that way at the time. But they were limited because there are only so many ways to tell the truth.
Then, with the proliferation and access to the internet, our media became fragmented and we democratized the production of ‘news.’ There is so much noise out there, we are unable to differentiate fact from fiction. And because the profitability of news became delegated to how many clicks you get, the bar lowered and headlines sensationalized. The Denver Guardian, amongst similar other titles, were websites made to look like legitimate news sources, but were nothing more than propaganda machines churning out fake news and outright lies in order to generate clicks, and dragging our country down with it.
We traded Walter Cronkite for Alex Jones.
The news media began chasing what we wanted to hear, instead of what we needed to know. It is the nutritional equivalent to letting children choose anything they want to eat at the grocery store. Chances are they’re not going to the vegetable section, you will almost certainly find them in the candy aisle. Because ultimately humans are not good at self control. It is difficult. The paradox of choice proves that decisions are hard, cover them in sugar or sexy images, or gossip, or innuendo, and we don’t stand a chance.
It’s precisely why supermarkets put the candy at the check-out line. Because as we wait and look at the chocolate bars and confectionary concoctions de jour, the data is clear, we can’t resist. We are living in the digital equivalent of the Marshmallow Test, well aware that none of this is good for us, but still, we can’t resist the temptation.
That’s where grocery stores put the Enquirer, just above the Snickers bars. We know it’s not real news, but we read it anyway. We can’t help ourselves. Today our checkout line has been digitized and placed in the palm of our hand and the headlines that grab for our attention have grown more outrageous.
The outrage loop’s gravitational pull has sucked in not only our attention, but transformed our reality. As our media changed, our politics did too. And no one understood that better than Donald Trump.
Trump’s presidency is interwoven in the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media’s acquisition of stories of Trump’s extramarital affairs in what is known as a “catch and kill” strategy to protect the “Donald.”
Think about that. In the era of ‘fake news’ and sensational headlines, when the Enquirer finally gets a real story, they killed it.
So while Nikes in red states burn, 2 NFL players took a knee on Sunday, Serena threatened an official while her ads ran on TV, and Nike’s sales surge 31% since they launched the campaign…what are we to think?
Maybe we should re-evaluate our news sources. Remember our manners. Vote with your conscience. Watch what we eat. Resist the urge to be polarizing. And above all else, Just Do It!
