21 Dec 2020

One of the things I regularly have a mental whinge about, is when I hear the DJ on the radio announce a new release song from a particular artist as a ‘fresh new hit’. It could be the very first time that song had been played on the radio, but they can’t announce it as a ‘new song’, it has to be predetermined as a hit. There doesn’t appear to be evidence required before something is determined to be a hit. You don’t need to sell a particular number of the single anymore. The minute it’s released, it’s called a hit.

The other mental whinge I have is when a sports player is described as “star”. It’s always prefaced by what sport they play, “AFL star”, “Rugby star”, “Golf star”, etc. It’s usually a juicy heading for a story about a person you’ve never heard of – even if it’s the team you follow, the chance is the person has rarely played a game and if they did, they definitely didn’t stand out enough to be labelled a ‘star’ in your mind.

It’s obviously all about getting you to read or listen to them. If they tell you about a “Football star in drug crisis” you will have to listen, wondering which genuine star they’re talking about. They never are. But they know if they announce that “an AFL rookie whose name you won’t recognise and who has barely been at the club for a month was seen taking a panadol tablet”, there’s a very good chance you won’t be interested.

Is there not enough news in the world that people are actually interested in? Do they have to build up a half story into something dramatic, knowing that after people have clicked on the headline, or listened to the first minute of the news report, that the story doesn’t match the headline???

That’s my whinge for today. Do you have things that are said regularly in the media that irritate you too?

Speaking of stars – I’m not. But those planets will be lining up tonight. In anticipation of the Bethlehem Star sighting, I’m heading outside with my rosemary and basil and a silver chain. The stuff mentioned in the other story just aren’t available at my local shops. I also haven’t found a camel yet but I’m on the lookout.