Commentary : It’s Bad News If Entertainment Value Rules It

The recent Times article on declining newspaper readership among the young, and now middle-aged “baby boom” generation was a sad and discouraging account (“For Papers, Generation Is Missing,” March 15).

As one of those baby boomers, whose reading habits have fluctuated between rabid and decidedly lackadaisical, I recognized the attitude: “Why should I read the paper--other than the sports’ page? It takes too long, and I don’t have the time. It costs too much now. Most of it doesn’t mean anything to me anyway--it’s boring. I can find out what I want to know from the TV news, and you know . . . well . . . I really don’t care that much anyway; other things are more important than what happens in Africa.”

The article reviews the issue well, but I have some more observations about the current state of American society drawn from personal experience and a little reflective thinking:

* Perhaps the “ ‘cynical attitude that there isn’t any reason to know anything . . .’ ” noted by Prof. Todd Gitlin is, in part, a cover for a sense of frustration and fear that the world is simply beyond our control, and that knowing and being informed makes no difference in the course of events. Polls have shown that many Americans divorce themselves from even the smallest role in our political system, because they feel their vote has no effect on the quality of politicians elected, the way the country is governed or the resolution of problems that plague us.

There is also a feeling that, in many ways, the world is just too much with us. American commitments are worldwide, lethal armaments proliferate, the economies and finances of all nations are incestuous, and now, the randomness of terrorism is global. Sciences unravel the labyrinth of human mind and body, the integration of Earth systems, and the life history of our universe.

While understanding and knowledge are power, they also can diminish the sense of individual power and self-esteem, and can provoke feelings of disillusionment, fear and apathy.

* We have looked upon a world larger and more complex than ourselves for decades, and periodically, even for centuries. But, since the mid-1950s, American society has been enthralled with its success at making life easier, more carefree, and with being entertained.

In this light, the pathetic trend in newspaper publications to make the news “entertaining” echoes similar changes in television newscasting. The result, particularly in local TV station news, is less reportage than vaudeville act. Newscasters not only all look alike, they speak the same lingo and go through the same childish routines. I shudder to think what will come out of a newspaper that sets out to beguile readers with “entertainment” and “excitement.” I, for one, do not feel that the role of the press is to emulate MTV as N. Christian Anderson, editor of the Orange County Register seems to suggest.

The observation has been made before--about this era and about others--that many Americans live a paradox: they want life to be flush and easy, and then, upon reaching that Nirvana, succumb to a profound blase ennui with everything but the perpetuation of their recreations and ease.

Thus the fascination with lotteries, prepared food and microwaves, garbage disposals and automatic garage-door openers, and with Southern California--for here is the mystique of a life filled with ease, sunny carefree days and, of course, entertainment.

The dark side of the paradox is the high entertainment value we find in violence and the tools of violence, and in displays of strength and aggression.

In many ways, this is all sadly reminiscent of the turn of the last century. Innovation and invention had transformed Western society, and, in this country, Theodore Roosevelt lamented Americans’ intellectual apathy and physical flabbiness. Complacency and ennui also afflicted Europe, and accompanied by a fascination for violence, and nationalistic chest-beating, contributed to the inevitability of World War I.

We think things are different now, but so did the actors in that tragic drama. As the late Barbara Tuchman so adeptly described in “The March of Folly,” governments and societies of all ages have a perverse skill at acting in their own worst interests.

Making the news entertaining and exciting may increase readership, certainly to the financial benefit of the newspapers.

However, such changes will do little to increase the breadth or depth of public knowledge, understanding and insight into complicated issues and affairs of man and the world. Reducing reportage to the lowest common denominator only treats people like small children, and perpetuates the malaise.

As for myself, I’m an odd duck: I’ve never played the lottery, I don’t have a microwave oven and think prepared food tastes like flavored cardboard; I’ve never had, or liked garbage disposals or automatic garage-door openers. When my television expired last year, I couldn’t think of a reason to buy another one; I read the newspaper. I like to feel my brain working.