Tone-Deaf...Again

I feel like this is going to end up being a weekly feature or, at the very least, something I don't just forget until six months have passed by us. Once again, I'm going to look at some politicking and some frivolity. Politicking, unlike last time, first.

As you should know, President Obama ordered a limit on the pay of executives of banks and other businesses that are now partly in the ownership of our fair government today, capping that pay at only a cool half-million dollars a year. And, already, I have heard about complaints from those execs who are now no longer going to be millionaires, based on their per-year. First of all, I say should as in "You should know," because really...you should. I've been harped on for not reading newspapers, but, as I'll get into further down here, newspapers are not the be-all and end-all. The people who run newspapers should be doing us a good service, but sometimes get a little drunk on their presumed powers. Let's be honest: even though the Internet can be a haven for unadulterated bullshit, there are also plenty of outlets of good, honest information. This story has been all over newspapers and the Web today, and if you don't know, shame on you.

Onto the real tone-deafness. Executives...complaining about only getting 500 grand a year. I'd thank every deity in existence if that was my situation, not complain. Moreover, shouldn't we, the taxpayers, the people putting our money into these people's pockets to begin with (thanks a lot, bailout bill!), be judging these morons on their performance? I'd want these people fired or, at the very least, given a massive pay cut for their major-league fuckups. And where's the money going? To corporate jets. Why the fuck should these assholes be flying anywhere right now? You know what, guys? Take the fucking train. Take a bus. Carpool, but don't you go anywhere fucking near a corporate jet.

What pains me most is the lack of self-awareness. I've been, to this point, lucky enough to skirt under the banking mess, being a member of a bank that hasn't completely folded. I'm well aware of the fact that, come this time next year, I might not be so lucky. Do these people realize how lost their shareholders are? Are they aware that, as they live high on the hog, in their jets, going to parties, all that jazz, people are struggling to make a living because of their mistakes? No, of course not. Why would they? Why bother them with the problems of the people who are paying them? Bullshit.

Also bullshit? The media. This one comes up apropo of nothing, really, except for my choice of listening to the very entertaining /Film podcast (that's slash Film) during my work day. One of the older episodes, from late May, discussed how Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, the two main trade magazines in Hollywood, refused then (and still do) to give any credit for stories they "break" to the Web sites and blogs that do the heavy lifting for them. If Latino Review, for example, breaks a story about Ellen Page being in a roller derby comedy (and that wasn't a joke, though it's about as funny as that movie's likely to get), it doesn't matter to Variety. They'll run the story as if it's their own. No credit to Latino Review, no credit where it's due. Why? Because, as the astute podcasters pointed out, the folks over at those two magazines don't understand blogs, for the most part, and are all vehemently angry and scared at them.

Angry because it used to be that only a select few people wrote professionally, wrote seriously, and now everyone's doing it and trying to be the best. Scared because some of those people, some of the supposed losers, are actually pretty damn good and are beating the print folk at their own game. Even more than in May, the story on /Film had resonance, with newspapers and magazines going the way of the dodo much faster than they were 9 months ago. And yet the newspapers still fight against the Internet. The thought that some people at newspapers are still asking why they're being left behind in the 21st century is as dumb as it gets. Why does Variety have to focus on advertising from outside sources, why do they need more Oscar ads than ever? Because the Internet is leaving them behind.

As pointed out many other places, too many to mention, it's simple. Newspapers cost money to make. Newspapers cost nothing to read. I can go to most newspaper Web sites and read all the day's content for free. Why buy an actual paper in lieu of the free way out, especially in this economy? What's the point of shelling out that dough where I could use it better somewhere else? And yet, people don't yet understand. The print people are scared. Some can adjust to the Internet revolution, but most can't. Most won't. I think they should just accept they're doomed to either be an Internet zombie or be as stubborn and gruff as Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.