July 6th, 2012 
Up4Dsn 
In many ways, the postmodern mainstream media has become nothing more than a joke. Can you really believe the mainstream media considered Anderson Cooper’s announcement that he’s gay as “breaking news”? Are you kidding me? Why should the American people care about what man Anderson Cooper is having sex with in the privacy of his own home? Even though there are Americans who love to hear things of this nature, this does not warrant Anderson Cooper’s bedroom being brought into our homes. We need a new vision of journalism that focuses on critical issues, challenges, and problems facing America.
In Postmodernism or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, Fredric Jameson posits that postmodernism, the historical and cultural epoch in which we reside, is characterized by an intense self-referentiality. For Jameson, we live in a historical moment where there’s more emphasis on the fragment (the personal narrative) instead of on the totality (the collective narrative). This is why we see the mainstream media having a fascination with one of its own, Anderson Cooper, and not with solemnly engaging meaningful and broader questions and issues about sexuality. When we discuss sexuality through the lens of Anderson Cooper, we’re really not talking about sexuality at all—we’re simply talking about Anderson Cooper.
The mainstream media, however, attempted to present to us the coverage of Anderson Cooper’s disclosure that he’s gay as a substantive treatment of sexuality. The only person who benefitted from this coverage was Anderson Cooper. Of course, you know he’s going to pen a book about his decision to unveil he’s gay. The end result of the coverage of Anderson Cooper’s announcement that he’s gay is another rich White man becomes richer. The mainstream media commodified sexuality through using Anderson Cooper’s announcement, which allows him to sell his commodified sexuality to those who will be interested in knowing more about it.
Let’s not forget we’re a nation still at war. We have a high national unemployment rate and the unemployment rate is much higher in many states. Yet, the mainstream media elects to consume a significant amount of time and space covering Anderson Cooper’s sexuality. I guess the mainstream media hoped to stimulate the economy by informing us how what’s in Anderson Cooper’s pants gets stimulated. What I do know for sure is this is not quality journalism.
Is the mainstream media willing to do anything to get viewers and readers? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Sensationalism in the postmodern mainstream media is exponentially snowballing.
On Twitter, some people tweeted that Anderson Cooper’s divulging that he’s gay is significant for the LGBTI community. His high visibility was determined to be the reason why this was vital “news.” Again, the only person who is going to benefit from this “news” is Anderson Cooper. I would expect this type of coverage on Anderson Cooper’s sexuality on a blog. I would like to think, however, that it would not occupy serious time and space in the mainstream media.
America is experiencing a waning of earnest journalism. American journalism is increasingly being commodified and dominated by the spectacle and self-referentiality. If the American people don’t demand the mainstream media to concentrate on substantive phenomena, then we will continue to be bombarded with sensationalistic “news” coverage.
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Antonio Maurice Daniels is a Research Associate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is working to obtain his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, specializing in Higher, Postsecondary, and Continuing Education (HPCE). His dominant research interests are the academic achievement of Black male students throughout the educational pipeline, especially Black male college student-athletes, and ecological sustainability in higher and postsecondary education. Upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he plans to become a university professor at an elite research university and concentrate on Higher and Postsecondary Education.
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I like Anderson Cooper….do I care that he's gay no. I watch him to get some info. I agree with you 100%!!!!
My recent post Day 6: Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.
I, too, like Anderson Cooper. I, too, don't care that he's gay. More power to him! Lol! As always, thank you for reading and for your response.
My recent post The Value of Your Funk: Part Two
Amen and Halleujah Mr. Daniels!!! Would the real journalist stand up and join the fight for real, substantive and relevant issues. I am so fed up with these so called news alerts about nothing. I have stopped watching many news outlets and networks over the past few years, because they are being governed and funded by billionaires that lack integrity, intelligence and knowledge about the industry. I do not care about a person's sexual orientation, but I do care about what is being paraded before us as news or noteworthy information in our media. This was a very well written post and I look forward to continuing to hear from "real" journalist. Thank you Up4Discussion for featuring Mr. Daniels.
Thank you very much! One of the fundamental goals of this piece is to have people to place pressure on those in power who control the mainstream media to give us substantive news. It's not going to improve the serious problems we face in America by knowing that Anderson Cooper is gay. In fact, this was not a real "revelation" in the first place. I very much appreciate you for reading and your response.
My recent post The Value of Your Funk: Part Two
Thanks. I follow up and read that post. Have a great day.
With all due respect to the author of this post; bad journalism has always been what the mainstream media is about. If you were to actually study the media over the last 100 years or so you would see that it's always been pretty much like it is now. In fact it was worse during a period of what was called "yellow journalism" in the early part of last century.
It's always been the case that one has to turn to alternative media to get the real story or the stories that are truly news.
As for Anderson Cooper; that I would say is news. When any member of an unfavored minority has huge success it's news. Also there aren't many out journalists in the mainstream so that's another reason its news just as it was news back in the day when Max Robinson, a Black journalist, was chosen as anchor for ABC News.
Of course, we disagree. As a university of English Instructor, I'm very much aware of the last 100 years of mainstream media. Yes, American journalism has always had its share of problems. What my piece gets to, however, is it's getting increasingly worse than it's ever been, even more so than during the so called "yellow journalism" period. Any time journalism is connected to the profit-motive there's always going to be problems. So yes, in the past there were problems. Those problems are more pronounced now and on a horrible negative trajectory. As for your Anderson Cooper position, we simply share differing perspectives on the significance or lack thereof of his announcement. We simply have differing perspectives on the topic(s) of this piece, which is a good and healthy thing. I appreciate you for reading and your response.
My recent post The Value of Your Funk: Part Two
Damn. That is a great way of looking at it. Great job of expressing yourself!
Lol! Thanks man!
My recent post The Value of Your Funk: Part Two
Antonio another great article! Sadly, the media has always and will always push irrelevant news ahead of more serious issues like unemployment, homeless veterans, inadequate healthcare or no health care at all, and the list can go on and on. I think Anderson Cooper coming out about his sexuality was a benefit for him, his job, and possibly a monumental development for the LGBT community. He possibly came forward because someone could have been black mailing him. Who knows but I do know that the media is good for playing sides of the fence. If a tragic accident or natural disaster like the Tsunami happens then that will make the news. When black on blacks kill each other that will make the news and the news anchor will find that one ignorant black person looking a hot mess to get their opinion of what happen. Then there are those the missing person alerts that seems to only display or interrupt our television scenes when it involves a white person, especially a female. Yet, minority children go missing everyday and are murdered everyday and you barely hear about there case. My issue with the media is why is there such a big difference in the coverage of news when it comes to blacks and whites? Why is irrelevant news always put ahead of important news? I think the media only cares about ratings which produces more money than caring about the welfare of a common day civilian. Again, great article!
Thank you very much! Outstanding response! You bring up great points. Black people must demand for the mainstream media to give them equitable treatment for change to take place. I very much appreciate you for reading and for your response.
My recent post The Value of Your Funk: Part Two