I didn't see Katie Couric's debut broadcast yesterday, but I heard she had Morgan Spurlock (writer and director of Super Size Me and the interesting show 30 days) on to do a short commentary about free speech and civil discourse. I thought he did a good job distilling the issues and presenting them in an entertaining way. Here's a transcript I put together (it wasn't that long):
"It seems like every time I turn on the TV, some “reputable†news source is telling me how we’re a nation divided. Liberal/conservative, red state/blue state, right/wrong, us/them, tastes great/less filling, you name it. Well I don’t buy it. You see, today’s news has become just like professional wrestling. When Hulk Hogan puts his face right up to the camera and tells Randy Savage that “My 22 inch pythons mean the end of you brother!†he’s a mirror image of the politicians, the pundits, the spin doctors, the pitchmen, and the PR flunkies, that put their faces right up to hundreds of cameras every day and tell us how they’re right, and the other guys are out of their minds. Well, let me tell you something, brother – I’ve traveled to every state in this great nation (well, every state except Maine, but that’s only because they don’t take off their long johns until May) and what I’ve discovered in my travels is that we’re not a nation divided at all – we’re just a country that’s buying in to the smackdown hype.
Truth is most of us don’t live on the extreme ends they’d like to portray… the majority of us are camped out here in the middle. But nobody wants to hear what we have to say, because we don’t foam at the mouth, or call your momma names, or say anything that’s going to juice the ratings. And that’s what it’s all about – it’s all about the grandstanding, the name calling, and the yelling into the camera… well, don’t believe the hype. Change in this country doesn’t come from the person with the greatest decibels. Freedom of speech has a purpose –to make this the best nation we can dream of. If we can say anything, if we can have a real civil discourse, then and only then will we find the best solutions to our problems. Without that, it’s just showbiz."