Letters

Monday, February 9, 1998

Letters

Eschew public opinion

I am writing in response to Mark Shapiro’s article "Veritable
flurry of distracting events obscures Winter Olympics" (Feb. 3)
where he explores the lack of interest in this year’s Olympic
games. He suggests the reason for this indifference may have
something to do with the media’s sensationalization of public
opinion – that sadly, the American public is only concerned with
controversial matters. Ironically, Shapiro seems to think the
solution to this apathy is for "the powers that be (to) get their
toupees screwed on right and find some way to get us hyped about
the games."

Wait a minute! The media is always under attack for
agenda-setting, for dictating what the public thinks about – and
now Shapiro is asking to be our cheerleader? On one hand, we want
the media to play a smaller role in our lives; on the other hand,
we want it to legitimize what we feel is important. If what we
think and believe is not reflected back to us in the media, we feel
it is somehow less valuable, as if we needed to be reassured that
we are not alone in our opinions. American thought is becoming
quite collective. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether
public opinion polls measure out opinions, or give us our
opinions.

In the present atmosphere, where "public opinion" and
"conventional wisdom" rule, we should be proud to have different
and unique perspectives. After all, isn’t that what a democracy is
about? So Mark, the next time you feel excited about something, and
the "powers that be" aren’t there to get you hyped up, get excited
anyway, you just might start a commotion.

Soraya Kelly

Fourth-year

Communication studies and French