The ratio grows
A better communications scholar than I should be able to point out the original theorist and the name of the theory I’m about to spout. There is a finite amount of “talent” in a given society, the word “talent” to me representing the skill and ability to exploit resources to create something worthwhile.
There are twenty-four hours in a day. That means that in the old days of three major networks, there were 72 hours a day to be filled from that finite amount of talent. That is actually a relatively easy amount of time to fill. With the rise of cable and satellite, however, that number grows. A cable system that offers twenty channels effectively represents 480 hours of time that must be filled from that finite amount of talent. The Dish Network offers over 280 channels in its America’s Everything Plan. That represents 6,720 hours that must be filled – a number which, theoretically, begins to outstrip the supply of talent. And if you start to figure in the other channels not on that list along with the millions of pages of print produced a day and the 24-hour broadcast schedule of your typical radio station, the number only gets higher. That’s why you wind up with reruns, network premieres of The Butterfly Effect, and Dr. Phil.
In other words, the quest to fill time leads the gatekeepers of television programming (as well as other media) to go past the people with talent and find the people who are capable of just filling space. Ultimately, this leads to punditry. Which brings me around to Jack Thompson.
Remember Thompson? He’s the one who wants to convince you that violence in America did not exist prior to the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. He wants to sue video game manufacturers, and files suits trying to keep their product off the shelves. And apparently he managed to get a place as a time-and-space filler on – you guessed it – FOX News. Home of the Culture War (as well as many, many whoppers).
Kotaku responds by pointing out that Jack just can’t stop lying. Many of the cases he quotes as fact have actually been tossed out of court or cannot be traced to any source other than Thompson himself.
The sad thing is that while the media seems to feel its talent pool is exhausted, creating televisual real estate for Jack “Tragedy=Attention” Thompson, I’m fairly certain that there are talented people out there who would disagree. And many, many more people – both talented and un – who would rather watch almost anybody else.