Op Ed
No News May Be Good News!
Who exactly determines what news stories are important enough to report on? Any watcher of television news may wonder if it’s the same person controlling all the stations like the Architect in The Matrix.
They all have the exact same format, same set, same actors; I mean anchors (I mean actors). Most newscasts have the same blueprint; 2two attractive anchors and an unnecessarily hot weather person named Gail Forces or Wendy Storm. Let’s not forget the hokey, goofball correspondent who does the feel-good story about the cat who returns home after three years in the wild at the end of each newscast. You only get to hear about Felix the Ferral after listening to all the death, destruction, and impending apocalyptic scenarios brewing, however.
Everything from angry bees and reggae hating mosquitoes (get well soon Beenie Man) becomes “important news” for the sake of ratings. And when the news outlets decide to make something news, nothing can “un-news” it. The NY Police Commissioner could crash a blimp containing ISIS agents and plutonium into a Harlem mosque and it wouldn’t register if that’s not the area of focus.
The current President has gone on rants about “fake news” all the while quoting and citing other fake news sources to support his assertions. Meanwhile, all the outlets he is constantly at odds with cover him 24/7. This is, of course, not because he is newsworthy. It’s because we click and share the articles and video clips which lead to more revenue for that outlet/network. Just as G.I. Joe needed Cobra and Jesus needs Lucifer, The News also needs good villains to further their own agenda. It’s gotten way beyond convoluted. This got me to thinking; Maybe it’s past time we TURN OFF OUR TELEVISION!
Although the easiest (and when has anything of value come easy), television may not be the best source of information gathering. It constantly and consistently feeds your desire for drama, and drama is a hell of a drug! It wasn’t until recently that I came to grips with just how much of an issue drama is. It is actually the fuel that sadly and oddly keeps a lot of us going and tends to care very little about actual facts.
Drama is what we ingest to pass the time (“Ooo girl! Did you hear Drake is dating J Lo?!”) It is the cheap fiber used to stitch communities together (“Yo son! You saw what they did to Charles Oakley?!”) The long term effects of how it dictates our actions seem innocuous initially but what happens when drama is used to make decisions in our lives that effect our livelihood (like president selecting?).
News outlets (all of them) could care less what is actually going on in communities. It seems they just want any form of drama occurring so they generate stories that lead to advertising and subscription revenue.
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
