Newspapers, Again

I only occasionally read the newspapers up here, on account of the fact I hate newspapers. I also find those who refer to the newspapers as "papers" are more accurate than those who say the full "newspapers". The objects in question are certainly made of paper, but as for news, well...

The Canadian newspapers are full to saturation and beyond with news of the American election, and the long process of voting on the person you wish to vote for come the next vote. On the one hand, this is news and of some importance. On the other hand, this is Canada. We have no say in the election. It isn't too terribly important to follow the candidates so closely. A general overview would be just fine. But even this is not so irritating. Hyper coverage of events that are distant from our daily lives are common- witness Brangelina, Lohan, and any of the other tabloid fodder out there- and survivable.

What I can't stand is when the op-eds get to work. Newspapers are heavily written towards opinion. The writers are constantly presenting their personal opinion in the paper as though their opinion is of some significance. Reporters no longer seem to cover stories as much as they form opinions about stories others have covered. So we get opinions about America. Almost inevitably, some yahoo starts writing about "what America should do" or "How America should vote."

I have made no comment about the American election- unless you consider this post to be just that- because I do not believe it to be my place. I do not like to hear outsiders express opinions about my home. I would not tolerate someone telling me "Now what you Canadians should do is..." even if I privately agreed with them. I don't like it done to me; I won't do it to others. I wish the writers would stop embarrassing themselves and rein themselves in a bit. But that would be against their nature. My one comfort is that it is highly unlikely anyone voting in the American election will read their nonsense, and their influence, real influence, ranks in at about a zero. If only they had so little influence at home.