Choose and Lose

Is democracy killing pop culture?

April 20, 2007—Tune in to CBS News tonight, and you're in for a special treat. (No, Katie Couric isn't debuting a new, gravitas-enhanced hairdo.) Human-interest whiz Steve Hartman—that's him, above—is scheduled to give you, the viewer, the chance to vote on which piece of offbeat whimsy he'll cover for next Friday's broadcast. (As a bonus, you also get to see which story last week's viewers chose.) Hartman's "Assignment America" segments—recent examples include a canine agility contest and a profile of an elderly substitute teacher—are only the latest in an exploding trend where media consumers are called upon to shape the content of what they're watching, reading, or listening to. Not a Couric convert? There's always Digg, the two-and-a-half-year-old site where users rate the most important news story of the moment (top headline as of 3 p.m. yesterday: "Oklahoma Declares Watermelon State Vegetable"). The web site for New York magazine even lets you create your very own version of the popular "Approval Matrix."

Well, guess what: I'm starting to get sick of all this voting, choosing, and weighing in. Truth is, I don't really want to help decide which insipid human-interest story Steve Hartman jets off to cover next week. I don't want to vote on which Doritos ad deserves to play during the Super Bowl. And I definitely don't want to sit and ponder whether Josh Hartnett's latest facial hair is more Brilliant/Highbrow or Despicable/Lowbrow. I'd actually prefer to let the professionals do it for me. Not because I'm an idiot, or because I hate democracy, but because I'm simply tired of choosing. After all, with so many options in everything from TV news to blue jeans to dog food, it's hard enough just making a selection in the first place. The last thing I want, after finally settling on just the right media option at just the right time, is to have to weigh in once more. Well, that's not quite true. The last thing I want is to watch a news program dictated by people with enough free time to run to their computers and vote on what gets aired.