Everybody is in a tizzy over this censorship bill that Tumblr signal boosted a few days ago. I found it funny because, to an extent, the media is already somewhat censored, and people don’t even know or realize it. 

I don’t mean that it’s literally censored, with grayed out boxes for pictures and text (which I found to be a strange way for Tumblr to try and prove a point. I think the U.S. would handle censoring much more subtly than that). 

But the media is already very controlled. If you go on the Yahoo/MSN/AOL homepage, the “top news stories” of the day probably consist of:

• Kim Kardashian slammed with lawsuit from ex!
• Best Cyber Monday deals!
• Ladies, the 15 things you’re doing that turn him off
• Texas cheerleader gets knocked over by football player!
• Oldest person in the world passes away at age 258394673
• Dog/Baby/Cat does something cute!! 

Do you really think that out of all the events going on in the world, THESE are the top news stories? Of course not. Sure, they might throw in a news article or two to make it seem like they’re trying to keep the public informed, but even then, it’s probably vague and barely glazes over any actual detail. 

I’m sure some would be quick to say that these so called “news articles,” are just interest pieces; they’re just what the public wants to read. I say that you should ask yourself why you’re so interested in the lives of celebrities rather than, for example, politics. After all, these politicians are supposed to be representing you and your voice. The fact that you’re interested and infatuated with these celebrities is just an indicator of how well the media controls what you see and read. 

Just think about it. If you were raised away from the E! Channel and MTV and instead watched CNN or Nat Geo all day, do you really think you’d give a flying monkey about Kim Kardashian and her divorce?  Actually, strike that. If you were raised away from TV, period, would you care?