It is no secret that Media Mouse is highly critical of the local corporate media here in West Michigan. Beyond a desire for radical social change, the failings of the media system--at both a local and national level--motivates much of the work that we do. The corporate media, with its constant fear-mongering, commercialization, and support for the status quo, has proven itself to be a broken system. For all of their resources and vast transmission powers, they really do not do much to inform the citizens of Grand Rapids on a variety of issues ranging from elections to foreign policy.

However, every once in a while the local news runs a story that is so incredibly pointless, it shocks us. Here's a great example:

Obviously, this has no news value. Moreover, this story--which aired on Grand Rapids' WZZM 13 in January--is pretty long by news standards at 1:44. It is an example of a "fluff" story, which are stories that cover frivolous topics such as "slimy gooey gunk in ice tea" or "the great toilet paper debate." All too often, "fluff" stories end up being long pieces and take up valuable broadcast time that could be used to cover more important issues. For example, the aforementioned toilet paper story was longer than all of the stories combined that WZZM 13 spent on the Michigan judicial and Board of Education elections that year.

Of course, aside from "fluff" stories, the corporate media deserves criticism on a more substantive level when it comes to how it covers certain stories and how much coverage it provides. The Media Mouse-affiliated Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) has done a number of reports over the years examining how the West Michigan media covers foreign policy, working people, race, and crime. In addition, it provides regular analysis of corporate media coverage through its "Dissecting the Local News" feature.