Subject Matter Experts: Everywhere

Thousands of Subject Matter Experts Speak out on Whitney Issues

It's true.  Just log onto Facebook or read the tweets.  Subject matter experts, never before seen are coming out of their shells to announce what really happened to Whitney, and to expound on what a tragedy it truly is.  It seems that whatever the current media hype is, there is a frequently tapped resource they use to propagate their stories, you.

Whether it be an anchor lady getting bit by a pit bull on her show, Whitney's death, or Tennessee's "Don't Say Gay" bill, there are subject matter experts in almost every household.  People, by the droves, are chiming in on what they believe, not the facts, not actual real life experience, just what they 'feel' should be the answer.  The question is, are you really qualified to open that stink maker and talk about an issue?

Of course you are! It's your first amendment right! Hell, I wouldn't be typing this now if I didn't have the right to.  Everyone has the right to speak out about anything.  Now we delve into the filmy and murky waters of, "If I have the ability to do something does that mean I should?" Well luckily our nation, so far, has been led by people able to withhold this impulse, because without it we would probably have started a nuclear world war.  Our nations leaders have had the ability to do some pretty scary stuff but we have been granted a reprieve, so far, in that they haven't fulfilled the impulse to "just nuke em'!"

Doing what you have the right to do and doing what you have the ability to do are two totally different mine fields.  Hell, I have an English Lit degree, have been published 3 times and I still feel inadequate to the task many days.  Sometimes the news is so sensationalized I wonder why it even rates as news.  The one limiting factor I have is this; today we write as though the words pour out onto the screen are digested by the masses and then we forget about what we put out there, much like we would toss an unwanted piece of trash.  Once we move beyond it, we forget it.  But like trash, our rants, hopes, status updates, and the like are there to stay. 

We are trashing up our timeline for the future historians.  It is one thing to see a well written, slightly biased or unbiased article addressing a subject, and a complete other matter to see "OMG Whitney died!! ZOMG it was the mother, I knew it all along!!"  Is this really the legacy we are happy leaving for future generations?  Technology will continue to expand exponentially, at least for a decade or two more.  By the time our infants are posting their own status updates they will be much more informed and able to handle the massive amounts of media we have to express ourselves.  Do we really want them to see us as the whole nation that devolved into Yellow Journalism?

We've even become experts already at dissecting news casts and laughing at obviously biased outlets.  What makes us feel anyone treats our views differently?  The only thing we can do is make sure we stick with the facts and allow our biases to be changed through reporting and research.