My Turn

by Debra Mamorsky, Editor

Success, today, is very often measured in vaults filled with dollars and cents. It’s the top-salaried performers, athletes, CEOs of major corporations that are considered the "stars" of our world. After all, isn’t it money that buys happiness, opportunities, and the freedom to do whatever you want?

What strikes me as so peculiar, is that our fortune-finders very often seem to be trapped by their very success. While money talks, it often talks at a heavy price. Fueling one’s own personal economy with high test living nonetheless leaves our revered superstars experiencing life at an arms’ distance, surrounded by bodyguards, shielded with sunglass armor, all in an effort to keep the very fans and employees that helped to create their stardom, away. Cocooned in their homes, replete with bowling alleys, pools, movie theaters, and 24 hour help to accommodate every mini-need, our stars seem to be disenfranchised from every-thing that makes life worth living. They have lost touch with their audience, and, most importantly, they have lost the very passion that led to their success.

Journalism, too, seems to be tainted by the singular pursuit of profits. Commercialism has barricaded us from knowing the truth. As reporter Jessie Desvarieux writes in her article covering the Dupont Awards at Columbia School of Journalism, big business has infiltrated the media to such an extent that democracy is no longer represented. Controlled by the top 15% of America’s wealth and delivered to the top 15% of the country’s wealthiest readers and viewers, many people in the media have kept the public at an arm’s distance from learning about any dissenting or contradictory voice to what is offered. Reporter Ben Silverman shares his outrage with this point in his article on the demise of radio station WBAI, which has long been recognized for representing the radical left and for doing segments on issues that other media outlets won’t touch.

Original thought and the passion to pursue one’s dreams can only occur if we are able to celebrate our own uniqueness, our differences of opinion, and ideas and interests. We must always remain true to ourselves, and know that very often celebrity status and power can extinguish the very passion that makes us all special.