Perspective

Morning shows in America spent almost as much time talking about a billionaire flying to space in July of 2021 as they did discussing the climate crisis in all of 2020. This illustrates a sad fact about our media machine: it’s not the most truthful or pressing stories that get attention, but rather those that collectively entertain or outrage us.

The truth is, the flight was nothing more than a joyride for Jeff Bezos and his midlife crisis—making it three miles above the Kármán line and enjoying about three minutes of weightlessness. Whereas the truth about climate change is that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is warming our planet’s surface temperature and melting 279 billion tons of Antarctic ice per year.

So while climate change threatens our quality of life and the actual lives of millions who live at or below sea level, we’re paying attention to a billionaire launching himself into space. At least he said, “Thanks to all the Amazon Prime subscribers.” If this doesn’t demonstrate our gross idolatry of tech innovators, I don’t know what does.

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Morning Show Airtime Allocated to Bezos in Space vs. the Climate Crisis

Sources: Media Matters for America; images: EDIE, DOGO News.