Political Memes and Me

It’s hard for me to appreciate political memes. Some say they’re a good way to start conversations, but they seem more like a pretentious way of affirming your own opinions. Those who share the meme think they’ve proven their brilliance, implying the message gives them the final word on the subject. The one who posts it feels pride, seeing themselves as sticking it to the idiots who disagree, walking away from social media with victory. In truth, there’s little to be impressed with. Someone came across a meme while scrolling online, confirmed the bias they already had, and then clicked Share. That’s all that happened. There was no research, nor any deep reflection on the topic. Just a feeling of righteousness as the sharer claims to drop a proverbial mic on the subject.

While these are cynical thoughts, this meme gave me a mixed bag of feelings: 

The post complains of the media’s lack of coverage on public school lunch debt in Missouri. This often-used image for memes is of a man gawking at an attractive woman while the girlfriend looks at him with disgust. In this case, the man represents “American Media”. The hot girl is “Inspirational Story”, and the girlfriend is “Huge Systemic Failure”. The argument is that American media doesn’t highlight societal problems, instead becoming distracted by individual acts of triumph. While it’s admirable to bring attention to such an obscure issue, the problems with the meme are hard to ignore.*

To their credit, the meme’s creator recognizes an unknown plight for families, and it’s a worthy topic to bring attention to. There are a hundred ways America is becoming more expensive as parents increase their debt from the simple need of not having their kids feel hungry in school. As a Minnesotan, it has been encouraging to see Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz spearhead a national conversation on the topic. Minnesota has addressed the problem with a universal lunch program, and maybe the dialogue will lead other states to address it. With this, the suggestion that the media should report on it seems reasonable, for greater awareness and potential solutions.

At the same time, the meme’s critique of the media doesn’t jive with reality. Is it implying that American journalism doesn’t cover our problems? As an avid reader of current events, this appears absurd as the news gives us daily evidence to the contrary. The term “doom-scrolling” was coined for good reason. Constant news of injustice and heartache fill the pages of our media, showcasing the plethora of ways institutions have failed us.** Contrary to what the meme claims, the metaphorical boyfriend pays lots of attention to the girlfriend. She should feel confident in his unwavering devotion for her.

This isn’t to say that the media should stop showing us the warts of societies. Journalists should highlight them, and even if cynics like me roll my eyes at their apocalyptic tones, the public should know what’s going wrong. Still, I’d ask again: Who claims that the media doesn’t highlight these things? We are inundated with stories of crime, war, sex abuse, student debt, day care costs, climate change, housing shortages, poverty, etc, etc. So even if the media had yet to cover the specific issue of school lunch debt in Missouri, can we say with a straight face that journalists have failed us? It seems to be a silly suggestion.

Leaving that aside, the central claim of the meme is that journalists become distracted by singular stories of inspiration, bringing our gaze away from the problems. If this were true of media on a massive scale, then it might be a practice worth addressing. But two points come to mind:

1.    Media outlets have enough resources and common sense to pursue both the inspirational and public failures. It’s hard to reduce an entire organization of journalists and their resources to one boyfriend gawking at a stranger. The media can walk and chew gum at the same time, highlighting the mountains of suffering in the world while sharing some of the heartwarming tales.

2.    Couldn’t it be said that inspirational stories, like the kid raising money for student lunch debts, help to reveal the problems at hand? News is getting out that something bad has been happening to families in Missouri. In this case, the student’s fundraising caused both media fawning and the creation of the meme. Reporting on the good can still bring our attention toward the problem, showing us that news doesn’t have to exclusively showcase doom and gloom.

Even beyond this, we haven’t yet considered the positives of the media sharing inspirational stories. Just as we need to know the problems we face, we need to aspire to stories of charity and triumph. The successes of a government program. The offerings of communities. The stories of survival. The acts of forgiveness and philanthropy that will make the world better. Such reporting gives the public courage and inspiration to believe in what is possible. Telling us about the healing of a cancer patient doesn’t stop us from knowing about cancer, and we shouldn’t discourage the media from covering the story of the patient. Journalists should also be messengers of good tidings, along with all of the bad.

Funny enough, thinking about this meme has raised my general confidence in the media. As much as we complain about the biases and half-truths of their coverage, journalists will report on most of the things we should know. When subscribing to The New York Times in 2022, the first thing I read was a series of stories on the war starting in Ukraine. The level of detail they shared was remarkable, from political motivations to problems with military equipment. It was clear how much work and dedication the newspaper went through to pull the information together, to inform people like me. Sure, biases spring up in stories, and mistakes can always be made, but it’s hard to believe the media has a widespread practice of showing fluff stories over the ugly.

With all of this reflection on media, it’s amazing now to remember that it all came to me from a simple meme. Maybe I should cut memes some slack – to give them a chance to add to our conversations. Maybe memes are like people: Even if their views are nonsense, we can still learn something if we pay attention. The motivations of someone who shares the meme can be suspect, with trolling and arrogance always possible. And yet, the meme on student lunch debt gave me an awareness of the issue, and the chance to refine my thoughts on modern journalism. That’s not a bad job for an over-used image with a few short captions. Maybe, indeed, there was a point to be made.

*By acknowledging our ignorance of school lunch debts, you can now argue that memes serve as a positive force for awareness. Cynical Jeremy will have to get back to you for a comeback.

 

**For a source that personifies this practice, watch the HBO show This Week Tonight with John Oliver. It will make you think nothing is going right in the world. It’s a good thing John Oliver is funny, for how depressing the show would be otherwise.