Open letter to the media

Dear media:

Please stop alienating me.

Whenever I open the newspaper to see the day's election coverage, I see an article about how I don't vote, speculating about how I'm too self-absorbed or ADD to really care about politics, and perhaps I shouldn't be allowed to vote at all because my generation has no sense of responsibility and will lead the country to hell. I fully intend to vote, and the reason I'm reading every word of election coverage is so that I can be a fully-informed voter, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to tolerate when everything is tinged with disparaging commentary about how I'm not going to vote.

I also read an article today about how I'm politically disengaged because I live in an apartment. This article alleged that I am generally disengaged from the community as a whole, because I think I have a lot of friends but really they're just fleeting acquaintances, and that my living in an apartment contributes to my disengagement, because I don't have common concerns to discuss with my neighbours like whether the garbage out back is going to be picked up. First of all, I don't think I have a lot of friends. I think I have a few, very close, very important friends who are definitely not fleeting acquaintances. My neighbours are fleeting acquaintances, which is why I don't feel the need to discuss politics with them. And I do care about whether the garbage out back is picked up, because my recycle box needs emptying but the recycle dumpster was almost overflowing yesterday and I certainly couldn't fit all my newspapers in unless they've emptied it this morning. But I don't discuss this with my neighbours because my super could tell me definitely when it will be empty, while my neighbours could offer nothing but empty speculation.

Another article I read recently postulated that I am having financial troubles because I have no sense of how to manage money, and this is partly because I have over-inflated career expectations because I have an over-confident idea of what my skills are worth and am not willing to start at the bottom and work my way up. Again, this is the complete opposite of my current situation. I will admit that my lack of financial trouble stems almost entirely from good luck, but I am still insulted that you think I don't know how to manage money. As a quick perusal of my personal finances will show, I can manage money just fine, it's just that there needs to be money for me to manage it. I also take umbrage that you'd think I'm not willing to start at entry-level. My problem in job searching has been that people were unwilling to hire me for entry-level positions because I have a degree, but I know full well that I do not have the experience to start above entry level with an employer I've never worked for before. It really is terribly insulting to be told that I'm cocky and inept with overly-high expectations when I very much want to start at the bottom and learn and gain experience but every potential employer except the one I ended up working for would not allow me to do this!

Traditional media often worry about attracting young readers and viewers, and are inexplicably concerned that blogs are taking away their audience. I can't speak for anyone else, but as a young reader and viewer (and blogger), I want very much to consume traditional, well-respected news media in order to be a fully-informed citizen, but it is very frustrating when these media sources pigeonhole me as something I am not, and then disparage me for it.