When you see your dad follow a process to devour the
newspaper everyday, starting with the top bold letter headlines and eye
catching news in the morning, details in the afternoon and almost every written
word by the evening... you develop a fascination for news.
News, is only second to travelling, if you are looking to change
your outlook.
The benefits of knowing about your society, town, city, country
and the world are not even in question. The matter of concern is the changing
face of the source. I don't have a newspaper a day for my fix. I have access to
multiple news sites and many news channels to indulge in. Not to forget
radio.
But no one tells you the news as is. The need to run
for hours and hold Readers/viewers/audience attention corrupts the medium. The
news channels sensationalize the news. The 'Breaking News' becomes an essential
job description for journalists. The paraphrasing of events to 'add
description' reminds me of padding words in essays while in school, in lieu of
researching and finding more content. I support a policy for News channels and New sites to accept an abbreviated telecast/webpage in respect of a quieter, event less day.
Another problem with trying to grab attention of the
audience results is news falling off the headlines when the “news reporters” assume
that their audience is “bored” of the news. The first Ebola patient makes
headlines. The second Ebola patient comes down a little in priority and by the
time it’s an epidemic, only change in scene or region, cause a reshuffle the priority of the news.
If you want to find today what happened to the girls
kidnapped by Boko Haram. You will find no news today. Pretty much like Drone
strikes in Pakistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Human right violations in North Korea,
Israel-Palestine relations.
God save you if you are trying to listen to actions of a democrat Federal Government through a TV/Radio channels in a republican state.
It’s up to an individual to filter the news to
understand the events and not the views, visions and ideology of channel/reporter.
Also wear blinkers to the life-altering information like celebrity
divorces, weight gain and baby names.
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