Breaking News
Almost
every time the television news comes on, alarming images and daunting music
announces once again--breaking news. Like there isn't plain
ol' news any more.
Back
in the day, special reports only happened for the really big stuff like a man
landing on the moon, a president being shot, or crashing of an airplane. But
now, a murder six states away, a celebrity dies, or an animal killed on a
California bridge is breaking news. Why?
I
have a theory. I believe every time the television media declares breaking
news, they send out a warning to all their cell phone subscribers. The more
alerts, the more tuned in we are. Why do they want us glued to our phones and televisions?
Another
theory. Today's news media has more competition than the old fashioned newspaper
of yesteryear. We have the internet and social media. And it's available every
moment. Not just at six and eleven o'clock. We've never had more options to
access the latest and greatest than at this time in history.
So
to compete, the news media changed. More frequent. More sensationalized. More
opinions. Less fair and unbiased reporting.
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Often,
I wonder if news sensationalism hasn't made the issues worse. Sometimes, it
feels like the news is hyped up to increase shock-and-awe. And thus, tragedy
has become routine with the continual need to produce more anxiety with the
ultimate goal of increasing viewership.
Does
over-reporting the actions of extremists groups increase their numbers and
lawless bravado? What would happen if the media ceased reporting these
publicity seeking actions? Would we be better off?
For
example, why do we have to blanket the airwaves with pictures of school
shooters or terrorists? Why don't we only show a blank face with a question
mark unless they have escaped and police need the public to help find them?
Why
give this disturbed individual free publicity which can promote others with glory-seeking
behavior?
Wish
I had more answers…meanwhile, I long for the day of cut-and-dry, honest stick-to-the-point
news reporting of my childhood.
Do
you have suggestions to improve how our news is communicated? If you were the
president of a news network, what would you change?
By the grace of God and perpetual spiritual and emotional renovation,
Tammy Van Gils writes and blogs about Hope for the Everblooming Life at Tammyvangils.com. She is
a member of American Christian Fiction Writers
Association and Word Word Weavers
International. Visit her on Facebook and Twitter.
Breaking news can be so distressing. I wish there were more good news stories than bad news stories. "Breaking News...... God loves you each and everyday. Remember His mercies are new each day." :-) Now, that would be great "breaking news". :-)
ReplyDeleteSo absolutely true!! I could really use breaking news like that all day long. Thanks for the comment.
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