I admit that I am a newsaholic. It's not something I am especially proud of but at every opportunity I check out the news - be it on this computer, via our various radios, in newspapers or on the television. Over decades I have devoted far too much attention to the news, absorbing it like human blotting paper.
That's a lot of time, a lot of concentration and a lot of mental energy that could have been devoted to better things like my own writing, reading for enjoyment or painting. I am a slave to the news and just cannot break the habit.
One thing I have noticed about the news is its transient nature. Newsworthy issues crop up, blossom for a while and are then summarily ditched - even though the original matters that attracted the spotlight may not have been resolved. In fact, things may have progressed or worsened. The cameras and the journalists often appear to have moved on - their editors blind to what's happening.
Just prior to COVID, the civil war in Syria was endlessly reported upon - day after day. You couldn't get away from it. What is happening there now? Should we assume that the strife and bloodletting are all over? No we should not. The conflict persists and ordinary people's lives continue to be shattered but news organisations apparently got bored with Syria. Let the refugees fester in their camps. Let Bashar al-Assad continue to weave his deadly spells.
Then there was the conflict in Yemen. Interestingly, it didn't get a lot of coverage in spite of what was going on but now it's as if the news media are in total denial about it. The stage curtain has come down even though the terror continues to happen with Saudi Arabia and United States weaponry still playing their deadly roles.
Unsurprisingly, I found myself in full agreement with Pope Francis when he said this on Christmas Day: "We continue to witness a growing number of conflicts, crises and disagreements. These never seem to end and by now we hardly even notice them. We have become so used to them that immense tragedies are being passed over in silence."
Closer to home, issues that have have attracted the news media for a week or two this year include the dearth of available lorry drivers to transport goods around the country. This is largely a result of the continuing Brexit fiasco which also saw problems with recruiting seasonal agricultural workers and meat processors. As news items, both issues appear to have simply evaporated even though the problems are ongoing.
How often do we learn of current affairs in Africa or South America? Whole continents are neglected for weeks on end even though newsworthy events occur there on a daily basis.
For the creators of news, the world often seems to be like a supermarket. They go in with their trolleys and pick random topics from the shelves before flagging them up to the public. Then next week there's another shopping trip as the old stuff is resigned to landfill. In fact, is it news or just another form of entertainment? Sometimes I really wonder.
I think it has a great deal to do with the attention span of the audience, and their inability to focus on more than one story at a time, so news outlets make one story THE story and rest fall by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteI share your cynicism sir.
DeleteIt's always about the profits and we should never forget that.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good point. Most news services are businesses.
DeleteNo news is good news. Bad news travels fast. Two very true sayings. I named my tractor after Anna Ford the ITN news reader. I've started watching GB News on You Tube.
ReplyDeleteDo you still like to ride on Anna Ford or has she broken down?
DeleteAt least you get some semblance of the truth on GB News, the others are mostly lies.
DeleteThe main investors in GB NEWS all reside in the United Arab Emirates.
DeleteSadly news is governed by the need to sell advertising and jolt people with the silliest gossip ever known to man. Perhaps the media thinks keeping the gloomier world wide news saves us from being miserable. It is so local and national and 'instant' that we no longer have a perspective on the truth of things.
ReplyDeleteIn some media outlets, truth can seem like an irritating obstacle.
DeleteI don't think it's a matter of picking "random" topics. On any given day, what's happening is prioritized. If more urgent things are happening closer to home or that more directly affect an outlet's readership/viewership, those items are highlighted. There is also unquestionably a bias toward stories that are evolving, are "hot" subjects of public interest, or that an outlet has invested substantial resources in covering. I'm certain there are still reporters in Syria, but I'm guessing their stories are getting less attention (or they're not producing as much) because there's just not much development at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI used to occasionally sit in news meetings where top editors at one of the world's top newspapers would decide what to put on the front page. It was invariably a fascinating debate/discussion. I do think news people all over the world struggle every day with giving every story its fair share of attention.
Thanks for your "insider" reflections Steve. Interesting and appreciated.
DeleteEach newscast begins with the words "breaking news", despite the fact it's seldom breaking news. I don't think a single day has passed in 22 months that I haven't heard the word Covid. Rather than have three or four repetitive stories (often speculative) about Covid, I'd like more varied news. Then again, it's clearly not possible to give every newsworthy item its due.
ReplyDeleteBut there are clearly hidden agendas in the reporting of news.
DeleteWe are very self-absorbed these days and insular, at least in the U.S. I have friends abroad, so I get most of my international news from them or from non-American sources.
ReplyDeleteI have always thought it odd that America - a jigsaw of people form all over the world along with a small percentage of native Americans - is so inward looking. Isn't this why 9/11 was such a very terrible shock? The outside had come in and it made Pearl Harbor look like a picnic.
DeleteYes, the country itself is so big that we consider ourselves an impregnable fortress. I don't and never have, but many do.
DeleteI guess it is wrong to generalise. A significant minority of Americans are very knowledgeable about and keenly interested in the world at large,
DeleteWhat's frightening is how many Americans are not knowledgeable about their own country, much less the world at large. (geography as well as current events)
DeleteI have frequently heard that with the growth of cable television and the internet, news nowadays is just another entertainment, and is treated that way by purveyor and consumer alike. I remember my "good old days" providing the news but I also regret part of the era in which the changes began to happen.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to hear an "insider's" take on such matters.
DeleteI think that most of us who are NOT human blotting paper for news just feel hopeless when we read or hear of situations far away over which we have no control. That's my feeling, at least.
ReplyDeleteEven newsaholics feel impotent.
DeleteI've noticed the same thing about the news, even when you go to different countries, the news organizations decide what's important, focus on it for a bit and then move on before, god forbid, anybody gets bored.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to Steve for the inside look.
Steve worked for a respected and serious newspaper which arguably does not typify the media news territory.
DeleteWhat happened to Aung Sun Suu Kyi in Burma? The news evaporated. I remember when in England how obsessed the BBC was with Africa. We receive little coverage, probably not enough, of the great continent but BBC seemed obsessed with it.
ReplyDeleteThe Rohingya genocide and the mass flight to Bangladesh - they filled the news for a while before the spotlight moved elsewhere. THat is how it seems to go.
DeleteI used to be obsessed by news and current events. As you point out news coverage is far from what it used to be. There are fewer writers, reporters and editors. They seem to be catering to the bucks. the technology has also changed so that it's easy to put crap on for news.
ReplyDeleteBob's comment on the attention span of the audience is true.
ReplyDeleteThe majority these days aren't interested in what's happening around the world. Stories of war, famine, pestilence, genocide, are all ignored in favour of the latest trends. Heaven help any news channel/paper or magazine that doesn't give the minutest detail about some pop group, "Influencer" or "Celebrity".
Those who follow the news, seem to be in the minority.
My husband used to work for the BBC World Service. You will find all the foreign news you need there on a daily basis, if you are interested in that sort of thing
ReplyDelete