Today I heard that another 24 hours news station is going to be opening. What is this obsession we have with other people’s news? Are news channels the ultimate gossip chain, no longer do we have to rely on the grape vine of disrupted fact, now we have people who can report form the scene.
But what has happened to the real news, the news that is of significance for more than a day to two or at best a week. When was the last time you saw an item on the news that was taking the world forward. Solving a real problem, preventing multiple deaths of fauna, floral or people (I think we are fauna).
Take global warming, the green movement or save the planet for example, who is doing anything besides producing documentaries and movies. When was the last time you heard about even a celeb installing solar power for their house, or how a real person actually did something to save the world on a news channel? And when was the last time anyone took action because of news?
The biggest effect this news has had is in promoting people who love the attention, a number of serial killers have admitted that being on the news was a part of the reason they did it.
I, for one have stopped watching news, and the funny thing is I still hear the news that is of more than local concern. Then I normally wait for the hype to die down and either read online commentary (internet or TV text type) or buy a weekly, and get a proper story. The only side affect this has had on my life, is that people say I always see the glass half full (you would not think so after all this ranting would you). And in fact the real reason I stopped listening to the news was in an effort to strip negativity out of my life, and taking news out of my life was part of the negativity.
Okay so now I have to admit that there is something good about all these news channels. It provides honest work (whatever that is) to all the people that have to work the 3 shifts to generate all the stuff they are going to air.
My suggestion to those who love news is start thinking about why. Rather let us hear news about how various scientists have found this, or had a break through on that or how an artist has found a dramatic way of creating passion in the people who are looking at their art, or how some teacher has motivated a group of people to turn their lives round (and it is not a movie), or how a social worker helped a person going down the path of crime to become a public servant. I am sure these stories are out there.
Let say in my fantasy world this happened do you know what, this would help the struggling academics, the artists, the social workers, and all people really changing the world. And the best thing is that it would still need those same 3 shifts of people.
By the was I know of a local web site www.sagoodnews.co.za that seems to find them, and the site is climbing in the rankings.
PS The plethoria of news may explain the popularity of the onion, which is fictitious news.
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