One of the major problems without any realistic solution at this point in time is the 24-hours news services. Coupled with the internet, the general public has become almost dependent on up-to-the-minute news updates. The problem with this desire for news is that it has eroded the quality of news overall, and is forcing all journalists to (perhaps) let some stories run that would otherwise be shelved for more research. The idea of the "scoop" does not have to wait until the next morning's front page to be unveiled; with the correct connections or with the internet, anybody can shoot from the hip and, in all likelihood, has an audience to listen to.
Setting aside the free speech implications, I'm not implying that this is a bad thing. My concern is that I believe we are coming to a saturation point. Take the Democratic primaries, for example. All day yesterday, if you turned on cable or the internet were headlines and pundits speculating on what would happen next, reacting almost instantaneously to the candidates' remarks/speeches, etc. To point to an example closer to home, look at the Senator Biden remark about Indians and Dunkin' Donuts a few months ago. And this guy is on the short list for Obama's Secretary of State? My point with all of this is that because of 24/7 news coverage and the ability for anybody to put anything on the internet is that anything anybody ever says can now be taken out of context, exploited, overexposed, and thrown under the bus of public opinion.
For better or for worse, that's the state of news affairs nowadays. I think the bigger problem is that you almost have to read through a dozen websites and three news channels just to figure out the opposite ends of the opinion spectrum and then hope you can figure out which grain of truth is more correct.
Can anyone get a fair shake anymore? Probably not. I just hope that in the desire that we all become more informed and more in-touch, we haven't lost sight of what keeps the spirit of public opinion going.
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2 comments:
Good thoughts. Although I have my own biases and beliefs, it is sometimes difficult not to get caught up in the "hype". I try as best I can to keep and open mind and separate the hype from what is really important. (I don't always succeed).
I agree. Some programs are pretty far left and right though, and some are in between. I may post some thoughts on that later in the week. Thanks for your comment.
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