Reading or Viewing

Scanned the news on the internet this morning. Found a number of items of interest. Clicked on the stories to follow and got…a video site. That stopped me in my tracks.

If I’m interested in seeing something – a picture, video or graphic – then that’s OK. But a video instead of a piece of literature to read and ponder? That simply is not the same thing as ‘news’ in my book.

TV news – prime network or cable – is a very shorthand summary of what’s going on in the world. It does not cover the what, who, when, and where of the news very well. It doesn't come close to covering the why, either.

As a news consumer we should all be interested in what is happening. It makes us think and remain ‘in the moment’. Missing, however, is the analysis, the historical context, the connection to other topics that feed this news event. These are all the major elements of covering the news. Why did this event occur? What does this mean for the future? What do experts think about this news item? In the short term what does it mean; and in the long term, what does it suggest will happen?

I am not suggesting opinion pieces should be part of the news. Commentary is helpful at times, but not always accurate. Today we know too many news programs are loaded with opinion, ideology and manipulated views. We do not need more of that. Much less is preferred!

What I’m getting at is the bare bones approach to presenting the news so recipients can process the event for themselves and gather some perspective along the way. News research and investigative reporting is less evident today than at any time in my memory. And that’s a shame.

Flipping on the TV for a shot of news at expected hours is a convenience that begins to dwarf the mind if that’s where our curiosity leaves us. As responsible adults and citizens we should be motivated by the news reports to learn more. The evening news should inform us but alert us to the need for our own personal research.

With the internet at hand we have a super tool to follow up on the news. We can follow the items that interest us the most. The process expands our knowledge and our thinking process.

Unfortunately I’m seeing more and more internet ‘news’ presentations as video shorthand similar to TV news. We are being fed shorthand reports on shorthand reports.

This leads to the stunting of our minds, our logic, our appreciation of the journey of how arenas of discussion and intellect morph from one phase to another until we have some meaningful knowledge base to share with others for the common good.

TV news in my mind is a lazy excuse for being informed. It should entice us to seek more information and expand our life experience.

Providing more lazy approaches to ‘information’ in increasing masses of layers on the internet does not help one bit. It only engorges the consumer with more useless information designed to entertain rather than inform.

Pick up any large daily newspaper today and witness the downsizing of its news template. Switch to any news magazine and see a similar shrinkage. Jump to the internet to find more content and prepare to be stunned at the lack thereof. Forget TV news – cable or big three media outlets – they are already a downsized shrimp of what they once were.

Sound bites. That’s what we get. Whether on TV or over the internet, we are getting more of the same. Sound bites.

They contain very little substance. They are powerful in creating images, however, just like advertising does. But the ad business is designed to attract consumers to a product or point of view (propaganda).

And there you find the reason behind the dumbing down of America. In the ratings race for more viewers, more ad dollars at higher rates is the desired result. More volume of traffic. Not more information. Not more understanding. Decidedly not more exercise of brain matter.

The dumbing down of America is well on its way to making history. Now that’s news!

February 17, 2015