News organizations can prioritize better
By: Kian Hagerman
Recent news coverage of the hacking of celebrity accounts,
What does it imply about a society when they would rather opinions rather than fact. While these stories and of. The airtime dedicated to such
mainly from Apple services, has been blanketing the media landscape.
When banks were hacked around the same time, the
amount of coverage was pathetic in comparison.
What is it about our culture that this is acceptable, that pertinent information that could affect the lives of so many is held in such little regard?
Especially when compared to something as tired and worn out as celebrity image leaks; it bothers me to no end that this is the sort of information that the public values as worth knowing.
Entire financial institutions could be compromised, but look naked ladies.
hear about the inane day-to- day activities of celebrities in columns, than something that could impact their economic stability, or even retirement?
This dichotomy belies the greater issue that is at its heart, news has slowly become focused on entertaining, rather than informing.
News organizations are only supplying that which has been focus tested and approved of by audiences; it’s not just a matter of them producing something
worthless, but rather meeting the demand of their viewers.
“Bread and circuses”
was how the ancient Romans colloquially referred to the trivial appeasing of the masses, and
that is exactly what news organizations have devolved to doing, with our tacit stamp of approval.
When looking at the landing page of any news website in recent years, you are often greeted with feature stories rather than international events,
columns have historically had a place in news, and will continue to, they should not take center stage in the industry.
This becomes painfully obvious whenever a celebrity passes away, and news networks dedicate 24-hour news cycles to remembering them.
If an actor, usually the person and the circumstances surrounding their death take a backseat to the roles they played, and the accomplishments of their career.
Rather than projecting an objective viewpoint, news organizations choose to run emotional stories that convey little information beyond that which fans were already aware
pursuits could be put to much better use; the goal of the fourth estate should be to impartially enlighten its audience.
Though it may not be as popular or good for ratings to provide hard news, as opposed to entertainment, that is the task of the journalist.
Former Vice President Adlai Stevenson said “You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the contest between
agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. For, in the vernacular, we Americans are suckers for good news.”
I can think of no better way to put it than that.
