What is Newsworthy?
I turned on the television last Thursday night to catch up on the events of the day. And what did I find?
A national “news channel” wanted me to know Paris Hilton was released from jail after serving only a few days of her sentence. The channel also informed me that Larry Birkhead and Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn were finally arriving in Southern California. Charlie Sheen was the next big story. Apparently it is newsworthy that Sheen is featured on a new 9-11 conspiracy film. Finally, I was teased with a rivalry between news CNN broadcasters Anderson Cooper and Larry King.
Why on earth would a major news network be telling me all this?
Confused by the national news coverage, I turned next to local news. The local news team enlightened of an exchange of blows on the state senate floor. Alabama Senator Charles Bishop, R- Jasper punched Lowell Barron, D- Fyffe. There was actual video of the sucker punch, with commentary provided by state senators from both sides of the aisle.
Now that is news!
I say let them duke it out and the last party standing wins. Perhaps that way our state senate would accomplish more of the state’s business.
Fatigued with both the national and local “news”, I watched a few minutes of the NBA Basketball Championship Finals. The problem with the NBA is that it is no longer entertaining. So, I returned the national “news channel” for one more shot of information. In doing so, I was informed of some of the trivial events from Thursday. In 60 seconds I was informed a Senate immigration bill is dead, Putin and Bush discussed missile defense systems at the G8 summit, state education proficiency levels dropped, and finally, retailers posted modest gains.
Come on, is that really newsworthy? Who is interested in immigration? Who cares about missile defense? State education levels are failing? Big deal! We experienced modest financial gains? Who cares? I am glad they devoted only 60 seconds to this kind of information. How boring? (Please note that my tongue is placed firmly in my cheek!)
Give me some real news. What did Paris eat her first night in jail? What did Dannielynn’s nursery look like? What did Charlie Sheen know about 9-11, and when did he know it? Did King and Cooper duke it out like Bishop and Fyffe? (Again, tongue in cheek.)
The line of distinction between news and entertainment has been blurred.
Edward R. Murrow was a distinguished and renowned figure in the history of radio and television. Five decades ago Murrow made an eerie prediction about the line of demarcation between news and entertainment. The following is a brief excerpt from a speech he gave to the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation in Chicago on October 15, 1958:
Treating current events like entertainment is dangerous. Treating entertainment as news is equally scandalous. What once was news now is amusement, and what once was entertainment now is news. The line of distinction is no longer clear. And what is more troubling is that the general public does not know how to distinguish between the two. Or worse, the consumer demands to be entertained with their news.
I am curious to read your remarks.
A national “news channel” wanted me to know Paris Hilton was released from jail after serving only a few days of her sentence. The channel also informed me that Larry Birkhead and Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn were finally arriving in Southern California. Charlie Sheen was the next big story. Apparently it is newsworthy that Sheen is featured on a new 9-11 conspiracy film. Finally, I was teased with a rivalry between news CNN broadcasters Anderson Cooper and Larry King.
Why on earth would a major news network be telling me all this?
Confused by the national news coverage, I turned next to local news. The local news team enlightened of an exchange of blows on the state senate floor. Alabama Senator Charles Bishop, R- Jasper punched Lowell Barron, D- Fyffe. There was actual video of the sucker punch, with commentary provided by state senators from both sides of the aisle.
Now that is news!
I say let them duke it out and the last party standing wins. Perhaps that way our state senate would accomplish more of the state’s business.
Fatigued with both the national and local “news”, I watched a few minutes of the NBA Basketball Championship Finals. The problem with the NBA is that it is no longer entertaining. So, I returned the national “news channel” for one more shot of information. In doing so, I was informed of some of the trivial events from Thursday. In 60 seconds I was informed a Senate immigration bill is dead, Putin and Bush discussed missile defense systems at the G8 summit, state education proficiency levels dropped, and finally, retailers posted modest gains.
Come on, is that really newsworthy? Who is interested in immigration? Who cares about missile defense? State education levels are failing? Big deal! We experienced modest financial gains? Who cares? I am glad they devoted only 60 seconds to this kind of information. How boring? (Please note that my tongue is placed firmly in my cheek!)
Give me some real news. What did Paris eat her first night in jail? What did Dannielynn’s nursery look like? What did Charlie Sheen know about 9-11, and when did he know it? Did King and Cooper duke it out like Bishop and Fyffe? (Again, tongue in cheek.)
The line of distinction between news and entertainment has been blurred.
Edward R. Murrow was a distinguished and renowned figure in the history of radio and television. Five decades ago Murrow made an eerie prediction about the line of demarcation between news and entertainment. The following is a brief excerpt from a speech he gave to the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation in Chicago on October 15, 1958:
Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. I invite your attention to the television schedules of all networks between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m., Eastern Time. Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger. There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: LOOK NOW, PAY LATER.Murrow was a prophet calling out in the wilderness. Murrow was a man ahead of his time. His words of warning in 1958 are now reality.
Treating current events like entertainment is dangerous. Treating entertainment as news is equally scandalous. What once was news now is amusement, and what once was entertainment now is news. The line of distinction is no longer clear. And what is more troubling is that the general public does not know how to distinguish between the two. Or worse, the consumer demands to be entertained with their news.
I am curious to read your remarks.
5 comments:
I agree. I just stzrted reading your blog today. Your favoorite uncle.
Once again you give an astute and cogent assesment of our culture. I wonder if a passage of Scripture may address what you are setting forth?
Isaiah 5:20-21, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! (ESV)
It might be that one sign of a culture lost in it's self is a reversal of what God has decreed is right. Just a thought.
Tell your Uncle Luke I said hello and I still remember him with great fondness.
Ron
What an insightful look into our media frenzy these days. Our kids are already involved with "news" being entertainment when they constantly seek out each other's web pages to find out what the latest happenings are. I agree with you that we are in a sad state of affairs when people such as Paris make the top headlines!
Favorite uncle, I am so glad you have finally found my blog.
Ron, you nailed it, as usual.
Mandi, what do think will be newsworthy when your children are adults?
I hope when Mandi's children are old enough. That Newsworthy is not going to be Who Stumped There Toe!
It really concerns me what is consider newsworthy today. Actually what the media is trying to put down your throat and trying to make you believe it.
I just wonder what our forefathers would have said about newsworthy?
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