[Mr. Silverback]

And in other news, Francisco Franco is still dead.

[Mr. Silverback]

BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping! If anyone wants on or off my BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[Steve_Seattle]

It seems that every year there are only about four or five news events that really matter.

[saint]

HOW THE NEWS MAKES US DUMB

Maybe it's book titles that make us dumb. Why would I buy a book with a title like this unless I thought I was dumb and needed to blame someone else for it?

[gcruse]

"News" is a relative term.  Have you ever noticed that there is a headline on the newspaper every day? What we get is what someone thinks is most important, not that is absolutely important per se.

Think about the Oscars. There is a Best Actor award presented every year, regardless of the quality of the acting that year compared to any other year.  It is Best Actor that year.  "News" means whatever the editor thinks will sell papers that day.

It's up to us to determine what is really important.  Yet, without being presented "all" the news, how can we decide what matters most to us?  Sadly, most people don't even get that far.  They don't read a newspaper, and rely on network news to tell them what is important and to do it in thirty minutes, less commercials.  As long as we have leftists deciding what Joe Blow is going to see as important news, we will have an electorate being led by the nose.

That's the great thing about the internet and Fox News.  In the case of the former, we can see what "all" of the news is.  In the case of Fox News, we can get an emphasis on what is important from nonleftist editors.

I was going to include FreeRepublic in this, but even with the volume of articles rolling across the forum daily, the selection process is right skewed and blatantly unconservative material has a short half life.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

The article presents an interesting thought.

[Leroy S. Mort]

I remember when the Huntley-Brinkley report ran 15 minutes long AND WE LIKED IT..

[Keyes2000mt]

I understand where Colson is coming from, but he doesn't understand the news business clearly.

For one thing, it is a business and you have to appeal to a wide audience. Hard news is generally depressing, distressing,or wrought with conflict. You have a lot of people already who'll choose to be totally ignorant of the entire world because the news is all depressing. News organizations can't be hard and depressing or no one will take part in their media.

Second, this is also about Customer service. Do a significant number of people in the community care about a child winning a prize for a pumpkin? Then you give the kid a write-up. People in the community are doing something and if you don't cover it, you'll lose circulation.

Third, and most important, journalists (with few exceptions) are people, too. When I was a reporter, I needed a break. When covering the destruction of the game farm industry by liberal liars or abuses by protective services, as I reported on the ruin of people's lives. I needed to watch the Von Trapp children sing. I needed soft news. No one can stand the constant negativism, the beating drum of more death, violence, poverty, and misery without losing touch with reality.

A reporter who engages only in hard news is going to become broken, bitter, and jaded. That's why soft news has a vital role in maintaining the health of the press and of the people.

[ChewedGum]

C. John Sommerville observes that people used to exchange news only when something really important happened.

Very interesting point. But how did they know when it happened...how was that information disseminated? My years in rural Kansas explain it all to me. If there is news, then the farmers at the coffee shop sit there all morning and talk about the news - whatever it may be. If there isn't any news, then they complain about the weather instead.

Gum

[ladyinred]

The news is propaganda meant to shape public opinion for the most part. Even a real news event is not presented without some sort of spin these days.