3/18/2010 4:29:00 PM Letter: News is not supposed to be entertaining
Editor:
I am tremendously saddened at the state of our broadcast and print media in this country. With very few exceptions, ownership of our newspapers, radio and television stations have has become concentrated under a handful of large and powerful corporations.
The result of this concentration is that we hear mostly the editorial points of view of these corporations, with the voice of the common citizen relegated to a faint whisper.
What used to be called journalism is now mostly about television ratings and advertising revenue. Look no further than the televised promotional spots for the local broadcast news.
We have catchy jingles and smiling pretty faces trying to convince us to tune into their stations to hear their pasteurized version of our world, devoid of much actual reporting, much less any effort at investigating.
Most stories reported are straight off the wire and the only local contribution is the pretty talking head reading them. The jovial relationship between the newscasters as they joke and tease each other is the driving force behind selection of the talking heads we see every night on TV.
The fact is that news is not supposed to be entertaining. It is supposed to be informative. We have way too many complex issues on our national and world agendas that require a citizenry that knows more about these issues than the same old talking points and corporate points of view we are fed by our dominant media.
We are not going to get the ugly details, including competing points of view, as long as the only thing that matters to the broadcasters is their bottom line. We need a mass media that serves the actual needs of the citizenry in a democracy, and values that need more than the price of their stock at the end of the current quarter.
Yes, it is possible to access alternative points of view, but the cruel reality is that most people have jobs and family and simply do not have the time or energy to seek out that sort of information.
Realistically, most people are going to get the lion's share of their information from the nightly news broadcast and perhaps from their morning newspaper.
As long as those outlets are more concerned with which side is winning than in informing the electorate that is charged with deciding, we the people are just not equipped with the tools necessary to make good and informed decisions.
As long as our media outlets mirror our divided and politicized society instead of attempting to inform and educate, so that we again remember how to craft reasonable compromise solutions to the issues that face us, our democracy doesn't stand much of a chance.
All we will become is a nation more divided, with our national political discussion controlled and dominated by the extremists from all facets of the political spectrum.
