It ain't news...

[alexpgp]

A question, asked in a comment:

news programs on broadcast tv are usually a mirror of that what's in the newspapers & online. and although most of the time it's the same stuff about the middle east and afghanistan, sometimes it is something new.

why would you say that they're a waste of time?

My answer:

Permit me to disagree. Broadcast media is of necessity a subset of what is available online and in print, because there are only so many minutes of broadcast time available.

When you combine this circumstance with the fact that news shows must compete with other shows for the almightly "share" of viewers, broadcast journalism becomes an esoteric form of entertainment whose primary purpose is to keep viewers glued to a particular channel.

Let me give you an example.

At my current work place, there is a television tuned perpetually to FOX and another one tuned always to CNN. Over the past week, these channels have spent, it seems, almost their entire broadcast time covering the situation in the Middle East and the idiot college student with his pipe bombs. Now, since I have work to do, I don't watch these sets continuously, but during those odd moments when my eye has wandered to these screens over the past couple of weeks, I have seen no coverage of the election in France, and I have seen no coverage of the assassination of Pim Fortuyn in the Netherlands.

I did, however, notice that at least an hour was devoted earlier this week covering high-speed car chases (live) in Los Angeles.

What's even more indicative of the shallowness of broadcast news is the movement away from telling the viewer what happened, toward some kind of ersatz value-added philosophy that entails telling the viewer why it's important. In this regard, news ceases being news, and becomes simply propaganda, but that's a whole different rant.

Cheers...

Comments

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

Since neither of those is "broadcast tv" - and since I can't get cable, I don't see them. But I have seen on broadcast TV national news (NBC, CBS, but not ABC since they've chosen not to serve my area) coverage of both the French elections and the assassination of Pim Fortuyn. Neither network had any coverage of LA car chases that I can recall.

Having said that, I prefer internet blog sources to help pinpoint interesting news items in more depth.

And I do agree with your general assessment of broadcast media. Their bias is apparent and drives me to the internet regularly.

[rillifane.livejournal.com]

Excellant observation.

[maslacak.livejournal.com]

I got Digital Cable only for two reasons. 1, it was almost free for the first two months, after which I'll cancel it. And 2, it's got channels from all over the world...

BBC World is great.

It covers such different things from CNN.

Then again, isn't the whole point of the web to show you the news YOU are interested in? I hate watching TV - I'll stick to WEB, and go away from TV.. which is always majorly nationalistic, no matter what country you're in.

[brenk.livejournal.com]

I'm probably lucky living in Switzerland. First, our television, while often accused of being 'boring', is relatively detached and lacking in sensationalism. Secondly, our cable picks up a great deal of Europe, so we can also see the French, US, British, German, Austrian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish point of view if we like *g*. Not that Portuguese or Turkish get much of a look-in in this family, but we do browse the rest, including CNN and NBC.
There's also a broadcaster called 'Euronews' which we use to start the day: *NO* presenters, just reports and features, very factual and wide-ranging. No bias - they cover about a dozen countries.

It's *very* interesting to compare an average day's news in the eyes of different broadcasters and countries. My husband is a news addict anyway, so there are times when he hops around non-stop, thus depriving me of my Stargate fix *g* (France - Fridays).

I have to admit I'd now find it very difficult to live with just one view on things. France, for instance, ignored most major world events to concentrate on the Presidential elections. However, that's only like the US - I was there for several weeks in January/February and it was driving me insane by the end. Not only the weird focus (did the rest of the world exist? I sometimes wondered), but the commercials. AAAARGHHHH. So *often* compared with other countries (maybe one, long block of them during a film in France, NONE on the BBC). Oh, and the very idea of advertising things like medication...

At least you get the variety, I guess. Things like National Geographic and the Discovery Channel have occupied me for many an evening while in a hotel room.