Todays News Relevancy
The common theme between these articles is that much of the news is irrelevant to the average U.S. citizen. They all mention how many stories in the news don’t apply to most of the population. People still consume the news at extremely large rates these days regardless of this. As news becomes more easily accessible it is consumed at higher volumes than in the past.
There are so many people who consume the news and never take a moment to think about why they are so attached to it. In the article titled “Is There Any Reason to Keep Up with the News” the authors confront this issue head on. Brett and Kate McKay said, “While we can come up with a lot of noble-sounding rationales for keeping up with the news, most of the time, for most people, our reasons for consumption are decidedly less flattering.” This means we like to believe that we consume news for a noble reason like to make changes or to stay educated, but it likely isn’t the main reason. The authors go on to mention how little action is taken based on news people have consumed. I can attest to this. I haven’t acted based on any news I have consumed. If we are only consuming news for entertainment or as a show of status, is it necessary to read or watch the news at all?
The news has become a large sinkhole consuming our time in vast amounts if you let it. In the article “Why It’s More Important Than Ever to Ignore the News” author John Zeratsky talks about how the news can take up so much of your time. John says, “Make no mistake: The news is an Infinity Pool, and it will steal your time.” The news has become more convenient, making it easier to access and consume any time any place. I have participated in large consumption of the news before. You click on one article, and it leads to many others. Next time I looked at the clock a couple hours have gone by, and I am no better for it. None of it was relevant to me. It didn’t cause me to take any sort of action. It didn’t contain any important information that may be useful to me in the future, it was just a waste of time.
In today’s news websites they will do everything they can to keep you on their website. In the article “Why Print News Still Rules” the author Jack Shafer notes this when talking about Slate, an online news magazine. Jack said, “Today, it seems like Slate and most of its competition use every available square inch of screen real estate to place ads and those annoying (paid) Outbrain refers to stories on the Web.” These websites throw cover the screen with links and photos relating to other articles to keep you clicking after you’ve finished reading. They tempt you with opinion pieces about controversial issues behind a paywall, and once you pay for it many people want to utilize it to get the most for their money. This is how time is easily spent on consuming news in today’s world.
The social role of the media is to keep the people informed of what is going on inside our own country and around the world. The news shouldn’t be heavily partisan. There will always be biases but getting accurate information to the people should be their top priority. Today, we see much more political bias in our news than ever before. These organizations will purposefully phrase things a certain way or withhold information that would completely change how the people felt about it to serve a political agenda. The opposing organizations are constantly insulting the other side, showing no class or honor. Accurate information should be enough to disprove an inaccurate story, not insults.
Regardless of all of this, the news is still important. It is necessary for a democracy, and it is needed to keep yourself informed on what’s going on in your city, state and country. Personally, I have limited how much news I consume. It is always so negative and partisan, it’s quite distasteful. I only consume the news about once a week for around thirty minutes to keep myself up to date on relevant information. I also consume less news as to not support such partisan organizations. Once more honest and respectful organizations come around, I will gladly partake in their stories, with a grain of salt of course.
