"New news has been old news ever since the stone age." As George Saunders stated in his article labeled Brain Dead Megaphone Man.
After watching the news over the course of two weeks, I had taken note that Saunders did have a point when he said the earlier quote. The news is basically being recycled and called another title such as "Man Robs Store" or "Murder on Main Street". Occasionally the recycled news is the same but in some instances there are the recycled news that have more impact that its predecessors for some unknown reasons, the only new news we hear and need to know is the weather forecast. If pnly having knowledge in the change in weather is necessary, then why do we bother with having the media showing us the same news 24/7? It just feels like history is repeating and the same events are occurring. Do you guys feel the same way as I on this repetitive news cycle? What is the reason for the media to repeat the news to the audience? I mean, the only difference is the title of the news so why bother repeating it to us?
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I definitely feel the same way. The new news is recycled news. They repeat the same stories and the only thing that, for the most part, is different are the people that are involved in the "new" news. Even though many may say that the purpose of news networks is to inform I think that informing is not their only purpose. Their deeper purpose is to just entertain people and keep them hooked on their channel so that they can make money off of it. Maybe that is why they keep repeating the same stories. They do not really want to inform they just want to entertain and the simplest way is by using the same stories with a small change to them.
ReplyDeleteWhat if, God forbid, someone you know is hurt and shows up on the news? Would you still see it as monotonous?
ReplyDeleteIf I saw the Philippines caught in a typhoon, for instance, I wouldn't see the story as boring and repetitive. Others might.
Okay, maybe that is besides your point. However, you might say Presidential elections are repetitive. They happen, well, more than forty times.
Maybe my point is that some people do care, even if the news are just for entertainment, like you and Erika have proposed. People DO care about the BP oil spill, people DO care about the Tea Party, and people DO care Lohan's DUI case. If YOU are bothered, pick up a newspaper. Plenty of variety there.
I read somewhere that television is "commercials" and the T.V. show's purpose is only to keep people watching the commercials-- because that's were networks make their money. I don't quite get what makes us so interested in the same "new" thing every time we watch the news but I could guess it is the question that maybe-just maybe- something will be different this time. It's the same interest in car accidents as in news shows that make people stop and stare, so they push it in to the media trying to grab our attention.
ReplyDeleteAs Kevin said, there is occasionally news that is very diverse from what we see everyday-- such as the reports on 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. Some, might say that even Katrina is "old news" however, since hurricanes happen every year in that area. I think that the residents of New Orleans would beg to differ, however.
The News Broadcasts abuse even this power of "going-in-the-history-books" news. They say things like "Common Household Item Kills Children!"
If this was a very important news story they should break in to normal broadcasts and tell everyone as fast as possible, for, what is killing our children is a very important issue. However, the commercial continues to state "Tune in at 11 PM PST tonight for information!"
It can't be that important then, can it?
I agree with Melissa. Especially what she says about Katrina. With natural disasters is when the news could help the most. The people of Haiti are still there feeling the effects of the earthquake. They probably wish they still had those first couple days when the media cared and help poured in. What about now? I am sure they are still facing disaster. Our society however has forgotten and moved on. That is how it works here. Why? I do not know. It is those people who would say that Katrina is "old news" that are watching the news for the wrong reasons.
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