It's not that I don't think that “human interest” news stories have no merit, but I find it rather frustrating sometimes that there are other more pressing news that should be of more concern to the mass populace than is reported. More often than not, these news items are put in the back burner or actually not mentioned at all because of the “human interest” stories. Whether or not those latter stories are uplifting is beside the point. The point is, so many important things are forgotten, if discussed or brought up at all, based on the seemingly arbitrary filtering of the media.
For so long, it has been the entity we call “the media” that has decided what and what not to report. This is, of course, understandable since they tend to only have a short amount of time and a limited amount of space in which they could relate or publish news items. And for the most part, what is chosen as news is...well, NEW. More often than not, the definition of “new” is exciting (in both good and bad ways), and are more recent. They are more shiny, and sometimes (to my chagrin) they are often presented in a sensationalist manner that may border on tasteless. True, I concede that a certain amount of privacy will inevitably be invaded in the quest for the truth, but shouldn't calibration be part of a journalist's training?
Speaking of calibration, I would like to go back to the point I was trying to make earlier: certain news items are forgotten in favor of “fresher” news, despite the obviously higher place in the relevance spectrum. There is a war going on, for example, and people are concerning themselves with the earthquake in China. I am not saying that we should not feel sympathy for the people who have lost their lives and loved ones in a natural calamity, but I wonder how many dead bodies brought out of the middle east we have failed to cry for since the eye of the news chose to focus on the Asian country instead.
On top of that, the media seems to be encouraging a strange culture of taking an interest in issues that have very little to do for the betterment of a community, a nation, or the world. A favorite case in point would be the fact that they had for some reason attacked American presidential candidate Barack Obama for not wearing a flag pin that would supposedly reflect his sense of pride and nationalism. The outrage felt at that apparent political fashion faux pas was equal parts hilarious and scandalous, especially when one takes note of how enthusiastically people in the media (and even political analysts) jumped into the debate over it so seriously. There is also the rather annoying and pointless way that the media keeps comparing Michelle Obama (his wife) to famous first lady Jackie Onassis nee Kennedy. The way she dresses and acts should have no bearing on national legislation. Neither does the way Barack Obama chooses to express his love for his country (through his words and actions, not through a pin that anyone can wear).
Politics in particular has become a circus, and candidates who have to win are now having to act like monkeys in front of the camera to try and get more voters on their side. Their tactic is to use the media, and to get the media to pay attention, they go through so many hoops to try to be shocking, controversial, visible and interesting. And while it is in fact entertaining to watch at times, one has to wonder if these are the kinds of leaders that we would want. Connected to that would be the question of whether or not we would like to live in a world wherein the news has to be sensational to be deemed important, or wherein the news that was so important yesterday fades into the background today just because it's not as exciting anymore.
I think, perhaps, that there is much to be changed in the media in question.
Elea Almazora, contributor to NewsFilter.Com.Mx
Elea Almazora currently works as a contributor to many information-based websites, writing about many subjects ranging from culture to sciences.
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