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IJBM:TV and radio news make you cynical

captainbrasscaptainbrass
edited 2011-09-29 02:05:13 in Meatspace

This is how it breaks down for me, watching a typical news programme:-

1. A politician or celebrity has done something vaguely controversial, or someone has issued a report suggesting that a public institution isn't doing its job.

2. A reporter spends 3 minutes saying - "Hey! This was controversial/this sounds bad!" at great length.

3. There is an interview with another politician/an official from the public institution. They want to avoid looking like a complete idiot, and so spend the entire time defending what has happened, avoiding questions and arguing over semantics. They end up looking like a complete idiot anyway, and the presenter looks aggressive and rude.

4. If it's a celebrity, the interview is with an "expert" who actually knows nothing about them. They bullshit for a few minutes.

5, On TV news, there's then some bonus banter between the presenters, like what they saw them hosts on that American show do. Unfortunately, they're British and embarrassed by all social interaction. Fail occurs.

6. I muse darkly on the stupidity of humanity and whether I should just throw a chair through the screen.

Could this be avoided by the news people, or should I just stop watching the news? 

Comments

  • KinkajouKinkajou
    Kamen Rider MADOKA
    Stop watching the news. They've been very yellow since Pulitzer's time.
  • Wicked223Wicked223
    We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, For the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year
    Or, you know, don't do that because being ignorant of your own country's political happenings is worse than having to watch reporters be stupid on occasion.
  • KinkajouKinkajou
    Kamen Rider MADOKA
    Better yet, try to get your news from as many sources as you can so you get a picture as politically neutral as possible.

    ;)
  • LouieWLouieW
    edited 2011-09-29 17:46:50
    Loser
    captainbrass,

    I think part of the issue is that the format of TV news encourages condensing stuff so much that it can be tough to actually get much of value out of it. I am not so sure about radio news, but from what I can tell, it can have the same problem because it is even more prone to giving "sound bites" and pretty limited actual reporting. So if I had to answer your first question, I would say that yes, it probably would be a good idea to rely more on written sources of news than on TV or radio ones.

    As for your second question, I think it is possible to have more useful news reports. I feel like trying to confront a politician or celebrity about his or her actions often is not a great idea (as you pointed out). Getting comments from both sides seems like a good idea to me, but I think confronting people in public seems pretty unprofessional. Maybe if those reports focused more on the facts themselves they would not inspire such cynicism. I guess that is way easier said than done though. 
  • KrakenKraken
    Stop watching the news.

    Read it instead.
  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.
    don't read the news. 

    mind read them. 
  • KrakenKraken
    Don't mind-read the news.

    Make them.
  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.
    Don't make the news

    Make them happen
  • captainbrasscaptainbrass

    ^ Juan - A brilliant plan. I'm going to e-mail everyone I know this evening and we'll start another riot in the town centre.


    Ha, ha, The Man, that'll show you!

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