What if the news media only broadcast what it wants to and withheld what it doesn’t? Oh, wait . . .

I call those CNN and Fox. I usually don't watch them. My own country's news channels do a better job of reporting the USA's affairs.

News media broadcast according to seven key values:

Impact
Events are more newsworthy when they affect a greater number of people.

Relevance
The bigger an issue is in the public mind, the more newsworthy it is.

Timeliness
An event is more newsworthy the sooner it is reported.

Proximity
Events are more newsworthy the closer they are to the community reading about them.

Prominence
Events are more newsworthy when they involve public figures. This may include politicians, judges, experts, anyone with a great deal of influence or power. It also includes celebrities (sports stars, actors, artists etc) because many people are interested in following them. 

Conflict
To be well informed, the public has the right to know all the arguments on all sides of an issue (even if many people prefer to hear only their own side).
Events are more newsworthy when they involve disagreement. Many of us are closely following Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, and hoping the Ukrainians will win. The split between conservatives and liberals in the USA is getting so serious that it is threatening the democracy and peace of the nation; if people don't learn to be more accepting of the vote, the country could tear itself into civil war, or worse, end up under a dictatorship. Conflicts can have disastrous ripple effects so we need to know about them.

Oddity
Events are more newsworthy the more out of the ordinary they are. Anything bizarre or unusual, like the birth and rescue of the premature hippo, Fiona, at the Cincinnati Zoo.

~ ~ ~

Apart from this - serious news outlets almost always have a political bias. The largest news empires are right wing - supporting small government, capitalism and any policy, law or party which increases their own wealth, power and influence.

An editor or journalist can present anything with an interpretation or bias. So it's up to the reader to learn to recognise the buzzwords and phrases, the tell-tale codes that reveal the underlying agenda.

But bias has nothing to do with the key values of what is considered newsworthy.

 

 

This post was edited by inky at September 24, 2022 10:04 AM MDT

It might become a public service instead of a revenue source. 

If that ever happened (fingers crossed it wont), then I suppose...

Birds would learn how to fly.
Cats would be repelled by heat.
The sun would rise in the east.
Snow would become cold.
Many plants would turn green.
Fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts and floods would occur all over the world.


It gives me the willies to even think of such horrors.  I don't know if we could survive such chaos. 

I got no trust in the American media to do the right thing, and I never will. I've come to the conclusion that if a person wants to hear the truth, they have to go out and look for it. That doesn't include looking at the mainstream media, though. This post was edited by Zack at September 24, 2022 10:06 AM MDT

Lol....will never happen.