Hello Friends.
A news cycle is fascinating,
isn’t it? I had Tuesday and Wednesday off this week, just as Rob Ford mumbled
something about smoking crack and I became interested, engrossed, obsessed,
saturated, over-saturated, sick, hungry, bored, and then vaguely interested
again in about two hours. People said, “This is nuts!” And I thought, “Yeah! It
IS nuts!” But then people said, “I’m sick of hearing about this! There’s more
important things going on in this country!” And I thought, “Yeah! I’m sick of
this too!” But then people said, “But he’s a mayor of a major city and he’s
SMOKING CRACK! What is this if not a major news story worthy of coverage?” And
I thought, “Stop yelling at me, everyone.”
The trouble with the news media
is that they’ve simultaneously got too much and too little to do. They have
column inches and Twitter feeds and 24 hour channels and blog posts to fill,
but everything has to be short, punchy and palatable. For instance, I’m sure
Syria is in some kind of trouble right now, but since there doesn’t seem to be
a quick, clever way to convey what is surely a complex problem, I have no idea
what’s going on over there. Journalism has to be a very different occupation
now than it ever was. An investigative piece must necessarily have a turnaround
time of a couple of hours. There’s no time to achieve complexity there, no room
for depth or alternative perspectives. While multiple news media platforms is a
good thing, its demand for “content” surely creates greater quantity than
quality. Maybe news should be more than something quickly dashed off “in a
drunken stupor.” It’s time for a change.
Dream: Reform the news media.
Goal: Achievable. I am not a
Powerful or Influential person, but I am a consumer, and surely news is ruled
by the almighty dollar. Since I don’t pay for any news, though, that’s a
problem. However, surely online news sources get revenue from page views.
Actually, sidebar, check this shit out! I tried to freelance for Yahoo! last
year, shocked to learn that Yahoo! was still a thing after 1997. They liked my
samples and forwarded me their rates. Are you ready for this? If I were to
write for Yahoo! News, I’d get $2.00 for every 20 000 pageviews! WHAT THE WHAT
WHAT?! That means even if a million people read something I wrote, I would only
earn $100. For a news website. That is shocking. I mean, isn’t it? Maybe it
isn’t, what do I know what newsman make?
But somebody is earning money
every time we click a Facebook link or something off our Twitter feeds, or at
least somebody is using that pattern of clicks and Likes to determine what
content gets published, promoted, and consumed. I don’t have the power to
change what those things are, but I do know how to make the news better for
myself.
Plan: Become a more critical
thinker and discerning consumer of news media. Here are some filters I really
try to use when I wake up in the morning, scroll past some headlines, and
decide where to park.
I consider the source. If
someone like me can potentially write for Yahoo!, then surely journalistic
integrity isn’t the highest priority. Often, I’ll be reading a piece that
someone posted on their Facebook page and find a comma splice, spelling error,
or unfinished. I was reading what I thought was an article about Michael
Jackson and somebody said that the release of the album Thriller “cemented his
job as a worldwide icon.” What does that mean? How do you cement a job? That’s
not a thing you do. Anyway, the same is true of more substantial pieces about
politics or whatever. There is often a slant or bias, facts are peppered with
opinions. I don’t need my mind made up before I make up my mind, y’know?
I consider the scope. Speaking
of articles rife with errors, I never know when to use “affect” or “effect”
(and don’t you dare try explaining it to me, I’ll fucking scream!), but I like
to know what effect something reported on the news has on other things. I do
think Rob Ford smoking crack is worth extensive discussion because how did this
guy get to be mayor? Surely we have reason to question his effectiveness
(efficacy? There it is again!) as leader. But sometimes I binge on something
supposedly newsworthy that has no affect (?) on me whatsoever. Like Miley Cyrus
can do whatever the fuck she wants. She doesn’t lead a city or determine policy
or threatened to murder people. Reading “think pieces” about her is like
filling up on popcorn. Like it or not, we’re all fed a steady media diet, so
it’s probably in our best interest to make healthier choices. To that end…
I’m not an old person, but I
feel like I have a delicate constitution or something. Too much upsetting
information will throw me off for days. I wish I could stomach information
about how our food is made, about child sex slaves, about rebel soldiers
literally eating each other’s hearts out, but I can’t. Maybe this is willful
ignorance, maybe I’m a crappy ostrich sticking his head in the sand, maybe I
want to think the world is a nicer place than it is. I think maybe tough news
is easier to take depending on the packaging. I try to read The Guardian
online, or watch BBC World News because the Brits have an excellent remove in
their reportage. They speak with calm authority about genocides or droughts and
somehow the information is more palatable in this way.
I use the news as a springboard
to learn stuff. More than anyone, the Doc has taught me how to do this. You
know how sometimes you get in a YouTube vortex, where viewing one video leads
to another leads to another and suddenly you’re watching Miss America 1987 and
it’s two in the morning? Jon does that with news. On a Friday night, for
instance, I go to bed earlier than he does because I often work Saturdays. So
last Friday we were talking about the possible suspension of Pamela Wallin,
Patrick Brazeau and Mike Duffy before I went to bed. When I woke up, there were
dozens of windows open on the laptop, linked to dozens of articles about
senators, past and present, similar scandals in other countries, different laws
which set different precedence and on and on and on. Jon is far and away the
most intellectually curious person I have ever met and makes his consumption of
media a kind of sport. Watching CPAC on his lunch hour just fuels his tank.
It’s inspiring to watch, but exhausting too. It’s like he’s never seen a dog on
a skateboard video in his whole life.
Finally, sometimes it’s good to
remember that you can turn the news off. I know it’s important to stay
informant, but we don’t have to be vigilant. For instance tonight, instead of
trolling the blogosphere, I’m tucking in early to read more of a novella I’m in
the middle of where this couple married 30 years is headed to divorce, but
decide to spend their last weekend together in a Niagara Falls casino.
Impulsively, they decide to gamble what’s left of their joint savings on one
roll of the roulette wheel on the last night of their trip. If they win, the
book suggests, the dividends on that payout could sustain them and get them out
of debt. If they lose, they will cut their losses and divorce. It’s a small
book with a simple premise but it’s far more engrossing than any cracked-out
mayor. There is more than all the news that’s fit to print out there. If I miss
a big story, someone will catch me up on it eventually. For now, though, it’s
snowy and blowy and my bed is warm and my book is waiting and if there’s
anything more inviting than that, well, it would be news to me.
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