Reasons you should stop watching television news:

1. Translations — when reporting international news, most stations use subtitles or a translator doing a voiceover for viewers at home. We generally assume that these are an accurate translation of what has been said. The problem comes however, when you actually understand what is being said in the other language and notice that the words on the screen or the words you’re hearing are inaccurate. It will never be a major inaccuracy but is usually enough to affect the tone and connotation of what’s being said. And if they’ve done that for the language you do understand, what about all the ones you don’t?
2. Analysis — or rather, the lack of. There is only one news channel in the UK broadcasting nationally which offers even some analysis. ITV and Channel 5 can take a seat because they’re terrible on news. The BBC generally has good quality programming in other areas but when it comes to the news, it’s the state mouthpiece regardless of liberal or conservative government. Channel 4 is the only station whose journalists ask actual questions about what they’re being told but even this has started a slow, downward slop led primarily by certain journalists.
3. Agenda — I don’t necessarily mean a conspiracy agenda but most critical thinking individuals will recognise that the news we hear or see through mainstream media will only give us one side of the story. The narrative we get is shaped around a particular side in a situation. By extension, the focus of the story is on that instance with a little extra thrown in perhaps looking at the other side. Obvious areas of concern with this include conflicts, human rights etc. “Stories” which have been shaped over generations are simply not going to fit neatly into a few minutes' segment. Nuances are missed or ignored in favour of bold headline statements and a soundbite, regardless of the fact that important details are missed.
4. Social media- this isn’t the death knell of television news per se but it’s 24 hour connectivity has left news channels floundering for relevance. The need to be at the front with “breaking news” is paramount and to be fair, it always has been to a certain extent. But the problem with “breaking news” nowadays is that it’s almost synonymous to inaccuracies and when those inaccuracies are inevitably later corrected, the fervour of the story has died down and no-one really cares about what actually happened.

I suppose what I’m saying is, be careful what you’re paying attention to and its reliability. Personally I have picked a few key news sources which I follow for updates because they tend to be pretty accurate. And who really has time to actually sit in front of a TV and watch newsreaders anymore?