News in America

I was just browsing my news site just a mere seconds ago and it struck me how depressing, soul-crushing the news can be. So don’t read it in the morning as I usually do. But read on, please, as you might find my reasoning conflicting, and maybe so do you.

Every morning, I wake up early to read, read a book with hot coffee or… read the news from my iPad. Lately, I’ve been choosing to read a good book as I have done for the past few weeks. See, I vow to choose the contents I’m absorbing. But Facebook will surely pin it on your profile because you stopped at the same content for a few seconds… algorithms, am I right?

I usually skipped it anyway. Breaking news is not what it seems to be anymore. Recently, the breaking news was that Giselle Bundchen and … who’s that guy from the patriots, or used to? …. Tom Brady filed for divorce after 13 years. Is this what we call “breaking news” now? Is that what you call journalism? Or do news only publish articles that sell?

Breaking news is a term relegated to only the most extraordinary event — this was borrowed from Wikipedia which seems to be the most appropriate definition.

As of late, there seems to be a disconnect of what it is.

An example was the recent news about the divorce between two well-known TV personalities. People get divorced all the time, but you don’t see it in the front page. TMZ maybe but not local news. That’s not journalism, that’s just rubbish!

We should go back to when there was real news worth reading, where news was verified by facts and not by what sells.

So, can I ask the obvious?

Is journalism dead?

What we see in the news today or, at least some, are fallacies. This is unverified facts that creates such a conundrum that we sometimes fail to see the illegitimacy of the report. In short, a short paragraph that can pass as a news’ish.

Regardless of what I hear or not hear, I am afraid to say that I still read or listen to news content…

Why?

• It is still informative to know what’s going on.
• To expand your horizon — it practices your mind on what contents to absorb and what to ignore
• It places the responsibility on you as citizen
• It introduces you in a world outside of your own
• Your understanding on what is going on adds to your character
• A great conversation starter or your demise
• You understand different sides of the argument

“ He who controls the language, controls the truth “ -George Orwell, 1984-

Before I go, I want to ask you, the reader… Is journalism dead? I want to know your thoughts.

Thank you for reading. Stay safe, Live well!!