Eclipse of the Local
Chapter 5 in Tuned Out goes over the failure of citizens, and journalists to keep up with local news. Mindich questions if television and the Internet really have something to do with the decline in young people watching/reading the local news. My opinion? Of course it does.
He believes sex, celebrities, and especially violence, sell, and hes right. More than 90 percent of all local television news stories came from police scanners or public relations events and less than 10 percent of all stories came from initiative reporting. I happened to notice that at my internship over this past summer. All over the newsroom there are police scanners and tvs and everyone is working on their own story but when there is a chase going on every single person in the room is watching.
Supposedly, African Americans tend to watch more local news than whites or Hispanics due to the crime and violence that is shown on a daily basis. I feel as though it should be based on each community, because each community is different. A community that is tight can drive news consumption.
On the other hand, many young people do not watch the news simply because it is boring and depressing. Mindich says that unless “sensational” figures such as celebrities become fixtures on the campaign trail, local news outlets may be short lived. In my opinion, I know for a fact many people my age are more inspired to go out and do something if they see their favorite celebrity doing it. Mindich points out that many people will volunteer or do something simply because they have to. But maybe if it was encouraged better more people would have the desire to do it?
Then there is the case of the Internet. Young people now a days would rather IM and chat with friends online than watch the news, I mean it is more enjoyable and socially involving. Most young people today feel they deserve to watch tv or go chat online after a hard day at school.
The question is, how can we get the younger population to actually enjoy the local news?
He believes sex, celebrities, and especially violence, sell, and hes right. More than 90 percent of all local television news stories came from police scanners or public relations events and less than 10 percent of all stories came from initiative reporting. I happened to notice that at my internship over this past summer. All over the newsroom there are police scanners and tvs and everyone is working on their own story but when there is a chase going on every single person in the room is watching.
Supposedly, African Americans tend to watch more local news than whites or Hispanics due to the crime and violence that is shown on a daily basis. I feel as though it should be based on each community, because each community is different. A community that is tight can drive news consumption.
On the other hand, many young people do not watch the news simply because it is boring and depressing. Mindich says that unless “sensational” figures such as celebrities become fixtures on the campaign trail, local news outlets may be short lived. In my opinion, I know for a fact many people my age are more inspired to go out and do something if they see their favorite celebrity doing it. Mindich points out that many people will volunteer or do something simply because they have to. But maybe if it was encouraged better more people would have the desire to do it?
Then there is the case of the Internet. Young people now a days would rather IM and chat with friends online than watch the news, I mean it is more enjoyable and socially involving. Most young people today feel they deserve to watch tv or go chat online after a hard day at school.
The question is, how can we get the younger population to actually enjoy the local news?
posted by Jodi at 11:08 PM
9 Comments:
Jodi has a valid point about young people and their declining interest in local politics as well as politics in general. The Internet is an ever-growing contributing factor towards this decline; it gives young people access to unyeilding information and caters to their prferences to be entertained more so than being informed.
Young adults are targeted for enteratinment interests. In the book 'Tuned Out' the author syas "young people are not given stories that would allow them to understand the process of government; instead they are merely frightened by gore or pandered to with celebrities-such as Britney Spears going bald being a nationwide news story. Business practices and advertising that serve interests for many news outlets are disinteresting to young adults.
I firmly believe that the trust in government policies and the political system in general has declined severely over the past 5 years, especially in the eyes of many young adults. People are not as engaged in the news and in their communities when this trust is absent from the minds of these individuals.
Young people today reflect a Progressive Differentiation mentality, which is, we prefer news that caters to our own tastes and desires: Entertainment.
I agree with Jodi. I think that part of the reason there is a decline in consumption is because there is a lot going on that distracts the young generation. There are more fun and interesting things for young adults to be doing with their time. And they are interested in other types of news that wasn't always popular or even acceptable.
Things were different when my parents and grandparents were young. When my parent were kinds there was probably only a few television channels and programs so there wasn't anything else to watch. Some families might have had a tradition of watching the nightly news. Today kids can get on the Internet with their cell phone.
The same can be said about reading material. There are more choices like magazines for example.
You could also say that news programs and newspapers are just boring. They don't appeal to the younger group. They are dull and depressing. That's why I don't like to watch C-Span. They were probably boring fifty years ago, but my grandparents made my parents read the paper and watch the news.
I agree that young people are less interested in local news and politics and agree with Jamie that much of this has to do with the fact that we have been raised to look at the Brittney Spears "news."
The problem is that many people do not understand politics and why one bill is more important then our favorite celebrities sex scandal. The obvious answer would be to teach children about the overwhelming importance of politics. The problem with this is that as a kid I cared very little about politics and when it was talked about in class I found myself tuning out.
If I hear the name Anna Nicole Smith one more time or see the picture of Britney Spears with a half shaved head I might puke.
Is that really what should be all over internet news and even local news. ET, 48 Hours Mystery, CNN, how much longer are they going to be fascinated by the death of the most unproductive person on Earth. How about the toddler who was found in a plastic bag, who died in a way that should be investigated. How about the rodeo for those, like me, who know very little about it. Tell me how much money is brought to Tucson because of it or how this might affect traffic or local businesses. The golf tournament, all of this happening this weekend and I heard Anna Nicole Smith’s name and saw Britney’s photo more than anyone should.
I think it is up to us to make a change. With the internet available to anyone just about anywhere, there is excuse for not being even a little tuned in, than our own distractions. On the interne,t we can go back into the archives if we missed a story, watch video of events on YouTube if we missed them. It is up to the local papers and local news channels to try and work harder on stories in order to present them in a way that will appeal to everyone. But it is up to us to use resources such as the internet to keep informed. Though we all know it is more fun to look at someone’s party pictures on their myspace than to sign on to MSNBC.com
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All of you seem to be pointing to an important phenomenon--people consume media, news or otherwise, based on the the path of least resistance. In other words, if the info. (movies, news, etc.) is more enjoyable to watch, then it is usually easier to watch, and more often selected (by the viewer) to consume. Over the past 40 years, as more entertainment has infiltrated the airwaves, the tension between news and entertainment has grown. As was stated a few weeks ago in class, news that is complex and treats complex issues requires that the viewer engages the material, that the viewer think.
News producers understand this, so do movie makers, the problem in news production occurs when entertainment values supersede journalistic endeavors, i.e. informing the public so that they can make enlighten decisions about who's in office, based on facts.
Journalists working in the 21st century are caught between the proverbial "rock and a hard place" because they must make their stories interesting or no one will watch, but at what price?
I think that we only consume ourselves with the news we feel is right, or at the right time. When the movie 'Flags of our Father's' came out Ryan Phillipe said he didn't know much about the war during this time period. So he did his research and found out some interesting facts, but when asked about recent news on the Iraq war he didn't comment on it. Leading me to believe that he might have to do back in peridicals to read about the current war issues again. That is the brillance of libraries and computers, you can go back and research past historical issues, but what about now?
I agree with Prof. CGB that journalists today are caught between doing real stories and ones that are interesting to viewers. In the book they point this out when a viewer says he doesn’t like to watch the news because it is filled with news on stars or a police car chase for two hours. These stories are not real news they are mindless distractions that take away from our knowledge of what is really going on in the world. These stories do not help us understand the government and usually leave us feeling more helpless about the world around us. I do not know the last time I heard a news story about a city council meeting, I am sure they are aired but they are usually buried deep in the broadcast. If only these stories were giving precedent over entertainment we might shift the focus away from stars and onto real issues.
I think we all know and agree that the younger generation of today (including ourselves) is not inclined to sit down each day and watch the local news. I think that jamie put it best when she said in regards to this "we already lost". In addition to the celebrity intrigue that draws our attention to the news, I think that another reason kids aren't willing to sit down and watch is because of time constraints. I know personally I would much rather sign onto CNN.com or some other online news place and just read the homepage headlines to know what is going on rather than sit down for a 30 min newscast. We are living in a world of fast-paced activity be it technology based or not, and unfortunately it doesn't appear as if we are slowing down anytime soon. As a result, our news mediums must keep up with this speed, and sitting down to watch the news is just not cutting it anymore.
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