My college newspaper is usually a so-so read, especially the opinions section. In the past it has, as many college papers I suspect, been highly partisan [both ways], sometimes silly, and many times flat out dull. But I was struck today by a wonderful editorial which would do well to be passed around and followed through upon.
[Note - I reprint the whole thing only due to a pesky email signup, otherwise I would tell you to go to the site. You can anyway...would be the proper thing I suppose.]
Disaster prevention needs attention
Our media may seem to be bursting at the seams with hot topics and controversial stories, but truly important stories are missing. The news is so full of sensational accounts of the latest disaster that we may miss our chance to prevent another.
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More below...
Disaster prevention needs attention, Cont.
Take the ongoing strife in Iraq, for example. Usually news reports on Iraq are nothing more than a list of the latest casualties, allowing readers to briefly scan the article, shake their heads, and move on to the next story. Missing is a realistic representation of the challenges to the political process or the military campaign. The national debate on why, whether, and how we should guide Iraq toward democracy and stability (if we can) would be improved by more thorough reporting. As it stands, many on all sides of the debate have little more than speculation and ideological biases.
The looming possibility of an avian-flu pandemic has also seen little thoughtful coverage. The World Health Organization estimates that millions worldwide could die if the flu virus mutates into a form capable of being transmitted between humans - which at least one strain seems likely to do. The WHO is also trying to persuade governments to set up pandemic-prevention plans to ensure those dire estimates never come true. While the media are eager to trumpet alarmist death-toll estimates, it has devoted almost no significant coverage to efforts at prevention.
Likewise, famine doesn't happen overnight but usually doesn't get media attention until shocking images of starving children are available. Thousands of children in Niger are treated each month for malnutrition, but the World Food Program has still not received much of the money that G-8 countries recently pledged to combat famine in the poorest African countries. Given the lack of coverage of African famine, Americans probably know more about the lineup for the Live 8 concert than about why Live 8 was held.
America's health-care system may be a looming national crisis, but health-care headlines rarely appear on the front pages. Americans pay much more for health insurance than other developed countries, but coverage is still lacking, in some respects: More than 45 million Americans - including more than 8 million children - still have none. It should be obvious that America needs a serious discussion on the issue, so where are our national media?
Unfortunately, the media don't like to write stories about long-term, developing trends, even when these trends affect us more than short-term, "impact" stories. It's not as easy to write a gripping story about health-insurance legislation as it is to write one about a devastating hurricane. The truest media bias is toward the sensational: They want a catchy lead, a pithy headline, or a stunning graphic. Ultimately, news is a business, and much as we media want stories that matter, we also need stories that sell.
The challenge, then, is to write important, developing stories in a way that can engage readers. It may be easy for reporters to throw up their hands and say, "Sure, we want to cover the important issues, but no one wants to read that." But readers will devote their attention to the minuscule chance of a comet striking the Earth decades in the future; Americans do not seem unwilling to consider what dangers may come. Concerned viewers should seek out news of what lies ahead - and demand that it not be hard to find.
Send comments to: daily-iowan@uiowa.edu
Emphasis Mine
There's nothing new in that to most readers of DKos, but to hear all of the points we try to hammer home spelled out in a straightforward and concise manner is refreshing from a print publication. "The truest media bias is toward the sensational", again, not new, but needs to be repeated louder and louder until a change is made.
This is not about giving us news we like, it is about giving us the information we need. As much as we all love blogs, both political and not, the majority of the populous still gets their decision making information on current events from print and broadcast media, and that will not change in the near future.
There needs to be a concerted effort to accomplish the last point if the article:
Concerned viewers should seek out news of what lies ahead - and demand that it not be hard to find.
I know we've got the first part down here at DKos, but that only helps us. We have the information, one would guess the Media has the same information as we do, if not more. But most do not have any.
I think its time to push the second part of that conclusion, loudly and with conviction. And together we can...but I don't really have a clue where to start.
What say you?