Our Naive Viewers

News/noun

1.) Newly received or noteworthy information, esp. about recent or important events.      2.) A broadcast or published report of news.         The news broadcasting industry is highly competitive field. Each channel wants to deliver the newest and groundbreaking news as fast as they can or at least before their competitors. Delivering the news is of course the main focus of all the major channels but you can’t do that without some high ratings. So how can you accomplish both of these standards? Live broadcasting became the answer. But when a man from Phoenix was in a car chase for hijacking a car with the cops, Fox News did what every other major network would do. They caught it on live tape and made sure that the video was on a ten second delay should anything go wrong. And something did go wrong. Hundreds of viewers saw a man kill himself on live television.                  Now this kind of live coverage is normal to cover. Remember when the news broadcasters did this with OJ running from the cops? Live coverage of an event isn't bad; it’s just not good to do it every time a guy is running from the cops. Now I, as a viewer, am for live coverage of any events even if it ends with someone killing themselves. News anchors deliver this sort of news- the good, the bad, and the tragic- everyday. We as the viewer’s take it upon us to listen and understand what is happening around the world. But when some guy shoots himself in the head, all the viewers are freaked out and scared and blaming the network for showing them something as awful as that. But why? We constantly hear of car bombings and natural disasters and civil wars that kill thousands of people. We just consider them a sad story and move on. But when we actually see a news story unfold in front of our eyes we are shock and sacred. The news isn't just something that you hear and move on with. It actually happens and I think some of the viewers are naive and don’t consider the fact that this sort of thing is real.

            There are multiple factors when it comes to what gets shown on the news. But one underlying fact that all major news broadcasters follow is the ratings. Will this story get more or less ratings then this story? I’m not saying that the networks just take this into consideration but it plays a big part. But this says a lot about our culture. That instead of just reporting the facts and truths about the world we are apologizing to the viewer’s for something that they choose to watch. It shows that we should ignore most of the bad things that are happen in the world because it’s bad and we don’t want to see it; instead we should show inspiring and happy stories. People want to see the good in the world and ignore all the bad things that happen along the way. But what do you expect when a guy is running away from the cops? That he’ll stop the car, apologize for being a bad boy, and gladly accept his punishment? People have to remember that the news isn’t like the movies where the cops always catch the bad guy. In the real world people run from the cops because they don’t want to go to jail and rather take an alternate option instead. Sometimes that option running and making it across the border. Sometimes it’s ramming the car onto the freeway and get in a car crash and sometimes that means killing oneself. It seems at times that people misinterpret the news for entertainment.

            The news is meant to tell the truth, the good and the bad. It is the one thing in the world that we know is true because all the networks are going to report on it and gives you a variety of what you what to hear. Now and days there are some theories that certain networks only publish stories that would make their personal agenda more valued while dehumanizing another agenda. But that’s not news. News is meant to be unbiased and true. It’s the one thing that everyone turns to when they what to know what is happening in the world. We can’t have the people’s views and beliefs imposed on this subject. That would leave room for opinions and emotions and that’s not what the news is aimed for. Things happen, you can say that it is awful or worthy or noble but in the end it happened and there was nothing you could do to stop it. It’s a simple idea that we need to live up to. Information is an advantage in this world and if isn’t true then who will say what is and what is not. That could lead to a communication disaster and who knows what that could lead to.