As a communications major and a writer for the newspaper, one would think I watch the news quite often. After all, that’s what I want to do with my life, right?
I would say I very rarely watch a news broadcast (cue gasp from communications professors) and while I may have had an interest in news writing at some point, I find it rapidly diminishing as I continue college, and for lack of a better term…grow up.
My mom has always been a religious nightly news viewer. She thinks critically about what she sees and hears, but for the most part, that is where she gets her information.
So do not get me wrong, I fully recognize the importance of news; staying informed is crucial and I try to do it in ways that make the most sense to me.
As I get further into my major classes, I have taken several journalism courses, and I am not entirely certain that this was their intention, but the overarching notion that I seem to get from each of these professors is… “don’t trust anything you hear in the news”.
They are attempting to train us to be good news reporters, while telling us there is no such thing as reliable news. I would love to live in a world where journalist integrity is fully upheld when it comes to news, but that is just not the case.
While the questionable veracity of news sources and stories does contribute to my hesitation to tune into a news report, I find it is not the main factor.
I can sum up my feelings towards the news in a simple quote that was introduced to me by my English teacher sometime during my junior year of high school, “The evening news begins with ‘Good Evening’ then proceeds to tell you why it is not.’’
Watching the evening news means you will surely be bombarded with depressing, devastating, and worrisome content. Instead of the nightly news, they should just call it “People who died, tragedies, things you should be worried about, people who are fighting, politics and other sad stories tonight at 6”.
I know I may sound ignorant and naive for not wanting to subject myself to that, and trust me when I say, I know that these things are important; we must know what is going on in our world, in our backyards, and we must know how to protect ourselves from danger, but that is not all we must know.
Part of me feels like media outlets do not need to tell us how bad things are, we already know, we are living it. They are dropping these information bombs on us every night on top of the personal struggles we face in our everyday lives.
Yes, I know it was a cold winter because my eyes froze shut every time I walked to class. Yes, I know gas prices are high because I just filled up my tank and it cost me $50. Yes, I know doctors are speculating that every food is bad for you and should probably just drink water for the rest of your life, except that it is contaminated, fluorinated, and expensive. Yes, I know there is violence, war, and hate with no end in sight.
I feel as though we do not need 24/7 reminders that things are bad. We live out those bad things every day, in addition to our own personal hells that the news will never report. The news does not need to tell us to be scared, worried, or cautious… because we already are.
It is certainly wishful thinking, but I would love to turn on a news station and hear something like “Ten great things that happened in Chicago today, tonight at six”.
If I were ever to be any type of journalist that is the type I would want to be.
One that encourages readers and viewers to keep going despite these struggles, and constantly reminding them of the beauty that is still left in this world.
There is no doubt that exposing the dark keeps people honest and informed, but we benefit more as individuals and as a community from exposing the light. We need it.
Bridget Goedke
Senior Viewpoints Editor
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