Television news broadcasts rarely deviate from a low standard of journalism that provides the who, what, where and how, but rarely the why. What is left out is the significance of our news events. Reporters sometimes pass along what “experts” say on the subject, but the experts are safeguarding institutional secrets and priorities at every turn, so the picture is incomplete.
What we see day in and day out is the surface and the sensational, the “breaking news” blood and guts. What seems to be paramount is the attractiveness and stylishness of the reporter, and the visual evidence of the event. But the cause is always under investigation, and never resolved.
Where is the breadth and depth of analysis? What is going on in neighboring communities, states and nations? What was the situation before World War II? What did the founders think and do? The answers are there, but the reporters are not.
No wonder the people have a sense of fatalism, mistrust and indignant reaction against the highly manipulated society we live in.
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Kimball Shinkoskey Princeton |