News isn't just what's supplied by news agencies. Gossip is probably the oldest form of news, and still one of the best. News media includes documentaries like Invisible Children and The Take. Remember one doesn't have to rely either on one's communities for notification of the latest issues: RSS feeds. Often times these can be found in poor quality online or via a friend with Netflix. There's books. Boring and requires commitment, but bite the bullet. Mass media is any form of medium for dispersal to a larger audience. Email-forwards (not advised). Despite all these various forms, they share some things in common I'm writing about.
I wanna touch on one of these: newsworthiness. First though something you need to reflect on, is why are you following the news? We do it for a number of legitimate/illegitimate purposes, including: entertainment; information for purposes of decision-making, self-cultivation, and awareness; task-assistance, and mental-stimulation. We follow sports for the cross purposes of entertainment and decision-making, e.g. betting or going to a game. We follow the fashion for self-cultivation, awareness of what's going on, task-assistance like shopping, etc. These are kinda trivial but not really. Newsworthiness is what you wanna find out about + somethings you might not wanna consider but know you kinda need to. When selecting the sources though to follow, one needs to be honest of what one is going after. The rest is dedicated to political newsworthiness.
"If" the journalism is there for enabling the body politic, they've failed miserably in the entailed responsibilities. Walter Lippmann (a.k.a. a big-time bastard) especially believed in a public sphere broke-down model, in which sense he's not a bastard. Part of this has to do with focusing on "what to think" vs. critical thinking of events/issues. In this model, the press translates, simplifies, and summarizes for you what is going on in the world, telling you what to think. This is good for Lippmann cause he makes the astute observation that people are too stupid and self-absorbed to care and understand (one might wish to include the elites here too). This is much of what news agencies do. Self-honesty is key here on several fronts. Your responsibility is to engender the critical thinking. A) You're not stupid and... not stupid. B) There are news sources don't just inform and keep an eye out on govs, but participate in the deliberative process and help nurture your critical thinking about events. If you want political junk food though, then go for it! I LOVE talk-shows. I've drawn a NPR faux-tattoo on my thigh before. There is another front to honesty though.
Some specialized news sources require an advanced level of literacy. Either develop it, or ignore the topic. If you don't have the understanding, you're vulnerable to manipulation and worse the illusion that you do. For instance, if you wanna understand the economy, one doesn't follow the stock market. Press Releases by the Fed need a high literacy level. You can't just substitute that with talking-heads analysis commentary. On the other hand, you don't need to hear a 5 minute explanation on NPR to get find out what you could have in five-seconds. Here is the key point, acknowledge your limitations. This is an intellectual virtue! Then if there is a specialized news issue you want to find out about subscribe to sources which are involved in the debate and foster a higher literacy level.
Let me reassure you what I'm not saying. You don't need a Ph.D. to see through or call the bullshit of some pretentious elitists. You do need the humility to not be a know-it-all and willingness to learn and the courage to engage and make mistakes. Okay, I never said earlier anything about courage or being vulnerable to risk-taking, but I should have.
FYI - The New Yorker Review mentioned in the previous post is this new fusion of the New Yorker and the New York Review if anyone is curious. Haven't heard of it? Well now you have and remember that you heard it here first! Now all we gotta do is make sure the the New Yorker and the New York Review hear the what's happened. Also, I am NOT a journalist, and share folks antipathies against them. If I got my junk wrong though, please post it in the comment section. This blog does have a corrections notice column. Also, I lied, there's going to be another piece on the hermeneutics of news.
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