It’s super easy to blame the media for not covering the news we want. Whether or not it’s true, we blame them because they’re an easy target – a blobby, nebulous entity with an ulterior motive. And even though we live on a planet where everyone videos everything, where everyone wants to be an influencer, and everyone under 50 wants to enjoy viral Brad Pitt-level success, there remains a need for journalism.
- Why didn’t the media cover Puerto Rico better?
- Why isn’t the media coming down harder on Trump after that crazy speech?
- The media won’t cover female presidential candidates?
- Why isn’t the media right where I want them to be right when I expect it?
Is it possible those who ask aren’t watching or reading enough news? Are they asking “Where’s the media coverage of (this story) or (that story)?” on social media because they only get their news from social media? Does it need to be written that news on social media is cherry-picked and not all-inclusive of the journalistic engine at large?
Does it need to be written that news agencies follow trends like the rest of us, reporting on news that affects our daily lives, and even news we’ve told them we want to read? The Kardashians are famous because we’ve made them famous.
Listen, the media are people who report the news. Their role is not to editorialize your interests. They try, but they often fail. And it’s not their job. A reporter reports.
Imagine if no one offered news anymore and your only source of information came from social media. How much of it would you believe? Forget a socialist society, forget living under a dictatorship, we’d all be a labor class ruled by a few rich people who consider us no better than bugs. We’d be uninformed, uneducated, and have no voice.
That’s what the news is, a voice for the voiceless. It strives to create an informed populace. On it’s best day, it’s there to tell you why things happened the way they happened. On its worst day, it grovels to those who want to kill the messenger, then bitch when there’s no mail.
When complaining of media neglect, or a lack of reporting on something you find important, check yourself first by following simple rules of conduct.
- Were these news agencies absent from this story because they’re understaffed? These days many are
- Check online to verify your claim of news-neglect. There are probably stories
- Question the source. Where did you get the information you’re sharing?
- Lastly, question the motivation. Is there a reason this wasn’t covered in a satisfactory way? Remember the 2016 election; if you found it on social media and you can’t tell it’s from a reliable news agency, it’s click bait
If there’s one thing to take away from this rant it’s this; your blobby entities need support. We have to fight the trick. The real blobby, nebulous entity is the group trying to convince the public not to believe what they read and to even hate those who strive to give you a voice.
Down with those A-holes.
Patrick Whitehurst 
Duly noted, and I concur. Down with those A-holes!
I had a subscription to two online news sources (one, international in an attempt to balance the input a little) and now have one (in an attempt to save $$ so I can have the freedom of living out of the US). I think good news outlets could really benefit from the support. I also spent about 2 hours working on my Facebook privacy (the advertisement section is nutty!) to reduce the input from unwanted sources. It’s helped!
Wow! That sounds very painful. But good to keep that subscription! We do the NY Times, but I read out of US as well to see how laughed at we are these days.