The news is a never-ending trainwreck. We can’t help but keep our eyes on it. An innate sense of fear of the unknown scares us, therefore we create paranoia theories. Our daily news includes the following: police brutality with murky truths of how or why it happened, racial tensions between the two usual suspects, the illusion for “equality for all” issues either spoken out or swept under the rug, and terrorists terrorizing the masses for attention purposes. These are the proper ingredients for the news. Delicious, isn’t it?
Tragedy catches more attention on the headlines than any other story. Tragedy offers a bittersweet taste in our mouths. No one likes tragedy, but the gravitational pull yanks us in close. Could it be we’re masochist enjoying human connection felt through pain? Remember: sex, death, horror, shady politics, and spontaneous violence. These simple topics masquerade themselves as “good news.” News isn’t told by the truth. News isn’t complete unless coverage is slanted towards a specific political biases; fiction becomes fact.
During the Spanish-American War, newspapers tried to capitalize on the incident for sells. Two major publishers, John Pulitzer and William Hearst, ignited the term yellow journalism. Yellow journalism was a style that emphasized sensationalism over facts. Hearst and Pulitzer devoted attention to the ongoing war through yanking the emotional strings of readers and occasionally printing arousing lies. This coverage, accompanied by bold headlines and imaginative illustrations, sold many papers in favor of both publishers. A technique used in the 1890s influences the styles of today (i.e. NBC’s Brian Williams’ Iraq Incident). All news media strives toward an accurate news without bias.
Despite their good intentions, errors will happen, humans aren’t without mistakes. Each individual has an internal belief system of right and wrong. No one will agree on every issue. On their best day, reporters can try to provide facts with an honest perspective. On their worst days, reporters are bias, slanted pushing their own agendas. Journalists paint their own version according to their vision. The lack of appropriate questions accompanied by the lack of investigation equals fraud to the viewers. Journalistic sloppiness!
The news media changes its makeup to attract new customers. Its mascara trails down its face, foundation is caked up, and lipstick smeared off; however, it has no problem whoring itself out for needed attention. Regardless of the prices, society is always willing to pay for it. We’re eager to undress and commence in vile fornication. No matter what group we belong to racial, political or otherwise, we’re all duped after we orgasm. We’ll trust in anything that authenticates our importance that we’ll endure in this world. Can you trust the news? You can only trust it with vigilance and knowing what answers to search for. Even I’m biased with my views, except I offer you food for your grey matter to masticate.
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