Soap Opera or News?
Well, thanks to mainstream media perhaps we can count on more than just death and taxes. These days, news stories don't die quickly. While the media continues its grand quest to bring us the latest "up-to-the-minute" coverage on today's big news stories - I can't help thinking when is enough, really enough? Michael Jackson an hour late to court today? You don't say? Jessie Jackson commenting on the Terri Shiavo case. Thank goodness I caught that! What's the real news value here?For weeks and weeks the media feeds off big stories - which is what I like to call the soap opera factor. While many of these stories are newsworthy to start - as they are dragged out over time, the value and quality of news content greatly diminishes.
All this harping brings me back to a recent article in a March issue of Time entitled "How to End Poverty." The article offers in-depth look at the impact of poverty on a global scale, the reasons why poverty exists in certain parts of the world, and what solutions are being implemented in different communities as well as which solutions could be implemented in others. Wow, real news. Real value. What if this story ran in the news for a month or so? What am I thinking - it's not soap opera material. No stars, no public figures, no legal or sex controversy - just a real problem, with real people that's been around for decades. Old news, right?
Lucky for us we'll continue to get the important news details - like how Martha is asking the federal judge to relax the terms of her house arrest.
I guess horses will always die. And the media will always find ways to beat them.
-Emily @ Ardell
posted by The Ardell Group @ 12:36 PM
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