Posted 09 June 2011 - 17:07
Whilst I agree that some news this day is total rubbish (I mean honestly, the Daily Mail will report anything these days (today it's all about how Katie Price has got a new personalised numberplate for her pink Land Rover)), the fact of the matter is that you're drawing to the forefront stuff that I would consider as 'good news'. I find the privacy arguments that FB/Twitter have become embroiled in utterly fascinating from my perspective. The legal ramifications behind it are convoluted but still quite understandable, and watching the English legal system evolve to try to cope with super-injuctions vs mass social media is one of the most difficult tests for it in recent years. I couldn't give two shits about who's shagging who, but I do care about how it's being handled, and that's what the news is pointing out. The media is putting it out as a big scandal and focusing on the celebrity bullshit side of things, but read a little deeper and find other opinions on the matter and it's pretty fascinating (Private Eye is a notable source of this).
BGT/X-Factor isn't classed as news, it's just a glorified TV review. All I can say is that at least this sort of news doesn't get plastered as headlines over most sites, and at the end of the day, people do want to know. But that is a reflection on the British public, as Golan says. News outlets have to keep their head above the water, and to do that you need to report on things that people want to hear. And tbh most people will pop onto the BBC to check everything - this includes who's done what in the entertainment sector, along with the in-depth analyses you will still find on that website. My honest opinion is that you're viewing this rather selectively, because there's still shedloads of great news reporting on the BBC - it's just the crap that jumps up the 'most read' list because the majority of the British public would rather know who won BGT than the name of the latest lance corporal that got shot in some foreign war.
You also need to remember that the subject of war these days is not something that people really like reading about. The news has to sway with people's opinions to a degree, and the war is no longer something that people want to see or hear about. Ignorance is bliss, and whilst we are not ignorant of the war, permitting it to slide to the back of our minds is a good war of separating ourselves from the pain and hardships suffered by all out there. It's a natural human condition, and the BBC & others are aware of this, thus why they are sensitive of the information. Hell, even a heroic action is questionable news these days, as a British soldier who has held off a dozen insurgents, thrown a dozen grenades their way, and then proceeded to shoot them all, has still killed a dozen people. Not in an outrageous way, but in a time when public opinion is turning against the war, a dozen lives is a dozen too many. The media would rather report on scandals that will outrage the public (and make for good news) and the bollocks entertainment trash that people are all curious about (another natural human condition, and thus again, good news).
It's not a perfect system, but that's the way it is. There are still many serious journalists out there, and it's not hard to find the good stuff if you look. But the British public don't care for serious journalism much. We'd rather find out which dog is able to sing God Save the Queen whilst jumping up and down in the air. Because it's more fun. Because it doesn't remind us of all the crap going on out there. And because it appeals to everyone. And because every news website in the world needs to make money (and this includes the BBC, as its international version runs on advertising revenue).
For there can be no death without life.
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