With the recent completion of the Casey Anthony trial and the daily appearances of Nancy Grace on my television screen (until the next big case), I have found myself thinking about what Nancy Grace and other television personalities who have shows on cable news channels can actually teach us. I’m aware that the Nancy Graces, Bill Oreily’s and Shawn Hannity have large fan bases, this is not an attack on them per se, but rather a series of factual statements that every American should take away from their highly engaging primetime programming.
1. Never get all your news from these primetime news shows- Much of the content is grounded in opinion which may or may not always have basis in fact. So diversify your news sources and don’t take the word of a talking head as the absolute reality…investigate, learn, and make up your own mind. If as Americans, we need someone to tell us what to think, as a people were screwed.
2. Some of these shows base their content on sensationalism-Cable news is a cut-throat ruthless market, these people are in competition for your viewer ship every evening along with the Red Sox game, Law and Order rerun, and Jersey Shore. This may lead them to say the most sensational/outlandish things because they want your eyes in front of the television set.
3. That old adage about there being two sides to every story hasn’t changed just because we now have people to scream their opinions at us 24/7. Today there’s far too much conviction via media. It gets to the point where we have a guilty or innocent verdict attached to the case before the trial making it difficult for any trial juror. Which could have tragic consequences for our justice system, if people become too wrapped up in public opinion whipped up by cable news programs.
No comments:
Post a Comment