(Originally written in 2008)
Today is Election Day. Like most people, I am glad the presidential campaign is almost over. All this nonsense is driving me crazy.
It’s not politics I find aggravating; it is the TV news coverage that drives me up the wall.
I worked for about twenty years in TV News and developed very strong opinions about what news should be, as opposed to what we actually see.
Observing this presidential campaign and the deep divisions affecting our country, I can not help but blame much of the animosity on the failure of TV News (and talk radio) to be true to the tenants of JOURNALISM.
Journalism is supposed to be fair, unbiased, and based upon facts.
Unfortunately, most TV news is the exact opposite. It is sensationalistic, biased, superficial and often based on rumor, or “spin.”
The result is a poorly informed public. But worse than that, I think many people have been misled into believing falsehoods, myths and outright lies. Yet they THINK they are well-informed. There is probably nothing more dangerous than someone who is convinced that a lie is the truth.
I am disturbed greatly by the cumulative effects of poor TV News coverage and feel it can lead to irreparable harm to our country.
OK, if that sounds a bit extreme but think about it this way.
Take the current economic problems. There has been such a flood of misinformation on this very complex topic that it is impossible for the population at large to understand the root causes. So how can anyone make good judgments about how to fix the problem?
If everyone is convinced that X is the problem when really the problem is Y, rushing out to eradicate X lets Y continue to flourish. So instead of solving the problem, it only deepens.
The current economic situation is extremely complex. To understand it fully one has to have a good grasp of half a dozen variables, including not just economics, but history, politics, banking, investing and consumer trends/ habits. But such complexity and nuance don’t play well on TV where the ten-second sound bite rules.
Getting back to the presidential election, I think one of the biggest reasons you see such emotionally driven divisions and arguments among people is because people rely on vastly different news sources for their information.
No one wants the economy to tank. No one wants freedoms to be eroded. No one wants the U.S. to lose respect in the world. We ALL can agree on those principles.
But due to the corrosive effects of bad TV news, no one has any agreement at all about how to get there from here. Sadly, it’s not just that people disagree cordially, but rather I see people who are ready for a slug fest because they are convinced the other side is leading us down the road of destruction. Again, I believe they are driven by the emotionally laden TV news coverage they see. Tension makes for good dramatic TV, but it also makes for huge misunderstandings and divisions that will not easily heal. Quality journalism is unemotional in tone, so obviously TV News and its quest for emotionalism is the wrong recipe.
Obama/Biden supporters think McCain/Palin policies will ruin the economy, erode freedoms and make the U.S. lose standing in the world.
McCain/Palin supporters are convinced it is the democratic ticket that will take us down that same dark road.
Obviously, both sides can not be right. There is an ultimate truth, but it has been obscured by misinformation.
I do not see these deep divisions as being caused merely by people having different philosophies, like liberal and conservative. Rather, I think it goes way beyond that and people have completely different realities. Where do these vastly different realities come from? The vastly different stories and themes you see repeated by the TV news.
People look to TV news for FACTS. They expect the TV news to give them an accurate picture of what is going on in this crazy world of ours. People then based their thoughts and opinions upon this “reality” presented to them by the TV News.
Guess what? When the “facts” turn out to be false, then the foundation of people’s beliefs, (their reality) is also incorrect.
The two competing sides are both working hard to get out their version of the truth. People tend to listen to whatever validates their pre-existing beliefs.
Due to the fact that different news outlets present such vastly different “facts,” the end result is a huge chasm between people who essentially want the same thing.
We all want peace and prosperity. But with the emotionally charged deep divisions separating us, that ideal goal might very well remain elusive.
I blame the fact that TV news sucks so badly.
IMHO Lorraine Grula, News nerd and journalism advocate.
