Speaking About News

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3 months ago

You guys probably had known that news distorts the reality of what actually happens by various ways, including:

  • speaking of opinions as if they're facts, often in subtle ways that hinted without the listeners/readers being aware of it

  • refusing to announce anything outside the focused topic

Well, if it's for propaganda, it's 'reasonable'. That's being done on purpose. Otherwise, it's not. Recently, one heard about "10th anniversary of MH370" and how sad the families were. The problem isn't with the families, but how the news reported it. First, the news put it as if they were the only ones sad in the world. Why not speak about the thousands and millions of somebody's relative whom died of hunger? The events that happened in the "Third World"? Because they're not newsworthy. The sadness of each individuals probably equals, but the news makes them as if the "Third World" lives were unworthy.

OK, that's a little extreme. Let's say the news does report the Third World. Yet, human beings, we, the reader/listener, aren't particularly good at linking the two separate events up. We can't associate the no. of people who died in an earthquake being reported last year to the report of the masses whom died being reported a few days ago. We would had forgot the first. Time made things less severe, at least in terms of feelings. That's why people eventually got out of their problems without needing to go to psychology or physiotherapy or whatever unless they forced themselves into a cycle of chronic depression.

Notice we speak of "selectively reporting". To keep a news short, the news reported only on the selected topic without making a comparison to anything else, nor gives us "further reading" that spread across different point of views. While it's tempting to say they're not wrong, they're actually wrong. News should be kept away from distortion at all cost. Quickly reporting whatever without caring about how the reader interprets is irresponsible for what you'd spoken. Of course, if you'd already spoken it, take time to clarify with an upcoming news a.s.a.p. before time took its course.

Another error being "10th anniversary"... You serious, bro? As if it's marriage? As if it's birthday? As if it's a happy event that you have to celebrate? Of course, the news doesn't report it in a "happy tone", but the word suggested so. Instead, "we have not heard back in a long time; it had been 10 years since; time had not extinguish the waiting hearts." That sounds more right? Nothing to suggest a happy event?

Seriously, reporting needs to be more careful, treading the needle roads to ensure what they're reporting doesn't pluck a string that suggests a bias towards what they think when it's supposed to be neutral, just collecting and transferring the facts without adding in the personal opinions. Unless, like this article, it's an opiniated article, then one should state it clearly that it's not facts, but opinions!

That's it for today.

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Some bookkeeping

One had wrote less articles recently, because one publishes them on one's own blog. Even so, most of the posts relate to what one had read about, and wrote as an afterthought rather than targeting articles like this one. That's because one recently picked up writing diary again, after long time; so most of the things one wanted to speak out is written there, day to day, than being shared to the world. Maybe something worth contribution, like this article, one wants to speak to the world than to oneself or a book; otherwise, one would resort to a diary.

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