News Comparison

I was surprised to discover that the majority of our news sources are similar. Hardly any of us actively engage in seeking out the news. It appears that most of our news gathering is passive. We hear news through other people, or we happen upon it while doing other things. Sometimes, if we are particularly interested in something, we will look it up online. However, even when we are online, we do not really get exposed to the news because we are only looking up one particular story or issue. I find it rather ironic that most of the class expressed the desire to pay more attention to current events, and yet none of us find or make the time. Civic literacy involves the circulation of texts in a public sphere. It is interesting that since more and more people have begun to rely on the internet for their news, it appears that the news had become one-sided. We have a tendency to read only things that interest us. Therefore, it is not surprising that the news has also begun to lean one way or the other to encourage more listeners or viewers. According to Hedges, “Those who rely on the Internet gravitate to sites that reinforce their beliefs. The filtering of information through an ideological lens, which is destroying television journalism, defies the purpose of reporting.” There was a time when the news was strictly factual, meant to inform rather than entertain. As newsrooms, newspapers, and radio stations are feeling the pressure to compete with one another they have to focus on both retaining or gaining the maximum number of customers and telling the truth. It is virtually impossible to do both at the same time.