2 things news should do for long term OP/ED
June 12, 2017 at 10:46 am
(This post was last modified: June 12, 2017 at 10:51 am by Jackie.)
Not that they will, but they should.
Lets face it, even news media, local to national are still businesses. Fine, but the core of the idea of being a NEWS journalist, not a pundit, but a unbias reporter is telling the public what they need to know and not always what they want to hear.
I have noticed decades now, two key things reported far too short sighted.
1. Gas prices. Sure nobody likes energy costs, be it for a car or their home to go up. But reporting constantly "Oh look, prices are cheaper here" is only short term thinking. It still remains that no matter the short term gains from cheaper gas day to day or year to year, the CO2 is damaging our planet and it will cost us long term far more.
2. Stock market reports, that too, everyone masturbates over the up green arrow on a daily basis, but that does not address long term policies over a decade or generation.
It is way past time both NATIONAL and local media focus on LONG TERM context instead of coddling short term profits. I am not anti private sector, but planning maters and right now too much of reporting is short sighted.
To those in the news industry, this matters. YOU are the watchdogs, you are the providers of data. YOU matter because when you stick to facts you provide BOTH public and private sectors BETTER information that can help improve long term conditions. We cannot afford to be so focused on short term thinking. We are now in an age where global stability depends on planning.
You must get back to Murrow and Cronkite. You must be unafraid to be like Nader in telling car companies their products are dangerous. If you have no problem reporting defective air bags, then you must also tackle the long term damage burning fossil fuels is causing, and you must not simply report red and green arrows just to get people to focus in the moment. There is a planet we will leave to the next generation, so your OBJECTIVE reporting is paramount now more than ever.
Lets face it, even news media, local to national are still businesses. Fine, but the core of the idea of being a NEWS journalist, not a pundit, but a unbias reporter is telling the public what they need to know and not always what they want to hear.
I have noticed decades now, two key things reported far too short sighted.
1. Gas prices. Sure nobody likes energy costs, be it for a car or their home to go up. But reporting constantly "Oh look, prices are cheaper here" is only short term thinking. It still remains that no matter the short term gains from cheaper gas day to day or year to year, the CO2 is damaging our planet and it will cost us long term far more.
2. Stock market reports, that too, everyone masturbates over the up green arrow on a daily basis, but that does not address long term policies over a decade or generation.
It is way past time both NATIONAL and local media focus on LONG TERM context instead of coddling short term profits. I am not anti private sector, but planning maters and right now too much of reporting is short sighted.
To those in the news industry, this matters. YOU are the watchdogs, you are the providers of data. YOU matter because when you stick to facts you provide BOTH public and private sectors BETTER information that can help improve long term conditions. We cannot afford to be so focused on short term thinking. We are now in an age where global stability depends on planning.
You must get back to Murrow and Cronkite. You must be unafraid to be like Nader in telling car companies their products are dangerous. If you have no problem reporting defective air bags, then you must also tackle the long term damage burning fossil fuels is causing, and you must not simply report red and green arrows just to get people to focus in the moment. There is a planet we will leave to the next generation, so your OBJECTIVE reporting is paramount now more than ever.
