Why I'm Not in Charge of Any Newsroom

WHAT IS NEWS?

News is factual information on a change in the status quo which directly affects the reader or viewer's life and well-being.

A murder story is news only for those in danger of being murdered or who have to deal with having a murderer in their midst.

A disaster is news only for those affected, those related to those affected, those who wish to help those affected, and those whose jobs are affected indirectly by the disaster.

Traffic snarls are news for everyone who has to deal with the traffic.

Government action is news for all those affected by that government.

All these things are news.

WHAT IS NOT NEWS?

People's opinions on news are NOT NEWS.

Things which do not affect others or which do not change the status quo are NOT NEWS.

The suffering of those directly affected by news is NOT NEWS.

HOW CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

A tornado striking a neighborhood, killing a child and destroying a hundred homes is news.

The mother crying her eyes out over her loss on nationwide television is NOT NEWS.

The President giving a speech is news only if he says something new or changes his position. A speech that only re-states things already said before is NOT NEWS. People talking about what they think the President really said is NEVER, EVER NEWS.

An upper-middle-class white man killing his wife is news only for the neighborhood he lived in, and only when something changes- when his wife is murdered, when he is arrested, when the trial begins and when the trial ends. The murder is only nationwide news if there is a nationwide manhunt for the killer; the trial of the murdrer is never nationwide news, and under no circumstances it news to say that nothing happened in the trial or the manhunt.

The cancellation of a television show is news only for its fans. The box office take of movies each week is news only to movie fans and movie industry workers. Awards are only news to fans and to those getting the awards. These things are news, but the marriages, divorces, births, and other aspects of the personal lives of stars is NEVER, EVER, EVER NEWS.

NEWS is the presentation of objective fact. Any attempt to manipulate the emotions of the reader or viewer is NOT NEWS. Presentations of opinion by people who can't affect the issue in question are also NOT NEWS.

NEWS affects the viewer's life in some fashion. Anything which affects no one aside from the person being covered is NOT NEWS.

Weather right now or in the future is NEWS. Weather in the past is news only to historians, and usually not news at all. Stories about how people felt during weather in the past is NOT NEWS.

As you might guess, one hell of a lot of the crap on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, Weather Channel, and the network news broadcasts is so very NOT NEWS, at least to me.

Why I'm Not in Charge of Any Newsroom

WHAT IS NEWS?

News is factual information on a change in the status quo which directly affects the reader or viewer's life and well-being.

A murder story is news only for those in danger of being murdered or who have to deal with having a murderer in their midst.

A disaster is news only for those affected, those related to those affected, those who wish to help those affected, and those whose jobs are affected indirectly by the disaster.

Traffic snarls are news for everyone who has to deal with the traffic.

Government action is news for all those affected by that government.

All these things are news.

WHAT IS NOT NEWS?

People's opinions on news are NOT NEWS.

Things which do not affect others or which do not change the status quo are NOT NEWS.

The suffering of those directly affected by news is NOT NEWS.

HOW CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

A tornado striking a neighborhood, killing a child and destroying a hundred homes is news.

The mother crying her eyes out over her loss on nationwide television is NOT NEWS.

The President giving a speech is news only if he says something new or changes his position. A speech that only re-states things already said before is NOT NEWS. People talking about what they think the President really said is NEVER, EVER NEWS.

An upper-middle-class white man killing his wife is news only for the neighborhood he lived in, and only when something changes- when his wife is murdered, when he is arrested, when the trial begins and when the trial ends. The murder is only nationwide news if there is a nationwide manhunt for the killer; the trial of the murdrer is never nationwide news, and under no circumstances it news to say that nothing happened in the trial or the manhunt.

The cancellation of a television show is news only for its fans. The box office take of movies each week is news only to movie fans and movie industry workers. Awards are only news to fans and to those getting the awards. These things are news, but the marriages, divorces, births, and other aspects of the personal lives of stars is NEVER, EVER, EVER NEWS.

NEWS is the presentation of objective fact. Any attempt to manipulate the emotions of the reader or viewer is NOT NEWS. Presentations of opinion by people who can't affect the issue in question are also NOT NEWS.

NEWS affects the viewer's life in some fashion. Anything which affects no one aside from the person being covered is NOT NEWS.

Weather right now or in the future is NEWS. Weather in the past is news only to historians, and usually not news at all. Stories about how people felt during weather in the past is NOT NEWS.

As you might guess, one hell of a lot of the crap on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, Weather Channel, and the network news broadcasts is so very NOT NEWS, at least to me.