By MARISSA YOUNG<\/p>\n
In my first blog post, I wrote about how news programs are becoming increasingly lenient about their definition of news.\u00a0 On Monday, Al Sunshine, a former Miami broadcast journalist, spoke to one of my classes.\u00a0 He brought up another issue: Do we, as journalists, give our audiences what they want<\/i> or need<\/i> to hear?<\/p>\n
Audiences might want<\/i> to hear about the latest celebrity gossip: who slept with whom, who\u2019s pregnant, who was caught doing drugs in the bathroom. Other than entertainment, that news has no effect on most people\u2019s daily lives.<\/p>\n
But people need<\/i> to hear about other issues. They need to know about unexpected weather conditions. They need to know about the latest disease outbreak. They might not want to, but they need to know what politicians are doing with their tax money (even if it isn\u2019t scandalous).<\/p>\n
So how do you decide what to give audiences? \u00a0An obvious solution would be to air both types of stories.\u00a0 With time and space limits, though, that is impractical. Companies air stories that are of popular interest because they attract the most viewers. However, when it comes down to it, the need to know about certain issues trumps media companies\u2019 concerns about viewership and profitability.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, stories can be an issue of life or death. For example, if a certain toy has been recalled because of a toxic part, parents need to know to take it away from their children.<\/p>\n
If there is time to air only one story, one that is either popular or critical, is there really an option here?<\/p>\n
Could any journalist with a sense of human dignity choose better ratings over the chance to save someone\u2019s life?\u00a0 Is it better to risk concealing potentially lifesaving information than to risk boring some audience members for a couple minutes?<\/p>\n
There is a reason it\u2019s called NEEDING to know, and we must remember this when deciding which news to broadcast.\u00a0 This way, there will be no guilt hanging over journalists\u2019 heads if they do their best to tell viewers anything that might be vital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By MARISSA YOUNG In my first blog post, I wrote about how news programs are becoming increasingly lenient about their definition of news.\u00a0 On Monday, Al Sunshine, a former Miami broadcast journalist, spoke to one of my classes.\u00a0 He brought … Continue reading