A FRIEND of mine could be right, I may have been reading and listening to too many articles and clips about what has been happening around the world, I’m so in the dark (so that I have to ask) about what is happening in the country and our city every time.
I have two reasons for this, which I must admit are cop-out excuses actually. The sensationalist and biased slant in our news reporting is clearly one. The mere fact that my friend is always around to ask about these is the other. It becomes irritating at times. “Do you know where Risa is at the moment?“ I don’t care.
With regard to so-called breaking news, at least there is no need for me to sift through those tiresome, local, and dominantly personality-based news accounts that sadly fail at trying hard to be objective. That’s not an absolute thing, however, because once in a while, whether I like it or not, I tune in to the brouhaha when the neighbor’s television is loud enough and I have no other choice but to listen.
If this sounds like snobby bias or a jaded senior rant, just try paying attention to the news lately, with the conventional media constantly harping about impeachment and their own version of Hague and Lisa updates. They almost always come with straight reporting at first (which for me should be the way it should be packed) and then, second, end with lengthy opinions filled with fallacies, most of which come with the usual parade of “reliable” experts and those who later turn out to be paid hacks disguised as “sources.”
Of course, as this might have already awakened your urge to comment, first be aware that the news from other countries is likewise not entirely perfect. Australian news reports, for one, are often so devoid of detail that any particular bit of news is just plainly reported as something that has happened; a breaking news of sorts that falls flat and leaves you hanging.
In comparison, when listening to (or reading) the UK’s BBC and several US networks’ reportage of the news, the formula for concise reporting mostly appears to be solid, with nary a taste of the nonsense. In a sense, the what, when, where, why, and how are, if not all, presented in logical sequence. However, let it be known that other news outlets, especially in this Trump era, are openly, if not blatantly, there for propaganda purposes.
If one were to probe further with the usual questions like, who is the news’ intended audience, and from whose perspective do they spring out from, then surely, one can surmise that their proverbial slip is showing. After all, aside from being a channel of culture, media will always be a political tool.
So in the end, this leads us back to where we started. I should have perhaps begun by saying that, be it international, national, or local, I will only choose to listen to the news with the least add-ons. No trimmings, just plain information, because after all, nobody is perfect and everyone has got their own bias, teeny weeny or not. When I spot a slant, I simply scroll left and move on.
Once in a while, even when one comes across some rare non-opinionated tidbits, it’s not free from suspicion. Conspiracy – theory mode comes into play, and not for long, we’ve something new to argue about around the house at breakfast. However pristine, like Lego or Ikea kits, tiny flaws can invite hatched-up opinions from out of the blue.
Combative and “contesera,” as we are in our tiny household, it’s always a case of “who cares what you think?” with our son as arbiter (even as he always sides with the nanay). Ever so often, the two heads banging together arrive at an icy compromise, leaving closure as the starting flint for tomorrow’s part 2 or 3.
