News-worthy

News-worthy: a reader asks…

Perhaps this isn’t the right forum, but can you explain why the same news story sounds so much different on different channels or news sources? Is there some technology aspect at work?

We’re now straying more into marketing, but let me give it a shot. Over the last 30 years or so, I’ve noticed a significant shift in the way news is reported. In the past, it was primarily factual, with just a little bit of opinion perhaps added at the end. News reporters, journalists, and even everyday folks stuck more to the facts of what happened, and less conjecture about what it all meant. Even when it came to he-said, she-said stories, we were focusing on what he or she said.

As news programs grew and we got more channels and sources of news we could turn to, journalists and reporters were being tasked to fill a whole lot more hours, so that shows like CNN and MSNBC and Fox News could fill the 24-hour news cycle. Increasingly, these were being also tasked with being more interesting stories – to catch more eyeballs and ears. Where news organizations of larger media entities were formerly semi-independent of the marketing pressures to increase ad sales, this has morphed into the news programs being rated on their popularity to generate ad revenue. We started to see more sensationalist news stories, even little stories were given treatment to make them more exiting, perhaps more entertaining. Some news sources went whole-hog on this, and worked even truly non-news into a huge deal we should concern ourselves with.

All in the hunt for your attention, news has now morphed into entertainment, with each source trying to get your attention. Competition is good, but anything can be taken too far, and my opinion is that for most of the news we all consume, the stories are slanted as they are reported. Sometimes by the mind-set or opinion of the reporter or journalist, and sometimes by the editor – all in the pursuit of market share for advertising dollars.

Again this is my opinion (but you asked for it), we’re now at the point that we can no longer depend on a single news source for reliable and factual information. Your best bet to get all the facts is to read the same story from a number of angles (different news sources), and then you can determine for yourself what the facts are versus the opinions and conjecture. Here’s where technology comes in (and can help):

More and more consumers are gravitating to apps and websites that are news aggregators. These aggregators capture news articles from various sources and show you the combined news. You can pick the subjects of interest, like world news, politics, entertainment, sports, and technology. For many of these aggregators you can also choose what news sources to see (and sometimes what news sources to exclude). Some of the better ones will not only let you choose, but will also give you a sprinkling of alternate sources, often by seeing what you are reading and spending more time looking at, and then finding complementary sources to match your reading patterns.

My current favorite is Flipboard. In addition to using their website, they have apps for just about any smartphone. You can choose interest subjects or sources, and even build your own news magazine by choosing articles you see to add in, then share your magazine with other Flipboard readers.

Flipboard can even integrate your social media feeds, but I’d suggest you do this with care. As more and more ‘news stories’ make it into social media feeds, there is the potential for more mis-information. Most mainstream news sources have at least some standards for accurate reporting, but our growing army of citizen-journalists have to hold to nothing but their own standards – and this can vary widely. Everyday folks like you and me can easily set up their own blog and write anything they want. I’d recommend you stick with the more established names.

There are other news aggregators, such as Feedly, Google News, or News360. No matter which you choose, don’t just choose news sources that reflect your own opinion or values. You really want to look for a wide variety of news sources so that you can get past the inherent bias in all reporting.