TV news is as we now it—big time. All eyes zoom in, all ears point to the television set as the primetime news airs with its loud and bombastic soundtrack. We eat in front of the television; we gather and socialize with and on the news. Fires, guns, riots, government decrees—we have all sorts and sizes. Come one! Come all! Primetime news is on.
News is to inform, to impart, to report. It presumes to be complete and encompassing on the subjects, people and events it covers. But sometimes, it still misses the point: the viewers are intelligent.
The presumption that the television is the “idiot box” may be true, as much as it may be false. A recent study by University of the Philippines – Diliman students found primetime news viewers know what is missing in their news—an in-depth and a more comprehensive coverage of international and local news.
One of the respondents said the he is always waiting for news from the Philippine countryside. News on Philippine television has always been focused on the seat of government, the center of commerce, the metropolis of Manila.
One of the respondents in the study referring to minimal coverage of international news, said in an interview, “feeling ko, siguro feeling ng network na it’s not interesting to the people” (I feel that the TV networks feel that international news is not interesting to the people).
Crime has often been the banner bearer of news. No primetime news program would forget to report on crime, crime and more crime. A respondent has said that there must be less coverage on crime in news.
News is not about crime. Crime becomes newsworthy because it shadows or reflects a social phenomenon. What the news programs can do is to use a crime story as a human interest point to hook in the viewers. Then it must report on the social conditions and circumstances that the single crime reflects. This is in-depth news reporting. Statistics will help reporters give a bigger picture of a single, remote act of crime. By so doing, the news programs now answer the viewers’ question: What has this to do with me.
Viewers of the “idiot box” are not idiots. They want more and deserve more from the current setting and reportage of primetime news. Unless there is a less focus on the mundane and the sensational, news viewers will remain idiots. Fault be on the TV networks.
No comments:
Post a Comment