SierraQ
Well-known member
The next time you watch the news monitor your own emotions and reactions especially to stories that have nothing to do with you and will never affect you...
I've been reading in the forums a lot of mixed opinions on the news coverage of EVs. Some say the coverage has been good; others claims there is a global conspiracy by the oil industry to inject negative news and kill them off. Whatever your leanings, I think news has become another form of entertainment and EVs are not being singled out as some would like to believe.
Why does the Leaf (limited range) or the Volt (catches on fire) get bad press or any press at all? Because of objective reporting? Because there is a political agenda? I think not. Look no further than the almighty dollar. Modern news outlets want to be watched (or read) and get advertising dollars so they sensationalize everything and selectively report news that is popular to their audiences. Competition is fierce due to cable news running 24/7 and the proliferation of "free news" in the form of internet blogs and social media, despite that the latter lacking a vetting process. This competition forces sensationalism. "Mayor accused of sex scandal, see it at 10!" (They conveniently forget to mention that there is no evidence and the accuser has an ax to grind.) EVs are popular news because of high gas prices. I'll bet if gas was $1.21 a gallon we wouldn't hear a thing about EVs. This is not political at all. It's money. And it is true of just about every outlet national or local. Is it right to only report popular, money-making news? Does it reflect a problem with out society that we crave news about Kim Kardashian and her brainless family instead of worthwhile topics? Of course news has always been about "selling newspapers" as the saying goes but there was always a measure of professionalism and responsibility that was ingrained in the industry. I fear they are slowly losing that.
Another question: what is the effect of sensationalized news on society? Take schools for example. People are getting the impression that all hell is breaking loose in schools across the country and the world because we now hear about every incident from everyday bullying to bomb threats to the incident where a homemade lunch was taken away. Why? Because school news is popular, not because it is necessarily newsworthy. When I grew up we had three bomb threats in my school and were evacuated for hours. None of which ever made the local news much less CNN. (We looked for it--remember when getting on TV was like having a hit on YouTube?) Today if a child trips in the hallway it makes prime time and launches a congressional inquiry into school carpet quality because the news generates an outcry that otherwise would not have occurred.
This selective reporting and the gross bias towards negative news is poisoning our society in my opinion. It's establishing what they (the news outlets) choose to report as normal when in fact what is reported is generally abnormal. It is creating anger in people and leading to knee-jerk reactions. It is creating unreasonable fear that "something is going to happen" (being sued, end of the world, etc.) I can barely watch news anymore because it is always: "Lion eats person who jumped into its cage--family upset that no warnings were posted," "prison convict sues victim and wins," "mom drowns children," or (to get back to EVs) "person stranded in electric car." None of these are normal events but seeing the news you'd think that is all that is going on out there. Gone is all positive news like all the good work charities and churches do every day. Gone is the desire to inform the masses and keep the government in check. News still fills these functions but it is a side effect, no longer a reason for being.
So what do you think? Is news still valid in our society or, like the federal government, has it grown in a large and power-hungry monster that no longer resembles its original self and purpose?
I've been reading in the forums a lot of mixed opinions on the news coverage of EVs. Some say the coverage has been good; others claims there is a global conspiracy by the oil industry to inject negative news and kill them off. Whatever your leanings, I think news has become another form of entertainment and EVs are not being singled out as some would like to believe.
Why does the Leaf (limited range) or the Volt (catches on fire) get bad press or any press at all? Because of objective reporting? Because there is a political agenda? I think not. Look no further than the almighty dollar. Modern news outlets want to be watched (or read) and get advertising dollars so they sensationalize everything and selectively report news that is popular to their audiences. Competition is fierce due to cable news running 24/7 and the proliferation of "free news" in the form of internet blogs and social media, despite that the latter lacking a vetting process. This competition forces sensationalism. "Mayor accused of sex scandal, see it at 10!" (They conveniently forget to mention that there is no evidence and the accuser has an ax to grind.) EVs are popular news because of high gas prices. I'll bet if gas was $1.21 a gallon we wouldn't hear a thing about EVs. This is not political at all. It's money. And it is true of just about every outlet national or local. Is it right to only report popular, money-making news? Does it reflect a problem with out society that we crave news about Kim Kardashian and her brainless family instead of worthwhile topics? Of course news has always been about "selling newspapers" as the saying goes but there was always a measure of professionalism and responsibility that was ingrained in the industry. I fear they are slowly losing that.
Another question: what is the effect of sensationalized news on society? Take schools for example. People are getting the impression that all hell is breaking loose in schools across the country and the world because we now hear about every incident from everyday bullying to bomb threats to the incident where a homemade lunch was taken away. Why? Because school news is popular, not because it is necessarily newsworthy. When I grew up we had three bomb threats in my school and were evacuated for hours. None of which ever made the local news much less CNN. (We looked for it--remember when getting on TV was like having a hit on YouTube?) Today if a child trips in the hallway it makes prime time and launches a congressional inquiry into school carpet quality because the news generates an outcry that otherwise would not have occurred.
This selective reporting and the gross bias towards negative news is poisoning our society in my opinion. It's establishing what they (the news outlets) choose to report as normal when in fact what is reported is generally abnormal. It is creating anger in people and leading to knee-jerk reactions. It is creating unreasonable fear that "something is going to happen" (being sued, end of the world, etc.) I can barely watch news anymore because it is always: "Lion eats person who jumped into its cage--family upset that no warnings were posted," "prison convict sues victim and wins," "mom drowns children," or (to get back to EVs) "person stranded in electric car." None of these are normal events but seeing the news you'd think that is all that is going on out there. Gone is all positive news like all the good work charities and churches do every day. Gone is the desire to inform the masses and keep the government in check. News still fills these functions but it is a side effect, no longer a reason for being.
So what do you think? Is news still valid in our society or, like the federal government, has it grown in a large and power-hungry monster that no longer resembles its original self and purpose?