News on the Net: Upgrade?

A lot of people, and I'm admittedly one of them, look to Drudge for the 'top news headlines' of the day. It serves its readers as a kind of news aggregate. But just as cable news networks work toward high viewer ratings, Drudge works toward garnering the maximum number of hits. And that's good, in some respects, because viewers have a voice in networks' and sites' viability.

But, ironically, that's where the trouble begins. When the news-seeking public ingests too much of what it wants, news networks begin to serve as pulpits for a particular political party. Of course people want to be validated in their beliefs, even if only by a talking head.

But when news sources proudly proclaim, or even quietly act, as partisan, they're no longer held to a regional, local, national, or international standard. They're held to a particularly ratings-driven standard. The new source serves a party, the party serves as a source of identity for the consumer, the consumer's identity is confirmed by news. It's a vicious cycle.

The journalist's number one responsibility should be to the citizens of his country and the world; and hence, he should report stories of importance to those citizens -- not the stories that will incite them, and potentially motivate them toward strict allegiance to a group or disdain for another.

Take the Drudge Report, for example. We can learn a bit about Drudge's reporting preferences from his headline choices. Right now -- Monday, October 1 @ 2:22 PM -- the site's top headline reads, in bold face print:

"LIMBAUGH TO REID: SAY IT TO MY FACE"

Really? Is this the top story today? I mean, does anything Rush Limbaugh says translate into reasonable public policy? I'll answer with a preemptive 'no,' because Limbaugh's head is too clogged full of thoughts of himself for him to remember his journalistic responsibility. Oh, but wait -- Rush Limbaugh is not a journalist. Yet, on Drudge, he has an audience, and the story leads.

Broadcast news pits commentator against commentator for the sake of boosting ratings, and the Net is no different. Obviously, Drudge is not alone. In the mainstream, real stories are pushed to the far corners of the blogosphere in favor of saucy, and quite frankly, stupid, headlines like this one.

So, where are we headed? Immediately, as we experience a transition from networks like the Fox News Channel and CNN to websites like the Drudge Report and The Huffington Post, the leading stories on these sites will be more often salacious than not. But here's the optimistic part: mainstream newsblogs like Drudge and the Huffington Post also work to encourage lengthy viewer visits; and links to substantial stories abound. People who will click will click, and because knowledge is power, I predict we'll be in good shape.

The Internet is mostly good, but it's not perfect. When all is said and done, though, I believe the good guys will win.

Comments

[Indiana]

I get a lot of news on the Net anymore, but the Drudge Report isn't one of my main sources. Drudge emphasizes too much celebrity news and other sensationalized stuff. I prefer the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers online as news sources.

[GenericBlogger]

You put your finger on a pervasive problem, the increasing reliance on celebrity news to attract viewers and/or readers.

[GenericBlogger]

Constance Sere,

Your brief assessment of internet news is succinct and to the point.

The days of objective news is over in my opinion. PBS and BBC are deemed to be fairly objective but they have also been accused of being partisan. Those who seek a counterpoint will need the discipline to visit domestic sites with differing ideologies and sites based in different countries.

Despite the shortcomings of TV news and the MSM they will be around for a long time.

I am just glad we have the blogosphere.

[realitytrumpsbull]

I'm for web news, I think it left TV-land behind a long time ago, but I think that
the internet also has the vulnerability of
being potentially susceptible to certain parties
who'd like to manipulate 'the facts' to their
liking, to wit, propaganda. As the global propaganda smear-fest rages on, the measure
of the 'truthiness' of it all is still up
to the reader, but it's a damn sight better
than the old dead-tree method of yesterday's news tomorrow...