By Christopher Wells
Trump’s winning–even though the news says you’re crazy if you vote for him; Sanders continually wins primaries over Hillary, yet they keep telling us he’s un-electable? So why is the news media getting it so wrong lately? And more importantly why are they finding it more and more difficult to influence the American public to their way of thinking? Here are a few reasons why I believe the news is dead and has lost its influence over the American public:
Internet and Blogs. Everyone knows the internet has changed the way we see and receive our information. No longer do we have to rely upon some perfect haired individual to tell us what’s happening in our lives. In today’s world, news topics are first being broadcast via the internet, then secondly picked up and reported by the evening news; not the other way around. By the time the 6 o’clock news rolls around, chances are you’ve already seen or read about it first hand on your Facebook page or favorite website. Web blogs and social sites also have had the added effect of gathering a global community of “like minded” individuals to any one particular theme or issue. Never before have so many been so connected and now armed with the social proof that their opinions are not alone, are willing to stand up for their causes with almost a reverent determination. Yes, if the internet hasn’t killed the news yet, it’s certainly beating the crap out of it and putting it on life support. Which brings us to the next reason:
Social Media, Smart phones, and the ability to Comment. Chances are anything and everything which happens in your community or state for that matter, you’ll know about it instantly through social media. If it happens, someone will most likely be there to record it as it unfolds with their latest and greatest smart phone..( And I might add; record it in the highest HD broadcast quality—a mini news studio right in the palm of your hand.) With a click, it can be uploaded to a social media site like YouTube or Facebook for the whole world to see. A bonus effect of this, has been the commenting systems. By commenting, not only are we able to see or read the news, but now we’re able to become a part of the discussion. In my opinion, this is why Trump’s Republican nomination over professional politicians was so successful. (Same with Bernie on the other side) Despite the main stream media’s best efforts to dismiss their candidacies, the American people are standing firm behind their decisions to support them now knowing that others feel the same way as they do. In other words, the media has lost their ability to sway or influence people’s opinions like it had been so successful in doing with Ross Perot during the ’92 Presidential race or to a lesser extent with Ron Paul’s two Presidential runs. If that’s the case, then I’m sorry but the news is dead.
Success of Fake News Shows. Comedians like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and to give a long overdue props to Saturday Night Live for being the first to satire the news through skits like Weekend Update, have shown us in their own hilarious ways the hypocrisy of what’s being covered in the nightly news. These were the first to exposed the fact that Fox News was not “Fair and Balanced” as their motto suggested, but leaned all stories toward the right in order to pander to a more conservative audience. (Likewise, showed CNN tended to lean toward the left and pandered to a more liberal audience.) The best of these “fake” news shows was the incredibly smart and talented Jon Stewart, who hosted the Daily Show for 16 years. At the shows height, more Americans polled they favored getting their news from a “fake” news show like The Daily Show over a “real” news outlet. Giving us for the first time real statistical data on how the main stream media was losing it’s grip on the American public.
On Demand Shows and Movies. Another hidden nail in the coffin of the nightly news lies in the latest craze and growing popularity of On Demand TV. With subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, and others, you can now watch just about any show or movie you wish at any time. Thus, turning on the TV and watching the evening news or whatever other program happens to be on, has far less appeal than being able to watch whatever show you wish on demand. With all this competition, who would ever want to watch the depressing evening news about the latest shooting or tragedy. Life’s too short!
Better Education. Nationally, 90% of the American population now has a high school diploma. (34 % with a college degree) With these rising education levels, the general public is no longer as gullible as perhaps it had once been and is no longer fooled by the Media’s bias. Americans are now thinking with their own minds and becoming less and less dependent on partisanship thinking towards any one side of an idea or an issue. Also, and this is a big one, the internet has conditioned us not to believe what we see or read. Yahoo news posts are mostly borderline tabloid in nature. One need only to click on their latest “shocking” post, to see that it leads straight to some pop up ad instead of a real story. The public has become so bombarded with these “click here” news stories only to be directed elsewhere, or worse land your computer with a virus, they’ve grown leery of anything too shocking or too good to be true. In other words, Americans have learned not to believe what they are being told instead relying on their own judgments—That’s more bad news for the…uh…news.
The Death of TV. Let’s face it, the television we grew up with is on life support and within the next decade after 2020 will probably become extinct all together as we knew and loved it through the 20th century. What will replace it should be a Smart TV/Computer/ Internet hybrid. All shows will become on demand and whatever you wish to watch will be shown with a click. Cable and Satellite must re-invent themselves in order to compete in this changing world. Smart TV’s have already shown us a glimpse of what is to come. The death of live TV broadcasts due to the onslaught of thousands of internet pod casts or blogs on demand, seems highly likely. Yes, I must confess watching the Hodge Twins report their latest viewer email topic on Youtube is much more entertaining to me than watching Fox news, NBC, CBS, CNN or any others; especially when all they keep telling us is that the world is doomed and they are yet again outraged by something, like which bathroom a trans gender will use. I’m sorry but the news is dead…just think when was the last time you sat through all of it without looking down at your smart phone to see what was really happening in your area on Facebook?
Watch Jon Stewart expose Fox News Yet again.
