Impact of the News
Next on the evening news! Of the 126,000 guns in this city, 125,999 were not fired. In spite of the large number of people in the city, there have been no muggings or rapings reported. And lastly of the thousands of cars driving past other cars, none of the made contact. This might not exactly be what you hear when you tune into the news on a typical day. However, you might hear something similar to this “Next on the evening news: Seven killed in head-on collision, a local man is found shot to death in his car, U.S. Troops raid homes of Saddam loyalists, and an armed man commits a mass murder/suicide in an elementary school! And next we'll be reporting live from the scene of a three car pile up on I-25. Stay tuned.”
Congress should make no laws abridging freedom of speech or of the press. These eternal words written by our forefathers in the United States Constitution have been a solid base for journalism and a channel for controversy through the last two centuries. As Americans, we are presented with many freedoms, many that our fellow humans across the world have been denied. Freedoms such as the right to be informed. However with this freedom also comes the responsibility to make wise decisions. Unfortunately, the Constitution provides no in depth explanation for those who can’t understand this concept. Television news seems compelled to "inform" its viewers of all of the latest crimes, tragedies, and disasters, as though these are the only stories worth presenting. But is this really news, and is it a responsible thing for the networks to be doing, or is it a blatant abuse of power? But when in turn did our thirst for knowledge become rather a thirst for violence? In order for news to sell, news producers need the best stories, and often times the story that they consider to be the best stories are translated as the bloodiest, goriest, and most tragic stories that can be found. A 1993 study conducted by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press
Congress should make no laws abridging freedom of speech or of the press. These eternal words written by our forefathers in the United States Constitution have been a solid base for journalism and a channel for controversy through the last two centuries. As Americans, we are presented with many freedoms, many that our fellow humans across the world have been denied. Freedoms such as the right to be informed. However with this freedom also comes the responsibility to make wise decisions. Unfortunately, the Constitution provides no in depth explanation for those who can’t understand this concept. Television news seems compelled to "inform" its viewers of all of the latest crimes, tragedies, and disasters, as though these are the only stories worth presenting. But is this really news, and is it a responsible thing for the networks to be doing, or is it a blatant abuse of power? But when in turn did our thirst for knowledge become rather a thirst for violence? In order for news to sell, news producers need the best stories, and often times the story that they consider to be the best stories are translated as the bloodiest, goriest, and most tragic stories that can be found. A 1993 study conducted by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press