Why Can’t the U.S. Do News?

In the United States, the mainstream media is bad. It’s bad not because of the talking heads that give us one side of every issue (though that’s part of it), but because they’ve stopped reporting on events that matter– real news. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agrees. While speaking in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee two weeks ago, Clinton praised Al Jazeera for delivering “real news,” while condemning U.S. media outlets for being “not particularly informative.” She’s right.

Between Charlie Sheen’s tweets, Lindsey Lohan’s arrests and last nights results from “Dancing With the Stars,” there’s just not any time to report on, say, the ongoing genocide in the Congo, and why our cell phones are partly to blame.

I was in awe of the protests in Egypt. They were organic, they were emphatic, and they won. Where did I go to hear the latest updates on Egypt? Al Jazeera. I didn’t need CNN, I didn’t need MSNBC, and I certainly didn’t need FOX.

Opinion is fine, but first I want the facts. I want to know what’s happening on the ground, now. Al Jazeera, and many other foreign news agencies, provides basic, relevant coverage; many American channels do not. Instead, as Clinton pointed out, most mainstream U.S. news outlets miss the point; they’ve become the pop music of news, reporting on what might be most fun to listen to — Charlie Sheen’s rantings — but not necessarily what’s most globally significant.

CNN, FOX and MSNBC love to give us their opinion on everything, but how can we construct our own informed opinions and reactions without the information first?

FOX news ratings are soaring. MSNBC and CNN are right behind. Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and TMZ do pretty well too. Americans like this stuff– it sells. But we’ve been trained to like tweets, arrests and on-the-surface reporting; this is what has been marketed to us for the past decade, and if there’s one thing the mainstream is good at, it’s marketing. Things are looking up, though. Al Jazeera dominated Egypt coverage online and there is great independent coverage from sites like The Real News. If the mainstream doesn’t shape up, they will be replaced.

The Internet has certainly given us more editorial freedom; variety is the Internet’s true gem. It allows us to collect information, rather than just receive it. We’ve touched on this a little in our Internet issue earlier this semester. So search around a bit. Be critical of everything, especially online. Scour. And please, turn off your TV.

(Photo by Youth Radio under a Creative Commons license)