Being Informed

The evening news on television is something that has been around since the 1950s. It has been most people’s source of information and insight into the many issues occurring around the world. Over the years, however, the content of many of these bulletins has become less informative, especially in regards to poverty, war and economic agreements happening around the world. Programs, such as ‘The Project’ on channel ten and even the regular 6pm news on channel nine are examples where the stories reported do not capture the active events occurring in the world.

It is almost as if the media are trying to ignore those pressing stories, thinking that if they aren’t reported to the public, they aren’t really occurring. Even for the audience, when a certain topic is viewed on television, the first thing we tend to think of is how horrible that certain act or situation is and the next thing we think is “That God it isn’t happening to me”. In some ways, I think, the media try to create a safe ground for its audience but at the same time, I feel it is making us less empathetic to those who are suffering. Everyone knows that there are so many people dying each day but when we hear the figures, at times, they are so large that we are unable to comprehend how many lives were really lost and how many families were destroyed because of the selfishness of one person or one country.

These days, there are so many mediums where information can be shared, that many people do not even wait for the evening news on television to hear about a certain event. Many people resort to independent sources and because of this, television companies do feel the competition. Sometimes I feel that the channels are more concerned about getting the most viewers and having the juiciest topics to talk about, rather than actually informing the public of the events occurring in the world. The amount of advertising that appears for those certain bulletins is concerning because most of the time, they do not report on anything worth learning from. As everyone knows, recently, the Royal couple was visiting Australia and every moment of their trip was broadcasted for the world to see. In my opinion, topics such as the political unrest in Syria and Ukraine as well as the trade agreement between the US and China should have been given priority.

I seem to be sounding harsh towards the media but this isn’t my intention. I just believe that as nation, we should be more aware of the bigger things in life, especially since most of us tend to take things for granted. A reminder to myself, before anyone else.

- Areeka