All Day News - Have You Heard?

I'm having lunch with an old friend recently. The question of what time do you go to sleep at night came up. My friend says he goes to sleep after the news. I say to myself I hope he means the 11:00 News not the 6:00 report. I've heard many people over the years give the same response. The news usually reports things that are bad. Why does it seem to be so important to hear something bad just before you go to sleep?

I ask myself what is the news? I Googled the question.  Here is Google's definition.”The news is information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by means of newspapers, websites, radio, television and other forms of media.” Basically new information of any kind. 

In the age we are living in, a person would probably never go to sleep if he was waiting for the news to end. The news is now coming at us 7 days a week. 24 hours a day. I can receive the news on my television, radio, iphone, computer, Apple watch and more. I can watch and listen to liberal or conservative commentators or someone in the middle anytime of day or night. They never seem to run out of the news. 

Who decides what is news? People who are “editors” usually decide what is news and where it belongs - is it a headline or should the story be on the back page or somewhere in the middle. 

It is hard to escape the news. I can be watching a sporting event on television and news headlines keep streaming across the bottom of the screen. Sometimes I feel like yelling out, did I ask for this bad piece of news while I'm trying to enjoy a very important sporting event? Some news programs are now showing the news of a competing news broadcast so you can compare who is better or more annoying I guess. 

News is a very competitive business. Ratings are very important! Good ratings turn into more revenue. More Revenue translates into greater profits. Management and stockholders like to see revenue and profits grow. When those things happen the stock goes up. People make money. This makes everyone happy.

The public is the consumer of news. The news consumer should understand that those delivering the news in one form or another have more than one agenda. The consumer should evaluate the information they are receiving and why they are receiving it and from who. 

Caveat Emptor is Latin. It means “Let the buyer beware.”  The buyer alone is responsible for assessing the quality of a purchase before buying. In the world we are living in, it is extremely important that the consumer of news (the buyer) carefully assess the quality of the news being purchased and consumed.