Most of us get our news, local or otherwise, from mainstream media– newspapers, television, radio– though increasingly online.
News, by definition, should be a reflection of what is happening around us, including noteworthy information about events where most of us are not privileged to the details.
The number of pharmaceutical commercials on the evening national news should tell us something about those who watch the news. So should the amount of time local news devotes to covering local and state government.
Most of us don’t have much to do with either, yet both provide mainstream news sources with plenty of newsworthy fodder. Except for the ‘newsworthy’ part. Otherwise, it’s mostly fodder.
Most local folks pay their taxes, vote from time to time, visit the department of motor vehicles. Others are touched by government agencies here and there, but it’s not the norm. But government agencies touching people through local news is the norm.
Why? Because they can. Those involved in politics often make more news than laws. Sometimes the news is about laws that didn’t work as well as lawmakers expected, all of which makes yet more news. For their part, mainstream news reporters love covering local government because access is easy. No messy bodies to view. No strangers to talk to. Fewer stories to tell.
60 Minutes has remained an American news staple because it tells a story. Every week, different stories on diverse topics of interest are offered for all the world to see and hear.
If local news is defined as stories of interest, and most local news stories are from local government, then we live very sad and quiet lives of desperation.
Of course, that doesn’t fully explain all the news interest in Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton, or the latest about “Jimeny.”
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