After graduation, I had a lot of free time. During the summer months I started watching various evening news programs. Lately, because of the upcoming presidential election, the tone of network news has changed. Instead of focusing on any kind of real issues, the NBC Nightly News, for example, has turned its attention to the “race for the Whitehouse.” A little more than 60% of the program I just watched was ‘horse race’ style political journalism. I feel like I’ve tuned into ESPN! I realize that we talked about this issue a lot in various broadcast classes, but I don’t think we ever touched on how to change it. Who could I talk to? Who could I send letters to? How do I change this?
NPR is the only news outlet doing a decent job. Though they still do a lot of “sport style” coverage during the day, I’ve heard comparisons of candidates on issues and voting records on NPR’s late afternoon and evening programs.
I am just so frustrated and angry that “sports news” is taking center stage. American’s believe they’re staying informed in politics, but we really know nothing of candidates political values or voting records. This is a potential path to propaganda and imperialism, what can we do?