News rant

As most of you are probably aware, I am a huge fan of Charlie Brooker. I find that his writing and shows are amusing, relevant and more often than not to the point.

The reason I bring this up? Well, in one episode of his show Screenwipe, Brooker looks at rolling news channels and the amount of filler stuff they air. Stuff which isn’t actually news but, seeing as they have to show something, it’ll do. He does this by looking at the coverage of the arrest of Kate and Gerry McGann. Here it is:

I was reminded by this when I went for a pint last night and on the TV was footage about balloon boy. I just caught the end of the whole thing when the balloon landed and it was discovered that there was no-one in it. This to me turned the whole thing into a non story. A helium filled balloon was released. Here is another story about a helium filled balloon that was released. And, indeed, another balloon boy.

Yet the coverage continued about this non story. With every little detail and morsel of information treated as if it were a proclamation from God or something. Boy apparently not in balloon. Boy confirmed not in balloon. Boy possibly in attic at parents house. Boy confirmed as being in parents house.

All fine and good. They have to have something that could resemble news
otherwise they wouldn’t be a 24 hour news channel. It would be like a channel calling itself Music Television and featuring very little music. (Whaddaya mean, that does actually exist?)

Except, if you kept an eye on the ticker at the bottom of the screen, there was other news that could be reported on. Actual news not big shiny thing floats around for about 3 hours.

The breaking news at the bottom of the screen? The fact that a Tory MP has decided not to run for re-election after it was discovered that he claimed for just over £100,000 in expenses to be paid to a company he owns.

There you go. That’s news. At best it is a major breach of public trust and at worse is nothing short of fraud. But no, Sky News had to concentrate on the shiny object on the ground, doing nothing, containing no-one.

And it’s this that gets me. There are complaints that people don’t pay attention to the news. That everything has to be dumbed down for the general populace to understand it.

Ever think that things like this may actually be the reason for that? I don’t mind them having to explain things in simple terms, if the story calls for it. But, maybe it’s just me, when I’m watching a channel that’s supposed to be showing news, a channel with the word news IN IT’S NAME, I expect to see, y’know, news stories. The shiny balloon was news when it was thought there was a young boy in it. There wasn’t. It’s not news now. Sorry. If I want to watch entertainment, I’ll watch sky One. Or Channel 4.

If we show people stuff that is actually news, if the time is then taken to explain the bits that are complicated, it won’t be long until there is less stuff that needs explaining. If we are told about the various political parties and what they stand for, more informed choices will be made at the ballot box and people will be less obsessed with what the candidates partners dog walkers chaplin said one time back in nineteen-oatcake.

But, as usual (and in a quite literal sense) last night we were distracted by the shiny, shiny object.

Will

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