As IF Times

link Newspaper bane: Nobody reads the stories.

One of the great consequences of the trend towards packaging news and entertainment into bite sized pieces for the modern A.D.D. culture is that much of the depth of information is lost.  Ironically, at a time in history when there has never been as much information, news and entertainment so readily available to so many, people are as uninformed as ever about events that affect their lives.

In the news business, this can arguably be traced back to the appearance of USA Today, a publication that was novel when it first appeared in the early ’80’s.  In many ways, this paper set the trend for the format of how news was to be presented as we see it today.  Up until its appearance, most newspapers were uniformly drab in appearance and pedestrian in their reportage.  When USA Today showed up, there was color on the pages, there were quick headlines supported by only short write-ups.  The paper was made for the hurried commuter interested only in scanning the headlines of news, sports and entertainment on a given workday.

Then the 24 hour news channels started up, the pioneer of which was CNN. All of a sudden, it was essential to fill the airwaves with ‘news’, but in short headline style delivery.  With the advent of the internet, Google, Yahoo and Bing News supplanted cable stations and newspapers as being primary sources of information.  It’s important to note the distinction between the modern news sources and the older newspapers.  Google, Bing and Yahoo are only aggregators of news, they actually don’t create it.   Their role is to cast as wide a net as possible to capture the most eyeballs to their sites.  While this may seem  democratic and in the spirit of free markets, in reality, the editors of those sites wield powerful control over the content which is presented on their sites thereby influencing public opinion as newspapers did in past generations.  The difference is that there are no editorial columns on the sites of the news aggregators; the influence is through the selection of stories that get to be featured prominently in their links.

For example, the influence of Justin Bieber in our culture (outside of the pimply set ) is wildly exaggerated by virtue of regular breathless stories of his exploits on any given day.  Same with Lindsay Lohan, P. Diddy, or any of the Kardashians.  We are bombarded by the inane and insane outbursts by such as Al Sharpton and Al Gore who are given platforms well beyond what they could muster if not aided by a willing media.  I suspect that most people never even bother to read the underlying stories, since the content is pretty much expected given the personalities involved.  Why bother to read the body of the story, since we know a story involving Sharpton involves imagined racism and a story involving Gore involves imagined warming.

The real sea change however is the art of headline writing.  To catch peoples’ attentions, dramatic headlines are the hook by which readers are drawn in.  In fact, headline writing continues as a skill in itself and if done correctly, obviates the need to read an entire story.  I recall years ago when Nikita Kruschev passed away; the headline was: “Top Red Dead”.  Today, we have reportage of Anthony Wiener’s brazen campaign for mayor in New York City offering headlines such as “Weiner support getting soft” or “Weiner support shrinking” and his response which states, “Wiener sticking it out”.   The President even waded into the situation by chastising Wiener.  So of course, the headline is “Obama beats Wiener”.

Perhaps no one today is as adept at the “story in a headline” technique as Matt Drudge in his eponymous  Drudge Report.  From nowhere 10 years ago to inarguably the most powerful media figure today (next to Roger Ailes ) his news site brings the top stories of the day concisely and bluntly.  As an example, the top headlines in today’s Drudge lists the following:

Charges laid over Benghazi US consulate attack | The Australian.

While this may be newsworthy to some, I’d have doubts that this revelation is causing the accused killers to lose any sleep over in Libya.  Considering how the path of justice works of late with regard to terrorists, the presumed perp, Ahmed Kattalah will be arrested by September…of 2017.

After all, the guy who was originally fingered for setting off the attack, er spontaneous riot in response to a you tube film, Nakoula Nakoula, is still in prison even though it’s pretty obvious by now that he was about as responsible for the attack as he was for global warming.  Even if they find the supposed perp Kattalah, the process of law will be another comical saga.

Witness the present trial of Fort Hood killer Nidal Hassan.  Few can believe that this event happened almost 4 years ago. As the process of law winds its way like a lineup for the roller coaster at a Six Flags amusement park, he is finally getting his day in court.  Only now, he’s throwing a curve ball into the proceedings.  He unequivocally admits, “yes I did it”.  Hmm, now what.  They will probably begin probes of his mental state, checks on his childhood and testimonials from his pals and of course calls for leniency.

Meanwhile, imagine when or if they ever get their hands on Kattalah, the supposed Benghazi mastermind.  His  defence will be easy.  It will be, ‘wasn’t me’.  When that happens, it will be his word against his accusers.  Good luck trying to find someone to corroborate his involvement.  His buddies will claim they were bombing other places at the time and will have video to prove it.

At the very least, even if they catch Kattalah, his life will likely improve greatly from the experience. After years of living in houses with dirt floors, wearing the same smelly clothes in the oppressive heat of the desert, conversing at close quarters with buddies who’ve never visited a dentist, he’d be lucky to get the relative luxury of an American prison.  There he gets fresh clothes, decent food and maybe toilet paper.  By the time he gets his justice, he’ll have lived maybe 10 years longer and in relative comfort compared to his buddies who stayed in the suicide bombing business.  Heck, he may as well give himself up now!