North East West South - N.E.W.S.

Steve wrote a post today about his aversion to media and news in general. While I am a news junkie I can sympathize, as my main man said "All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume." However I feel it is my duty as a citizen and a political operative to be as informed as possible about the events that take place in the world and in my own country. While the news is undoubtedly filtered and distorted through the lens of commerce a discerning viewer can pick 'the gnat shit from the pepper' to use a rather strange expression I heard somewhere.

Most News is total bullshit, it consists of celebrity gossip, sports clips, the latest political spin and the tragedy de jour. Much of what is shown on TV screens every night is ugly, it is violent and it is sad. Well guess what? This world is filled with ugliness, violence and sadness beyond reckoning, ignoring it doesn't make it any better. I guess the question is, how does my knowing about the state of the world make it any better?

This is a more difficult question. Steve stated that there are things on TV that he doesn't want his kids to see, I agree. Nothing is accomplished by burdening children with the weight of the world's problems, nothing except crushing their innocence and planting the seeds of apathy. The horror of the world's tragedies does not have to be the topic for every conversation around the dinner table, but a basic awareness of world events and their context in history is crucial if we are to avoid mistakes of the past.