This weeks lessons were focussed on the news as well as outlets of the news. As we are all aware, there are many different “news” stations that you can throw on each day to gather some intelligence of what may be going on around you that day. It is always great to have options but that might not be the case when those options have agendas. This idea brings us back to a past topic of agenda setting. Each news outlet will broadcast what they want you to see and think. In the two screenings of the Newsroom that we observed this week the ACN team was able to show us how ratings and some other factors can be the dictators of the news as opposed to just broadcasting ACTUAL news.

From what was shown in those two episodes, people should take a deeper look at the news that they watch and ask themselves if they are being giving all the information / all the truth. Our current president was one person who went ahead and called out the news outlets claiming “FAKE NEWS” which is important that we do. We must check the credibility of sources to be a properly informed people. The great importance of this dates wayyyyy back. If the people are not properly informed than they will be unable to make informed decisions when it comes to government, safety, health and basically everything else.

Part of this is the reason I have the lack of news following habit that I do (aka none). I know it is not optimal for myself and others in the same boat as me to not follow any news, but personally I hate when people ramble at me about things that do not effect me or those around me. For example I don’t need to know all the gossip on what the celebrities are up too, but I would like to know about all the civil wars that are going on around the world or when there going to be decision made that will change the future. WE WANT PERTINENT REAL NEWS!!!

The television series the Newsroom did a good thing in coming out to try combatting fake news. This show focuses on how they are trying to break away from the way everyone is reporting news and go back to the way news used to be reported. Back when people were able to put trust in their anchormen and the anchormen had nothing to prove so they were able to just tell what was needed to be reported on. It is too bad that today we have to fact check everything that we are told in order to gain one piece of truth. BRING BACK REAL NEWS PLEASE!!!!!

-SHANE WEBER