I’m sorry. I’m just a bit old fashioned and think the media in general -- and newspapers, in particular -- should do a better job of providing us with world news.In general, television news has become increasingly glitzier and full of fluff – but that’s nothing new. Radio news, except from public radio, is on the endangered species list. And newspapers have shriveled news content perceivably, particularly world news.
Most of us now acknowledge that we live in a global economy – but you’d never know it reading the front page of the Rapid City Journal.
Never mind that tens of thousands of people were killed by a cyclone in Myanmar this past week. In the minds-eye of the Journal, that story wasn’t worth putting on the front page. Instead, we found stories about:
· Hillary Clinton speaking at a Sioux Falls airport hangar
· A non-fatal vehicle accident in north Rapid City
· Students making pancakes for Teacher Appreciation Week
· Retailers baiting shoppers with rebate specials
· A tourism consultant focusing on “locals” for a city makeover
· An enticement for the Journal’s newest feature – “Page Too”
The front page of the Journal did an excellent job covering the blizzard that wreaked havoc on much of western South Dakota, and other important stories with decidedly “local” angles. But if Christ were to make a second coming, it would be relegated below the fold on page 7.
After considerable public outcry, Journal editors appear to have eliminated the routine front-page placement of area sporting activities and relocated it to the front-page of the sports section. Good move.
Now if they’d only acknowledge that world events deserve a shot at front-page coverage.
The subtle relegation of important world news to the back of the paper is like being shoved to the back of the bus. If it’s out-of-sight, it soon becomes out-of-mind. And a whole new generation of young Americans will continue to know the floor plans of most U.S. Wal-Marts, but won’t have a clue about what’s going on in the rest of the world.
In the past, we’ve justifiably been able to blame television for much of the dumbing down of America. Newspapers – at least the Rapid City Journal – seem to be a witting co-conspirator.
