BLOG: the (actual) news

[Amanda Palmer]

new blog
the (actual) news
read it at amandapalmer.net (or here on myspace)

[Miss Rosie Cotton]

i posted this to your twitter, but i will say it here too...

"@amandapalmer no i don't follow news but am always vaguely aware of it. we are constantly bombarded with info & sometimes it hurts too much."

You can't really escape the news, even if you wanted to. is there a difference between reading it in a paper/watching it on tv & seeing stories online? (i guess it gets more altered/filtered the more it gets passed through different mediums and people...)
x

[Jo Just Go Nameless]

This blog actually inspired me to think about this for a long time.

Personally, I probably am not exposed to as much news as I should be. For a long long time I would watch the ten oclock news show with my dad any night I was home and then the local news that followed as I felt like I should know what was going on. I watch it now a lot less, maybe once or twice a week and even then I would tend to skip over to something else if the report was on something I thought irrelevant eg the fact that Katie Price left 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' (yes that shit was ACTUALLY on national news).

I do however read or watch some form of local news every day. I don't know why I choose to this and not watch the national news or the world news. I like to know what's going on with the shitty politics of my country. I want to know if people are getting beaten up and hospitalized for being gay, or of colour, or of a certain religion in MY country as opposed to what's going on in the rest of the world because I don't know, I figure we have a better chance of sorting that stuff out and not so much the big events around the rest of the world. That is hideously closeminded and ignorant I know, but I tend to think of whats going on closeby first.

I do get pangs of conscience all too often though. It annoyed me that the last time my family actually watched any news channels for a long period of time was when Michael Jackson died, and when that boyband guy Stephen Gately died and then it was more out of nosiness than concern. I get sad when I think how many people die around the world, or how many bad things happen and noone knows, it's not broadcast but how someone, somewhere is grieving, or suffering and our news channels are bombarded with rubbish about the latest celeb breakups. I think I could do with watching the news a bit more. But it makes me sad. It depresses me so much that I just avoid it, even though that is not the way to go.  this blog has really made me think though. I'm interesting in reading everyone else's responses.

[Paul Jon]

I listen to the news on the radio at lunchtime and then watch the evening news on TV as a rule. I also listen to current affairs panels like Any Questions and watch news-based satire like Have I Got News for You. I think it's just a result of growing up in quite a strongly political household. I'm growing weary of what Adam Curtis called "Oh Dear" news on Charlie Brooker's Newswipe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU4AZdxwzrM, the decline of local TV journalism into reading out press releases and, of course, I can't tell you anything about Hollywood celebrities or pop stardom, because apart from the Dresden Dolls I only listen to bands you've never heard of.

[Hayley Fiasco!]

it has occurred to me that I pay attention to the news without even being aware of it (as it's not the first thing that comes to mind when I think, "how do I find out about news?" since it's not active newseeking).

I follow CNN Breaking News on Twitter and receiving email updates from the New York Times breaking news.

I read the newspaper daily but didn't while I attended college (unless I was home on break or had to subscribe to the NY Times for class) but I did read the university's student run newspapers and publications - which featured mostly news about campus and the surrounding area - the main campus paper subscribed to AP so there was usually a page or two with national news. This I think supports your ideas about Villages... and university life is very much so like that.

Social media, Facebook and Twitter especially are EXCELLENT tools for the "important news will find me" philosophy, and it works.

My father listens to AM talk radio news (1010 WINS for those of you in NY) whenever he's in the kitchen. Since I usually read the newspaper while I eat lunch or dinner, I also read the newspaper at the dinner table WHILE the talk radio news is going on. Every day.

How's THAT for being surrounded by what's happening?

[stallionbreaker]

I get my news by proxy.

I used to read the NY Times when my then-girlfriend had a subscription, but mostly the arts or special sections (science, dining, etc). Sometimes she'd have NPR on in the car when I was riding with her. Now I mostly read over people's shoulders on the subway, which tends to be local to the NYC area (and a lot of what's in the commuter papers isn't actual news, but stuff like what-you-need-to-buy-now or which celebrity hit another celebrity). Other than that, I follow links that my more news-following friends post on facebook or twitter or wherever we are online.

I don't feel guilty. There is no "should".

[Rob]

I watch my local news every morning and occasionally at night.

I scan the headlines of a local newspaper a couple of times a week.

I listen to POTUS radio on Sirius radio for at least couple hours a day.  Pete Dominic seems pretty level headed even when I disagree with him, which surprisingly is not as often as one might think.  There is a little Mike Church mixed in there as well.  He appears on Patriot Radio, because we all Know that only conservatives are patriotic.

I believe it is our duty to be informed about the world around us in general, and regionaly/localy more specificly. 

I don't feel that we need to know how many people are dying here or there unless it is part of a bigger picture.  It is sad to me how certain missing persons or tragic deaths are deamed more newsworthy than others depending upon the victim.

I believe it is our duty to know how a bill becomes a law, and how our government operates.  I am appauled by how ignorant so many Americans (especially at the voting booth) are about what exactly is going on.  If you don't know how your decision will effect the  country/state/city, do us all a favor and stay home.  The things I here coming out of the people leaving the polling place are scary at times.

The important news must be searched for.  By the time it is in the mainstream-facebook-twitter feed, it is often too late.

 

[Musings]

It's interesting, I'm taking a journalism class right now and am assigned to read major news outlets as well as something like Slate everyday -- I don't, but I always checked out NYT.com & boston.com & BBC.com pretty frequently.

My news knowledge, when I'm not taking a class, however, is pretty specific and often I first get it through some organization other than news, first-- if there is some big happening in brain science, or memory, I'll hear about it from someone in my lab; I have a lot of friends who are active in local politics and elections; when the war was happening in Sri Lanka, I was checking Sri Lankan news as well as BBC frequently; I get human rights news emails from Amnesty International; I get news about gay rights from JointheImpact & HRC emails and tweets; healthcare reform from a great group called Young Invincibles.  I wish I was more informed about the economy, and the war in Afghanistan, and world news in general, but I do try to keep track of the things most important to me.

The thing about news today is that it is designed as much to sensationalize and sell as it is to educate, which is why we're on the home page of NYT today a link about Tiger Wood's personal life, which I could give a fuck about.  That's why we also get stories of murders all the time, sometimes balanced by cute feel good stories about, I don't know, someone saving puppies. 

Ironically, issues of policy, especially on the local (town/state) level, are probably most important in affecting the average person's life, but may be what they know the least on.

[Hayley Fiasco!]

Ironically, issues of policy, especially on the local (town/state) level, are probably most important in affecting the average person's life, but may be what they know the least on.

Don't get me started on a political science-y rant about this very thing...


...actually, DO, but get me very drunk first

[indeciSEAN]

I follow CNN Breaking News on Twitter and receiving email updates from the New York Times breaking news.

I had to unfollow CNN after it became abundantly clear they lost their relevance and ability to "break" anything when they turned to Twitter as a means to get things to report on...their sources are ridiculousness at best, and http://twitter.com/BreakingNEWs is not only quicker but 99.9% seems to be more accurate

Edit: HA! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8389436.stm BN was being run by a friggin' KID and he was better at it than CNN. Wow.

[Hayley Fiasco!]

I follow CNN Breaking News on Twitter and receiving email updates from the New York Times breaking news.

I had to unfollow CNN after it became abundantly clear they lost their relevance and ability to "break" anything when they turned to Twitter as a means to get things to report on...their sources are ridiculousness at best, and http://twitter.com/BreakingNEWs is not only quicker but 99.9% seems to be more accurate

Edit: HA! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8389436.stm BN was being run by a friggin' KID and he was better at it than CNN. Wow.

It's true, CNN's twitter sucks.... they don't update THAT often, and I like that.

There was something over the summer that they reported on as breaking news that really was ridiculous but it slips my mind now as to what it was... they did however, contradict themselves in their early reporting of Michael Jackson's death. They reported him in a coma, and insisted that he was still alive and not dead but used past tense in their description of him as if he was dead. Of course, we know how that unfolded, but still, bad editing.

[CeeGBee]

Hmmm....  I get the news between programs on NPR, and the NYTimes headlines
email each morning, and I read The Economist (after stopping for several years
because I can't afford it. IMHO, if I could only get one 'hard' news source, that
would probably be it.)


Ironically, I can tell you about all manner of historical stuff, but two areas
that interest me somewhat, yet about which I know very little (relatively)
are the American Revolution and German unification...  Go figure.

[Morpheus Laughing]

There was a time when I’d watch the news, then follow it up and go into the history of the situations. Sometimes I still do that, but mostly I have to be selective and settle for superficiality. I realised that I can’t retain much of the information I take in and that possessing all these social facts is just incredibly bleak. The more I saw how things fitted together, the more everything looked like a massive tug of war, with momentary excitement over small gains and recurring despair as the ground was lost.

But enough of that. Currently I absorb the news passively on the internet and occasionally by watching televised news and debates. I don’t read newspapers but might view a newspaper online. If something is contentious and seems especially important I go digging on the internet. Typically, journalism/news is only any good as a portal to information; Science/political-history is nearly always misrepresented to some extent in most news sources. Where possible, I look for specialist commentary and try and check out the commentator’s credentials.   

Aside from that, about once or twice a week I will invariably end up discussing some kind of news with friends. There is quite a broad base of knowledge amongst them so trash news is easily weeded out (until they get drunk).

[colordeaf]

I am in a watered-down civics class. Every time we meet up, we watch CNN student news. It encapsulates current events better than the regular CNN news, eh. Since I visit the Yahoo front page often I do get many of the current events, even if all the articles are from Associated Press. I prefer reading science news, which has a better positive/negative content ratio and has more significant information that which celebrity died.

[virtual~mary]

holy fucking hannah, where do i begin?

i don't watch televised "news." there's too much that's irrelvent, over-simplified and just plain sensationalized. what i actually want to know and identifying areas where i can have an impact locally and nationally definitely require more pro-activity, energy and time. i think it pays to be discriminating in my news sources. like rob, i feel it's my duty to know what's going on in the world around me. i also happen to know that what happens miles from my doorstep affects me in ways i would not understand if i didn't go searching. i want credible information about what gives rise to the inequities we experience and see around us and our struggle to understand and change them, as well as the ground-breaking and innovative in the arts world.

i read most of my news (national and local) online these days from various sources. my most regular "mainstream" stops include the nytimes, washington post, guardian, bbc news, aljazeera.net, politico.com, huffpo, and my local rags. believe me, i have to filter out the crap from the "respected sources" too. i get alot of issues and arts related developments e-mailed to me, as musings mentioned, from groups i belong to. there's also some great blogs and community sites i check in with regularly.

politically speaking, working for legal aid to support myself as an artist has enabled me to advance my knowledge of law and government and the impact of public policy in ways that continue to shape my view of how information and propaganda are communicated and disseminated.

for info on how a bill becomes a law check out the library of congress/thomas site http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html

start slowly and build (just like with everything). yes we are over-saturated and that can make us feel like just hiding out (and from time-to-time it's healthy to). you will gradually develop your own news "noise filter" and pass by the crap on your way to more thoughtful news, as well as critical thinking skills specially developed for this area.