I don’t really watch the news much these days. This is because I find it hard to sit down and watch the news, because to me, they just say the same thing over and over again. It’s usually the same thing happening in different states. Or for international news channels, the same thing is happening in different countries of the world.
When I do sit down to watch the news, I watch only business or financial news, because that is always different for me. They have updates that are actually good and will actually help me out. Any other form of news is just depressing and sad, and I’m not in the market for any of that.
But then, does this mean I don’t watch the news at all? Well, while I don’t watch it, I do read it. I follow a number of reputable news channels online. They’re on Facebook, YouTube, and even X. Newspapers always release their headlines every morning, and for me, a simple scroll will tell me the major headlines about things happening in the country. If any of them catches my attention, a simple browsing will fix it at once.
And then, for news channels, they also release headlines and short clips on their social media handles. They upload their daily news on YouTube and even stream live 247. So, I can basically follow up on the go. However, with Facebook, it’s easier to just watch their clips and read their write-ups; that way, I know more about what’s going on in the world than I would have learned while sitting in front of the TV for an hour.
But then, I’ve found out that these days, many of these news outlets and blogs are not so much interested in telling the news as they are in farming engagements. Sometimes, news channels will simply upload a controversial video without any caption. There’ll be no idea what the video is about or where the events of the video took place, prompting viewers to go to the comments to ask questions, which usually go unanswered.
And not even just that, they’ve found ways of using deception to push their stories. They don’t mind pitting tribes or religious communities against each other in their bid to drive up more engagement. Because even the simple act of you commenting your disapproval will still count as an engagement on their end, and it’s just sad. Because it shows that they’re more concerned with views than they are with actually telling the story.
Imagine coming online and seeing a video of a massive and violent shootout. However, they didn’t say where the shootout happened, they didn’t mention the suspected culprits, or give any details on when it happened. Just like that! And when viewers ask in the comments, they simply say and do nothing. That’s sick. But then, it’s for those of us who prefer to get our news online rather than the traditional way.
So, what do we do? The thing is, nothing is hidden on the internet. I know that everything eventually goes around. While they may be doing what they do to farm engagements, I also have my ways of getting the real news. There are notable accounts scattered across all social media to dispense news almost in real time. And if it’s something viral, a quick trip to Twitter will tell me everything I need to know about it.
It's like two-factor authentication; I follow traditional news channels because they tell me what the government told them to say, and I follow independent and personal accounts because they say it as it is. It might not always be true, but when hundreds of people are saying the same thing, there will always be a reason to step back and scrutinize.
I guess this is the level our news industry has sunk to. It’s just sad.
