Blindspot!
From Issue: 725 [Read full issue]
Desirable News
If we allow ourselves to imagine a different kind of news, there are a number of features that might be desirable from a democratic standpoint:
- Independent issue agendas developed by each news organization would provide a more diverse information environment.
- Offering diverse voices and viewpoints would reduce the gap that ordinary people often feel separates them from the politicians and political insiders who dominate news content.
- More analysis of how politics operates behind the scenes of news events would help people understand how political decisions are reached and how they might become involved.
- More historical context would help establish the origins of problems in the news and limit the ability of politicians to reinvent history to suit their purposes.
- More coverage of citizen political activists would help ordinary people see paths to personal involvement and hear challenging perspectives that might help them evaluate official spin more critically.
- Better use of interactive technologies could link news audiences to each other and to civic organizations to learn more about issues and take effective action.
Compiled From:
"News: The Politics of Illusion" - W. Lance Bennett, pp. 30, 31