Too Much Information and Still Not Getting the Whole Story

Why do we watch so much TV? And why do we consume the internet or sit on the front porch to watch traffic?

Because we want to know what’s going on, what’s new and who’s doing what. We want to know how we’re supposed to dress, what to say, how to behave. We also do it to learn what we shouldn’t wear, when to keep our mouths shut and when to smile even if we don’t want to.

We are driven to be nosy. We’re curious about lots of things, especially each other. Sure, there are people who live as hermits. But most of us feel a need to at least try to pay attention to what is going on. We don’t want to miss out.

We call, text and email each other. I use each of them for specific situations. I’ll call if I need to communicate now. I’ll text if my message is short or I don’t need an immediate answer. I’ll email when I expect a more detailed reply using whole words instead of cryptic abbreviations or acronyms. This isn’t the way it always works but it is quicker than physical mail which I only use to send greeting cards, Christmas cards and Menards rebate claims. Our bills are automatically paid online now.

Think what it must have been like long ago when many early pioneers lived alone trying to eke out a living. What did they do for social interaction? Did they read? For many, the only book in the house was the Bible, which they may not have even been able to read. It would be far worse if you could read but had no books.

Breaking News

Today it’s the opposite. We have too many convenient sources of information. It’s easy and convenient from a safe distance to see what the rest of the world is doing just by turning on the TV and surfing online. But TV does not go into detail and online sources are often very scattered. Everything is “Breaking News.” At least that’s better than “Trending News.”

TV presents short news reports so they can sneak in a lot of ads. It seems that most of the national news is bad or somehow negative with the last few minutes of the show covering a happy topic. We get addicted to bad news. Focusing on bad news on a smartphone is referred to as “doom-scrolling.”

Remember the 1982 song about the evening news called Dirty Laundry by Don Henley?

“I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something – something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Kick ’em when they’re up
Kick ’em when they’re down”

To me, the one glaring omission in all of this is the local newspaper. Consider the recent announcement of ten small-town Minnesota newspapers that collectively closed. To be sure, small-town papers still exist. This paper is proof of that. But they aren’t daily anymore, and in-depth current local news is shockingly disappearing everywhere. You will miss some funerals if you rely solely on the paper. What’s going on locally behind the scenes that we should all know more about?

I don’t blame the newspapers. They need the advertisers they lost to the internet so they can hire more staff to do in-depth reporting. So, they focus on what sells, the local news that you and your neighbors can’t easily get anywhere else. Things like sports, events, showcasing businesses, the law enforcement blotter and some local history. All of it local. Hopefully, these stories (and maybe even this column) will hold the interest of subscribers while the news landscape settles.

The Details, Every Day

But the details of court cases, council and board meetings, and other in-depth reporting on local issues can’t be covered thoroughly in two editions a week. It is noticeably improving but we need more. I’m hoping for the return of the local daily newspaper everywhere, even if it’s all online.

It’s a conundrum. What form of news presentation will be the accepted norm for next generations that have never held a newspaper? If an entire newspaper is posted online, would they read the ads that come as inserts in a printed version of the paper?

Smartphones paired with the internet have changed the way we receive and send information. We’re now expected to know how go online to shop, pay bills, follow events and research things. It’s also the only way to keep current on obituaries.

At least we don’t have to “cat the loop” anymore to find out what’s going on. If you don’t know what that means, ask a Red Wing Boomer.