Local news channels throughout our communities provide us with information on domestic and international events every day. We can watch the news on local channels in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings.

Yesterday I was able to catch the full hour of the 10 o’clock news. It started its segment with news about its surrounding community. There have been a recent string of kidnappings in the area and people should be on alert for any possible suspects with the characteristics of being a 5’9” white male who drives a blue sedan. The news then went on to cover events within the surrounding counties. A city thirty miles away has had an increase in shooting murders and the police have been unable to specify any reasons for the increase in crime or catch any possible suspects. Once the surrounding counties were reported on, the news then went on to address the state's news. California has one of the highest rates of identity theft in the nation and thousands of people are being financially destroyed because of lack of security measures taken to prevent the theft. Before the news went on to cover the country, I was already in fear of being kidnapped in my community, shot outside of my community, and worried to death that someone is trying to steal my identity.

Is this really news? All that the news seems to do is create fear in a society while calling it “need to know information.”  A society can function without needing to know about every horrible corner of society. Americans do not need to be warned four times a day about all the kidnappings, shootings, and theft that happens domestically, nationally, and internationally.

The news should help educate society instead of scaring the social order. An example would be to explain the type of statistic the unemployment rate is and how it is calculated. The majority of people do not know that it is a three month lagging statistic and does not take into account those individuals who have actively stopped seeking employment out of frustration or any other deterrent. Yet this statistic is viewed and projected by the news to be a statistic that helps depict the economic state a region or country is in. America has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world but if it reaches 6 percent, the news takes this rate and illustrates it in a matter that leaves viewers in fear of a possible recession.

The news needs to reflect on their current idea of “if it don’t bleed, it don’t lead,” and implement a new source of information that helps decrease the fear in society while providing information that truly can be considered news.  

-