Every Wednesday I have to search the news to try and find current issues that I could write my weekly opinion column about. Within my regular routine, I often visit The News & Observer to find local stories that could affect NC State students. I stumbled upon one of the main stories on the front page which explained that two single North Carolina women, a Meredith college alum and the 2018 Miss North Carolina USA, would appear as contestants on this season of The Bachelor.
As gravely important as it sounds, I couldn’t really see a good column coming from that story. Yet, below the headline in a much smaller thumbnail was a headline about a death penalty case being pursued in Wake County. After regaining my composure from the abrupt whiplash from topic to topic, I was appalled by the fact that this important story was being overlooked by Colton Underwood’s love life.
Herein lies a problem within the media that affects us, even if we do not recognize it. The news presents stories that they feel will get the most reads, though they might not be as pertinent or important. If we just accept the big headlines, whether it be about pop culture drama or reality TV spoilers, then we won’t be aware and cognizant of our world and its effects on us.
Many young adults today gather their news from online websites and social media. Moreover, those that aren’t seeking news (i.e., going online to read the news) are more likely to find it on social media feeds as compared to specific news websites. Finally, a quarter of social media news consumers will click a news link to stories when it appears on their feed.
Now what does young people getting news from social media have to do with The Bachelor? Well, as the statistics point out, many young people are passively clicking on articles that appear on their feed. As a result, we’re letting news happen to us. The only news we’re getting is news that appears before us, so if all we see is Bachelor-related content then all we’ll know is Bachelor-related information.
Students should not be content with letting news stories fall into the palm of our hand, but should actively try to search out news in order to know what’s affecting us in our world today. I realize that actively reading the news, especially in today’s hectic world, can be overwhelming, while Keeping Up with the Kardashians can be a breath of fresh air. However, life is full of heavy information and that doesn’t give you an excuse not to be aware of the world’s political, economic and social climate.
That being said, it isn’t the end of the world to keep up with pop culture through social media (it would be hypocritical of me to condemn doing so), but we need to supplement it with real news that you actively try to read. Students need a news source that supplies them with information about current events that affect the entire nation.
One resource I’ve found helpful is The Daily Skimm, which provides international news daily by email in a digestible format and also includes some pop-culture updates. However, there are a number of similar services, and students should look around to see what services and news sources they find most valuable.
Although there’s no way to change how the media presents news to us, we can change what news we read. By actively searching for real news we become more knowledgeable about the world around us and how headlines in the news affect us personally. So, in between commercial breaks or before the final rose ceremony, try to read some “real” news, too.
