You may have heard of 'Food Deserts' -- a problem that plagues many of our inner cities, and many poorer neighborhoods. But if not, here's the wikipedia description of the concept:
Food desert
A food desert is a geographic area where affordable and nutritious food is difficult to obtain, particularly for those without access to an automobile.[1] Food deserts usually exist in rural areas and low-income communities.
The idea that "nutritional quality" is hard to come by -- at a reasonable price -- in many American communities. Our lands of opportunity only go so far -- due to the "impact of
retail flight from the urban core.[9]"
[USDA Defines Food Deserts -- Image Source: americannutritionassociation.org]
Well, I would like to posit a similar phenomena -- that of a 'News Desert' -- a problem that plagues nearly all of America, and especially for those Americans who get their "News Nutrition" primarily from the traditional evening News sources.
The quality of this Nightly News has been on a steady decline, for decades now. For reasons that might be attributed to the "impact of journalistic flight from a once facts-only core." Especially if the analogy of the National News being like a Food Desert, is to hold true.
When I was studying "Communications" theory, way back in the day, I had one instructor who was a real News Junkie. He loved the News. He slept the News. He fretted the News, was already starting its fact-free slide -- even though course was being taught "decades ago."
This News Junkie professor made us (his students), keep a 'nightly journal' of the National Newscast, for at least 2 of the major news outlets. We (his students), groaned at the assignment, largely out of the primetime 'goofing off' hours that would be lost to this tedious pursuit. This was long before the time-shifting tools of DVRs and youtube, of today. Back then we actually had to watch the news. Hello! Appointment Television.
This "keep a news journal" assignment wasn't hard, just time consuming: Write a 1 or 2 line description of each story reported and when possible its slant or conclusions; and make note of the commercial interruptions too (noting the sponsors, for extra credit). Be sure to keep the news story descriptions in chronological order, in order to determine the "recurring editorial patterns" in the assignment of lead stories, the time devoted each night to real fact-finding news. Of special interest, we were to find and establish similar "blocking patterns" within and between the Networks (such as the "traditional" closing the broadcast, with a "light human interest" story).
[The Ringmaster's Secret -- Image Source: www.glogster.com]
Something about the vapidness of tonight's National News from ABC -- made me feel like I just had a meal of corndogs, elephant-ears, and cotton candy down at the county fair. It also made me flashback to that Communication course, that I eventually learned to love by the semester's end.
It -- that dusty, deserty Newscast from tonight -- made me then switch channels over to National News from NBC, to see if they would 'pick up' the same low-calorie themes and story-lines, that their competition just fed to a sugar-addicted public ... like they used to do, way back in the day.
Here's are my notes, describing America's buffet of our daily 'News Content' -- as dished out from NBC:
NBC National News -- May 5, 2014, Evening News -- [Broadcast News Journal]
Freak Circus Accident (with video); Investigators searching for cause
LA Clippers lose CEO (with gossip); Reporters searching for the public's sentiment
1st MERS Virus case discovered in Illinois (with stock images of viruses)
Ukraine divide/crisis heightens, with Election pending; 12 die in a fire, during standoff
Nigerian Kidnapped Girls -- Protests held for action; US promise "Intelligence support" but no action
New Climate Change Report to be released by Federal Government; Clips of Extreme Weather; key Social disruption predictions quickly listed
Commercial Break (3 sponsors)
Landslide on Everest -- 1st hand account from 1st planned Everest Body-Suit flyer; 16 Sherpas died; Flyer may attempt flight again later, but more retrospectively
Commercial Break (5 sponsors)
Hollywood Actor dies
Kentucky Derby winner -- What a 'Rags to Riches' story
Commercial Break (4 sponsors)
Inner-city High School Girls (NY) -- taught to "brag on themselves" for Job Interviews
Commercial Break (5 sponsors)
EOB (End of Broadcast)
Oddly (or not so oddly?) many of the NBC stories covered,
I had just seen on ABC. But some I had not. See if you can guess which ones were vapidly served, by both producers of today's National News entrees.
To my surprise, even though these News Deserts have become more dry and barren, over the creeping march of corporate time -- the occasional oasis, tinged with corporate ambivalence and human futility, do still crop up from time to time.
But afterall, NBC is that 'liberal' network of the bunch. Or as I like to call it, the Seven-Eleven of actual news nutrition.
[7-Eleven: One Large Pizza & 10 Chicken Wings for $10 -- Image Source: smartcanucks.ca]
So perhaps, not so odd, afterall.