Larry D. Lauer

Cable channels with 24/7 breaking news appetites combined with an even more comprehensive digital technology revolution have produced a wide range of far-reaching and unanticipated consequences. Here is a list of only a few:

1. TV seems real, but isn’t. Camera angles, editing and special effects translates real life into how the producer wants you to see it.

2. 24/7 news creates a constant all-day appetite for new and updated stories, each requiring a dramatic headline to recapture attention.

3. Keeping attention even during a report requires a pace so fast that complete explanations are not possible and comments from experts are cut short.

4. Outrageous claims meet the need for grabbing and re-grabbing news coverage. The result is free and constant publicity for the most outrageous sources.

5. Using stars from entertainment TV and Hollywood guarantees news coverage for causes and political opinions…thereby helping to satisfy ravenous 24/7 news appetites.

6. Lies constantly repeated begin to sound true.  This is the most mysterious consequence of all. And consistency over time allows a degree of acceptance that is contrary to conventional wisdom.

7. The 24/7 news appetite has also created a situation where traditional accuracy standards have been modified. If a source can be named the story will run. It is now acceptable to just make a correction if a statement is later determined to be inaccurate. The problem is that in our new media world corrections seem to have little impact.

8. Social media producers have created their own audiences which enable news coverage based totally on the special interests of those audiences. These audiences often have no other source of news.

9. Competitive back-and-forth name calling in today’s digital world can quickly become commonplace and soon benefits nobody. The ultimate effect is that it totally eliminates taking “the high road” and drags everyone into the gutter.

We now have one presidential candidate who many voters find totally unqualified because of his crude and disrespectful remarks and lack of basic knowledge about the world, and another who can’t find a way in today’s attack-based media environment to come across as genuine and sincere. God help us.

The truth is that if news makers, politicians, the news media, social media producers, and information consumers don’t all soon wake up to what’s going on, we will be facing a future in turmoil with no end in sight.