Yup. Stole it from Colbert's "truthiness," sorta.
"Newsiness" occurs when writers and broadcasters give the impression they are reporting the news when in fact they are not expressing anything new, actionable or important.
This state of affairs always has been present in the news business, but was once limited to awkward moments when one had to say something at deadline even though news had not actually happened. Example: It's election night, but your first edition closes at 6 pm before the polls do.
So you write something like, "Voters under cloudy skies went to the polls in (heavy, moderate, light) numbers yesterday to determine who would lead the City of Philadelphia for the next four years."
Fair enough. You need to acknowledge there was an election last night even if you really have nothing to say. And there were always the "dog days of summer." Desperate editors still assign reporters to see if they can fry an egg on the sidewalk.
But what was once awkward and infrequent is now mainstream and accepted. Cable news and the blogosphere are so demanding of instant information that the default parameter is to say or write anything that even vaguely resembles a news-like object.
Saturday Night Live may have captured this decades ago with its "Francisco Franco is still dead today" parody of the last lingering days of the former dictator of Spain. Day after day, he lay on his death bed and day after day, network news reported that -- until he died -- without anything new to say.
Now you see Francisco Franco-is-still-dead reporting every day, all day on cable. There are news events of course but in between, the 24/7 news cycle maw feeds on "newsiness."
Headlines blare out about the months-old weak economy as if it were a breaking-news school fire. The market isn't falling. It's plummeting. Until it is not. Then it is soaring. Graphics are ginned up that show a 1.7 % drop look like the end of the White Cliffs of Dover. MSNBC does card and egg tricks. CNN calculates what it would cost in tuition to attend Hogwarts.
In such an atmosphere, "news" people benefit less from cutting through the crap and more from artfully creating it.
This leads to a situation where the craft of the business no longer concerns cutting through the spin -- but contributing to it. Analytic capabilities are either ignored or punished. They're a buzz kill. (We'll see how Don Lemon does at CNN dissing the silliness there.)
Our current state of affairs?
Round the clock coverage of whether Obama (substitute Bush, Clinton as you prefer) should go on vacation. Ever.
Worse are the lost opportunities.
Case in point this past Sunday?
Maria Bartiroma is asked whether she places any credence in Michelle Bachman's campaign promise to bring back $2 a gallon gasoline in the first quarter of her presidency.
Lots of responses here that could keep you impartial but give people a real picture of the world.
But....Maria....who has a press agent named "Sunshine".... says.....
"Newsiness" occurs when writers and broadcasters give the impression they are reporting the news when in fact they are not expressing anything new, actionable or important.
This state of affairs always has been present in the news business, but was once limited to awkward moments when one had to say something at deadline even though news had not actually happened. Example: It's election night, but your first edition closes at 6 pm before the polls do.
So you write something like, "Voters under cloudy skies went to the polls in (heavy, moderate, light) numbers yesterday to determine who would lead the City of Philadelphia for the next four years."
Fair enough. You need to acknowledge there was an election last night even if you really have nothing to say. And there were always the "dog days of summer." Desperate editors still assign reporters to see if they can fry an egg on the sidewalk.
But what was once awkward and infrequent is now mainstream and accepted. Cable news and the blogosphere are so demanding of instant information that the default parameter is to say or write anything that even vaguely resembles a news-like object.
Saturday Night Live may have captured this decades ago with its "Francisco Franco is still dead today" parody of the last lingering days of the former dictator of Spain. Day after day, he lay on his death bed and day after day, network news reported that -- until he died -- without anything new to say.
Now you see Francisco Franco-is-still-dead reporting every day, all day on cable. There are news events of course but in between, the 24/7 news cycle maw feeds on "newsiness."
Headlines blare out about the months-old weak economy as if it were a breaking-news school fire. The market isn't falling. It's plummeting. Until it is not. Then it is soaring. Graphics are ginned up that show a 1.7 % drop look like the end of the White Cliffs of Dover. MSNBC does card and egg tricks. CNN calculates what it would cost in tuition to attend Hogwarts.
In such an atmosphere, "news" people benefit less from cutting through the crap and more from artfully creating it.
This leads to a situation where the craft of the business no longer concerns cutting through the spin -- but contributing to it. Analytic capabilities are either ignored or punished. They're a buzz kill. (We'll see how Don Lemon does at CNN dissing the silliness there.)
Our current state of affairs?
Round the clock coverage of whether Obama (substitute Bush, Clinton as you prefer) should go on vacation. Ever.
Worse are the lost opportunities.
Case in point this past Sunday?
Maria Bartiroma is asked whether she places any credence in Michelle Bachman's campaign promise to bring back $2 a gallon gasoline in the first quarter of her presidency.
Lots of responses here that could keep you impartial but give people a real picture of the world.
But....Maria....who has a press agent named "Sunshine".... says.....
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