When Did News Get Replaced With Infotainment?

We have no real mainstream news service in New Zealand anymore.  What we do have is organisations that provide information in a way that is supposed to 'entertain' us - it keeps us coming back for more and it's called Infotainment.

There is an old saying that goes along the lines of, "if you're not paying, you are the product being sold."


Why do news centric radio stations, web sites and free to air TV programmes need to entertain you?  Because they are selling you and they can only sell you if you are listening, reading or watching.  You are a statistic in their sales proposal's to advertisers.  And what keeps you listening, watching and reading?  Not real, investigative, detailed news, that's for sure.

Has any New Zealand news agency talked about the links between all the players in Syria?  Not that I have seen, but then I am ignoring them more and more these days (by the way, if you are interested, here is a really useful story from PolicyMic).  Instead we are being told over and over again about hundreds being killed while we wait with a sense of expectation and impending doom for the UN to hurry up and do nothing and for the US to once again intervene to save us all from tyranny.

I like the following picture.  It really does show us that what an editor chooses to include or exclude from a 'story' will ultimately be used by you and I to form our judgements about a situation.

Look, the soldier is providing water to a thirsty victim.  Or is he?  Perhaps he is just keeping the 'victim' alive long enough to be tortured for intelligence gathering purposes?  Or was a guy with a gun just walking by?  We may never know.  The point is the media an influence what you and I think simply by the way the represent the facts.

What if Brian Tamaki is not the highest paid preacher in New Zealand?  I suspect he isn't, but there is just no 'story' in a white middle class minister on Auckland's North Shore earning zillions from his 'flock'.  Nothing like a  a Maori boy from Tokoroa riding a Harley - that's news!   

What if David Shearer was the man for the job?  Why is Shane Jones the media darling of the Labour Leadership race?  From his time at Te Ohu Kaimoana one could wonder if he was running a sham of an organisation set up by well intentioned but nonetheless misguided legislation?  Has anyone asked why Te Ohu Kaimoana was set up when the Te Reo version of the Treaty makes no mention of fisheries?  Has anyone asked?  No, because as with Brian Tamaki, Shane Jones is good for selling airtime and web pages.

What is forming your world view?  Hopefully a little more than a cursory glance at Stuff or the 25 minutes of infotainment (including the very infotaining commercials) on free to air TV news before they get to the sport and weather.  To be honest, you'd get more information from The Civilian.  Check out this article  titled 'Equivilent of 13 White Men Killed In Egypt'.

It is a point well made and I suspect it will make you stop and think.

Cheers!