Info. Overload

I think the news has always been one of the greatest aspects of society, one that could be considered in constant demand. As a kid the news seemed like something distant, irrelevant, out of my interest, or just plain scary... but the list could go on. I guess you could say as kid I would get my news from “annoying” blurbs of information that interrupted mine and my mother’s bonding time over alternative hits on the radio. 

But as I got older I found more and more interest in the news, specifically local news. I guess the attraction was not only hearing real life stories with possibly exaggerated drama, but I also had a subtle desire to see someone from town I knew winning an award or getting arrested for drug use...whichever seemed more likely. What interested me in the news the most was the reality of it, real life people, real life emotions, real life events. But I think nowadays, news is in such a constant demand that it has become almost too casual for my generation and I think content and accessibility are huge factors in that. 

With the explosion of wireless interfaces, smart phones, unlimited blogging, facebook, twitter, wikipedia... news has gone over a major transitioning based on the basic forms of media. It’s become a bit overwhelming for our generation I think, so much information spewing in and out constantly, not just from the television or the newspaper which require a sort of dedicated time, but news that follows us around in our pockets. It’s easy to take that for granted. I think back before this explosion, the news acted as a sort of break from the mundane routines of life, to come home and sit down with family or relaxing alone, the news was a way to reconnect with the world after a long day at work. 

Now I feel that getting information has grown a part of our mundane routine, constantly at our access. It’s as if we’re at a point where instead of setting that time away with the newspaper or the 9 o’clock news on tv, I think around that time my generation is already exhausted from the amount of less newsworthy content we’ve absorbed throughout the day. It’s not that major news events are less intense or meaningful, it’s just that the news viewers themselves have become so disinterested by the idea of setting away time for something of which could easily be accessed later whenever we choose. 

It’s like when I have an alternate reading assignment for class. It’s not graded and I know I already and will always have the book on my shelf, I find myself saying I could read it whenever I wanted really... but when I have the time. And it gets put off for something more personally concerning or relevant... or in this case graded (keeping up with that horrible analogy). I think my overall point is with the immense amount of news and information that seems to merely come and go, it’s our responsibility, not only as perspective journalists but as general members of society, to go looking for that important news... past all the crap on our social “news” feeds of kids complaining about parents and politicians.