A duck returns to the pond of its ducklinghood after being lost (presumed Crispy Ducked) for 10 years. What you're about to see next will blow you away!

                                                     



You can probably guess from the title that I am quacking about 'news-catch-lines' for want of a better phrase.  The fact that they are EVERYWHERE at the moment is just incredibly annoying and highly unoriginal.  Like the creation and birth of the bloody selfie.  Enough already!
Just another attempt to lure an innocent reader in hook, bad line and sinker of a catch phrase.  Are we immune to the sameyness of this style of reporting?  Can we not see it is just a device that has become popular as a means of creating drama and cliff-hanger like anticipation as we fumble toward the play/hit button?  Like heroin, offering a taste of nirvana, something extraordinary for a seemingly small price.  Hit after fucking hit til we're hooked and we no longer doubt the version of events being presented to us.

I have a bit of an issue with news FULL STOP.  I believe it is highly manipulative and constructed to within an inch of the original truth.  Playing to the anticipated audience like a fiddle.  Giving them everything they want to confirm their narrow minded highly moral view of the world and their bloody smug part in that world.  I will duck and delve into this in more depth soon.

For a local example, just yesterday I was reading the news online and trying to find out who New Zealand was playing in the semi-final of the cricket.  I KNOW, I know that I should bloody well know who we were playing so shoot me!  How dare I, a Kiwi living in New Zealand, not KNOW!? Well I didn't know so fuck off!!!  Do you think I could find a single line, in a single bloody news article stating who the opposition were?  No siree, not a fucking word anywhere to indicate to a cricket ignoramus like me who the other team were.  Is New Zealand that insular that they imagine everyone is a cricket aficionado and this goes without saying???  Bloody hell, I do despair.  I have nothing, absolutely nothing, against cricket or any sport.  But why does the media (at least the NZ media in this case) assume that we are all sports fans and passionate followers?  I feel like I could be put to trial for not being more sporting savvy. It would probably be, in the eyes of New Zealand, a more heinous crime than that of the accused Lundy killings.   To add to my crimes against team sports I have only just 'found out' that Richie McCaw is in fact captain of the All Blacks not a cricketer like I thought.  At least I recognised his name ffs.
When I was at work on the auspicious day of cricket a client informed me that the score was 29 for 2.  I asked if that was good and the very kind person explained it to me.  He didn't judge or harangue me or attempt to present some condescending diatribe.  To him  I am grateful. I have learned a little bit more about cricket.

But really the issue here is with how news is constructed and what is deemed 'worthy' if you like.  It would seem that the following factors increase the chances of an event being newsworthy:  Being middle class, white and living in a developed country. These considerations all enhance the newsworthiness quite significantly.  I remember, back in 2010, when I was 'friends' with Helen Clark (former NZ Prime Minister, now working for UNDP) on Facebook there was a thread about the first earthquake in Christchurch.  This earthquake was in September 2010 in the middle of the night.  Fortunately no lives were lost.  Prior and post this event there were two other major natural disasters in the world.  One was the earthquake in Haiti where over 100,000 lives were lost.  The other was the floods in Pakistan where 2000 or so lives were lost.  I made a comment on the thread about how the first earthquake in Christchurch (the second devastating one had not occurred at this stage) was eclipsing Haiti and Pakistan in the news and I found this to be bloody shocking.  Clark (herself or her social media mogul I couldn't guarantee?) swooped in on my like a flock of seagulls to a road kill accusing me of being smug.  Au contraire!!! Duck feathers were now well and truly ruffled.   I then explained that I found it sad that news from a developed country where there was no loss of life would overshadow and obscure the horrendous disasters in Haiti and Pakistan where the loss of life and devastation were epic.  Then most of the contributors to the thread understood where I was coming from and agreed.  Phew, thank quack for that!

I think it pays to be mindful of the ways in which the news can be engineered to suit a demographic and manufactured to confirm our preconceived ideas about the world.  Look beyond the catch line to the motivation and angle of the article.  Keep one webbed foot in reality (as best we can know it), let your beak do the hunting and quack it up when it doesn't fit right!  Don't accept mediocrity!


#newsdistortion#newsworthy#biasinnews