For better or for worse, an overwhelming majority of modern Americans receive news from, well, the news. To a degree this is oddly troubling. After all, news reporting isn't what it used to be. I once heard it described that news coverage up to and including the early to mid-1960s was designed only to cement ideas. Since then, news has only served to disrupt them. What changed in the vintage era that is home to the likes of TV dinners and small, nuclear families? The sixties were changing times: music forged a revolution, politics pushed the sensitive buttons of inequality, segregation, bigotry.
None of those were large enough to change the tides of television nightly news forever. What happened was the Tet Offensive.
In January of 1968, approximately 70,000 enemy forces launched a system of attacks across countless areas of South Vietnam.
Although it might not sound like much, the aftermath of the Tet Offensive and its affect on news programming was marked by incorrectly insinuating that the United States and South Vietnamese forces had fought a losing battle. In reality, the North suffered tremendous casualties and, in my opinion, were the de facto losers of the day.
De jure, poor coverage forever changed public view of war as households sat every evening and watched grainy images of Walter Cronkite incorrectly back reports of failing US endeavours. The most trusted man in America had suddenly stated falsehoods and pressed home the idea of loss to millions of American (and no one questioned it).
The news cycle to change all news cycles - from that point forward, rare would be the news program designed to secure facts and eliminate all doubt, thus delivering only true news to households coast to coast. Programs would grow to deliver us a taste of action, occasional gore, a healthy serving of cat videos, but most importantly, news open for interpretation, rumors, and confusion.
For the record, America went on to lose the war in Vietnam. Not in numbers, however, which showed staggering defeat of enemy forces in the North (by comparison). The war was lost at home. It was lost as moms and dads watched body counts rise, saw explosions and death in their living rooms, and witnessed the ungodliness of war in the sanctity of their homes. News backed by drama rather than by, well, news.
Of course, the problem is that to isolate one's self from media is just as crazy. No one should be utterly uninformed. It's so very important that we understand the gravity of situations in out own country and those across the world. Famine, disease, death, droughts, leaders that punish their people for the very things we take for granted - we must know about all this so society at large can better itself. So, alas, we are subject to whatever the news channels chose to feed us. As fact checking, conformation, trustworthiness and sincerity (all these things that the news should be) subside only to be a memory of a past generation, we're left with shirtless pictures of Justin Beiber and feuds between pop stars and reality TV icons.
For better or worse, we'll continue to derive most of our information from recognized news sources. Beware of the sensationalism of news. Question every number. Denounce any rumor until you see the proof. And honestly, cats just aren't funny.
