TMI

The Information Age, indeed. I am drowning in information. Everywhere I go there is something new, something probative, something radical, something obscene, something political, or something religious screaming at me. The news cycle is twenty-four hours a day, which means that reports and news providers have to keep hitting it (whatever it happens to be) until you are unconscious and don't care any more.

The first signs of this apocalypse should have been one of these:

• The first war in Iraq, where CNN came into its own and had people glued to their TV sets watching minute by minute updates on what was happening. At least during this one, people still cared through the hours and days of the war.
• The OJ trial, where people were glued to their TV sets watching a sports figure trying to put skin-tight gloves over plastic gloves. People couldn't get enough and were turned into news junkies looking for their next fix of OJ info during the day and flipped on the TV as soon as they got home.
• The 9/11 attacks, where people were stunned and couldn't escape the information. Every channel had it on, ad infinitum, until people became completely numb to it. They couldn't turn away, escape, or find release from the horror of it. This is where people went from junkies to zombies, drooling at the altar of TV.

What irritates me the most is that I have been suckered into it as well. I find myself constantly seeking out the least detail about the new Superman movie, the next in the Batman franchise, waiting for the least word on my favorite fiction series (Dresden Files), and following any tidbits on my favorite sports teams. If something serious happens in the world, I'm flipping between right and left wing news gatherers trying to piece together what must be what really happened, since neither side gives an accurate or fair view.

When I was growing up, the news was something you got at 5pm until 6pm, at which time the half-hour national news came on. They had 22.5 hours to probe, question, dig, and write the news stories before that hour and a half of news came on and presented the story to you. People from both sides of the political debate worked fairly equally at each station, so you had less bias as a left-wing reporter may have to get editorial approval from a right-wing editor (or vice versa). This meant the stories were checked and double-checked from both sides before airing. The newscasters had integrity and were the voice for the people. The old-school newscaster would never think of putting themselves in front of or into the story, because they knew that once they did that, they were no longer objective. Now, the poster boy for the current crop of newscasters is Anderson Cooper, who can't seem to stay out of the story, and often becomes the story, blowing any credibility he had and losing all objectivity while he does it.

We have now entered into a very dangerous area for news, where newscasters are making the news. We've had FOX News personnel hosting political rallies. We've had reporters attacked by people and attacking others. We have Anderson Cooper going out to any disaster so we can get the "hero shot" of him crying while carrying a dead body or severely injured person to safety.

Now, with the 24/7 news cycle, it is all about being the first and most sensationalistic getting a story out. Fact checking? That's for people who have time to do it, not for me! Balance and integrity? If I stop to check my facts, make sure they are accurate and beyond reproach, and rewrite the story I will lose audience, readers, and money. As soon as news became entertainment, most notably with those three examples provided above, the end of news as we knew it was at hand, we just didn't recognize it.

News shouldn't be about ratings, entertainment, or sensationalism. It is supposed to be about facts and figures, provable allegations and assertions, and about integrity and responsibility. Tell that to CNN or MSNBC or FOX News -- do any of those owners know what those words mean without a dictionary and examples? The 24/7 cycle has destroyed this notion in favor of "get it out now, we'll apologize later (or just spin it so we look good anyway)."

It is no wonder the American public is so confused on so many issues. No one is telling them, honestly and with integrity, what is going on, why, and how it impacts them. I fear for the future.