That's the 7 O'clock edition of the news, good night (Simon and Garfunkel)

Photo by mp ilp on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Our recent family zoom had a discussion about watching the news. A few of us don't watch the news cycles on TV anymore - too depressing in their fixation with Trump/ death/ and violence, but a few of us still do.

I choose not to pander to Trump's insatiable need to dominate the conversation, instead I get my daily world news from the BBC headlines and The Morning Brew - a newsletter that visits my email inbox each day.

Simon and Garfunkel's poignant song on their 1966 album (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) called 7 O'Clock News/ Silent Night explains why I choose not to watch nightly news broadcasts better than I can. It also shows how little the news has changed in its approach.

Love and peace - Wozza

Is this a blessing? Or is it a curse? Does it get any better? Can it get any worse? Will it go on forever? Is it over tonight? Does it come with the darkness? Does it bring out the light? Is it richer than diamonds? Or just a little cheaper than spit? I don't know what it is but it just won't quit (Meatloaf)

Photo by Nijwam Swargiary on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

The one pm news conference, broadcast live on TV One, is back and is now woven into the fabric of our lockdown days.

The desire to hear news first, to be up to date is a modern phenonomen.

Because of fibre and fast internet and 24/7 news, people like to be the first with news. Gone are the more relaxed days of newspapers and TV's evening news, when it took a whole day to find out vital information. Now we need to know the instant a decision is made.

And then we need to spread it about to others. It's a weird human thing - the need to be first.

Thanks to our phones and notifications - we can all be first.

Unfortunately that can not be said of Arsenal F.C. at the moment.

Arsenal F.C. have made their worst start to a season in my lifetime. After spending up large in the transfer market, we now find ourselves bottom of the Premier League. Three loses. No goals scored.

As Meatloaf says - Does it get any better? Can it get any worse?

Well yes to both and with Spurs on top of the table, and us bottom, it just got worse; the gulf has never been wider between the two rivals.

It's a tragic/comic situation. It's a slow motion train wreck - happening before my eyes. One of those things that you just have to keep watching in morbid fascination.

Love and peace from a suffering gooner - Wozza

I read the news today, oh boy (The Beatles)

Terrifying graphics heighten the horror of one new case. Yes, one.

Wie geht's?

Seth Godin made some good points and poses some great questions in a recent post on watching the news:

The gulf between network news of 1968 and cable news of today is dramatic, far more than the shift in, say, a typical sitcom. The Dick Van Dyke Show is quaint, but it has a lot in common with a sitcom of today. The news, on the other hand, is completely different.

A generation ago, delivering the news was a civic duty. Now it’s a profit center.

The quick edits, the crawling text, the noise–it all exists to remind us of a thrilling movie, not of real life.

And the clickbaiting reality of online news multiplies that.

But real life isn’t like that. An actual house-fire or street demonstration is boring compared to what we’re shown in the media.

Does the increase in drama, tension and fear that these production values create produce anything of value?

Would it be possible to be an informed citizen without it?

Even more so: Is it possible to be an informed citizen with it?

Currently, Jacky and I tend to watch the nightly 6pm TV One news show (it is a show). Over the years I've stopped watching news from time to time.

Last week the network news featured a story on floods in Melbourne, where Adam and Ashleigh live. Via our family chat, I asked him if they were okay and he said, "Sure - the news will have made it sound worse than it was".

No doubt there were a lot of people affected by the storm damage and flooding but the news report - compressed into less than a minute with emotional voice overs and rapid editing, made it seen much more widespread and dramatic. Then it was off to the next 'story'.

So to answer Seth's last three questions: not often; yes; maybe.

It feels like time to start avoiding watching news broadcasts again.

Love and peace - Wozza