NEWS WORTHY

As I get older in years I recognise many traits and habits of my late father. One of these is my regular routine of gathering news information, via print and T.V. I have always believed that it was important to be aware of the news events happening on a national and international basis. I couldn't understand people who didn't make an effort to be better informed on the major issues of our day. The information I received from my news gathering also helped me to form my political ideals and help me with making decisions in times of local and national elections.

Recently I have noticed a change in the news output in this country. Many have labeled this a dumbing down to the lowest common denominator i.e. celebrity based gossip and trivia. One of the first things to go has been the impartiality of the news production. Recently a BBC correspondent was reprimanded for allowing her personal political viewpoint to affect her reporting of a topical news item (the Israeli Palestinian conflict). Also a recent independent report has found the BBC is not impartial with regard to this same conflict having a pro-Palestinian output.

In the US all pretense of impartiality has been abandoned in some quarters with regard to news output. The Fox News Network now sets the agenda in regard to their news output and freely allows it presenters to express opinions on topical issues of the day.

The other issue that concerns me is who sets the agenda for the news that we read and watch. A current example is the situation regarding a group of Korean Missionaries held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan. They were threatened with death unless the authorities met their demands. Two men were executed and more executions were threatened. I watched the nightly news awaiting more information with regards to this but none was forthcoming. I went on to the website seeking more information and none was readily at hand. It was only while searching on this same news website that I found a small section which told me nothing I didn't already know. Even the fact that when they were eventually released came to me via a third party and not on any news organisation. Now if it had been British or American Nationals this would have been a major news item. But Korean Christians two groups that are not considered sexy enough for news (I have issues with the BBC's output with regard to Christians that maybe for another post). Thus my daily news fix has fallen in the last couple of weeks/months. I am not sure where to go for a reliable news source as any news that is presented on screen or in print will always have a human bias attached to it and an agenda to boot.

I would welcome any suggestions as to any news publications that you admire or would recommend.