I had an argument recently about “The News,” which brought up some very strong feelings I’ve had for years now.
When I get inclined to write, I almost feel like a pressure cooker who is about to pop — one that’s been simmering for months, years even.
There’s something about being “triggered” that *sometimes* just sharpens all your senses and words. For better or for worse.
Throughout highschool and college, I’ve been part of a school newspaper. I’ve always written for the Literary or Features section. I’ve avoided the News Section like a plaque. Out of fear and deep respect, yes. Also out of that teaching/training that News is something that needs to be *absolutely* factual, no bias, void of opinions.
In my head:
News: “It’s raining outside.”
Not news: “It’s fun to play in that rain.”
My first encounter with The News was in elementary. I wrote a poem my teacher liked and suddenly I got asked to join a News Writing competition. As a child who doesn’t know much, I said yes.
“They’ll teach you what to do,” my teacher says. There was a 2-4 hour seminar the day before the competition.
The big tips: Your title needs to be 100 % factual but interesting enough to make the reader curious. News is meant to inform. You’re narrating facts and figures as they are and not how you want them to be.
Most important: The Five Ws (Who, What, Where, Why, When). That’s it.
After that seminar, I remember feeling that news writing is (1) strict and restrictive (2) too formal (3) not my thing (4) rules, rules, rules and coloring within the lines.
The day of the competition comes and I sat there with a series of facts that I now need to put into a news article. I had 1 hour. And at 40 minutes I’m still thinking of a factual, interesting title! (Yep, that didn’t go too well.)
That was a very formative experience for me, though. I hated writing it but when I read/listened to The News, I would always try to look at it with the lenses I was given in elementary school.
Throughout the years, as I .. and the world… grew older, I felt a shaky shift that amazed and frustrated that child in me.
I started to notice a different kind of news reporting especially on TV — (1) more creative, which I celebrated for a time (2) littered with opinions (which I also celebrated but very cautiously).
Is this the new way of writing/reporting news?
I watched and was amazed that reporters can now have opinions as they tell me the news. (What! This feels almost like an Opinion piece or an Editorial section!)
I listened as slowly the news became secondary… to the opinions of journalists/reporters and talking heads. Now it’s a battle of the most sensational and gripping commentaries.
The World of Influencers.
I watched as slowly, everything started to blend together in a swirl — news, opinions, editorials, features, ads, promos — like an abstract painting.
That sounds cool, enough, right?
But the yin and yang — what came with that?
We, as a society, started consuming this swirl of information as if everything was The News. His/her opinion became factual.
This painting is not considered abstract but a brand logo.
The conversation became: “Did you know it’s fun to play in the rain?” versus “Did you know it’s raining?”
In a newspaper, there are lines and pages tagged and labeled as “News” “Features” “Editorial” “Opinions” etc.
I never fully understood why this is incredibly important, until now. These clear cut lines are now almost gone.
What we now have is The News Buffet. And no one knows what the hell they are looking at.
(Last 2 lines, inspired by Seinfeld and Chappele.)
Oh chill out, Hajer, you’ll say.
I did. I chilled for a long time as I watch this evolution unfold.
I’d like to believe that I love the freedom of all this. The way The News started to flow and transform like an energy conductor.
This is Life as we know it. It’s happening, shifting… and being aware of it could be a painful or beautiful thing.
The thing is… I feel, collectively, our consumption of The News hasn’t changed much.
What started as eating in an Italian or Japanese or Mexican restaurant of your choice, became eating in the biggest Buffet Restaurant where everything is everywhere.
We’ve been eating this News Buffet like:
1. We have unlimited gut capacity
2. Like salads and soups and desserts can go on one plate
3. Like we can eat-all-you-can, all day everyday and not feel the urge to throw up
4. Like there is no difference at all between steaks and sushi and lasagna and cheesecake. We can eat them all, of course. But even as we do, we know enough to separate them from each other so we can taste each flavor /cuisine separately.
The News of Today are not just informational. We need to understand, they have become very influential.
The News of Today still allows us to bring an umbrella when we leave our house, yes. But also, it’s teaching us to hop in the rain and convince or coerce people to do so.
For the last few years, I’ve often flip-flopped between thinking, “ Eh. This doesn’t matter,” or “Damn. This matters very much.”
Today, I am saying:
It matters. We need to be aware of what and how we consume. The earth, our society, our world is begging for it.
Waaay easier said than done. Waaay easier to write too.
But there’s that “ancient” movie quote that I think still applies to our society today. It goes,
“So let it be written, so let it be done.”
Hence, I write.
