In the 24-Hour News Cycle Nothing Matters

I remember when I was a kid, and I’d be watching my favourite shows on television, when all of a sudden, the screen would dip to black. You’d swear you could hear mumbled voices, and then a still image of the network logo would appear on the screen, followed by the news anchors voice saying: “We interrupt regular programming to bring you a special breaking news broadcast.”

My parents would often gather around the TV when this happened, because back then, when breaking news was happening, it really was breaking news.

Think about the millions of dollars major television networks lost as they cut from their regular paid programming, to go to a live unsponsored telecast.

This is how the world learned of things that really did matter before the Internet and the always on news channels of CNN, BBC News and CBCnewsworld.

However, thanks to our vast information society, the term “breaking news” just doesn’t carry the same weight. Occasionally there is something really urgent going on which captures the attention of the world.

But because of the Internet and the 24-hour news networks, television and radio stations don’t feel the need to interrupt their regular programming anymore, and so “breaking news” has become a cliché used by these 24-hour news networks to keep people watching.

Breaking news isn’t really important anymore.

Most of the world watched in awe, as man walked on the moon – that was breaking news. Or when US President John Kennedy was shot dead, and the attempted assignation of another American leader, Ronald Reagan – these were breaking news events, as the world rallied around the success, mourned the loss, and feared for the future.

When NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia fell from the sky (in separate, but equally tragic incidents) those were breaking news events because we were reminded as advanced as our tech makes us, we are all still mortal.

Today’s “breaking news” was about Queen Elizabeth’s release from a weekend hospital stay, after a bout of indigestion.

Really?

Yes, the Queen is an internationally recognized figure head, considered a leader of the British people –but because she ate something which didn’t agree with her, we’re supposed to be glued to our “tellies” cheering her recovery?

For all we know, she spent the weekend in and out of the bathroom doing what most of us do when we have a bad tummy – and I certainly don’t want to know about that!

Our information in an instant world is a wondrous thing. But sadly, it has changed our culture and society for the worse.

We no longer all gather ‘round the television when the words: “we interrupt our regular broadcast to bring you this special breaking news event,” are uttered in a rushed state.

Because “breaking news” these days isn’t really as the name implies, we no longer share in the important life lessons learned by our society, as truly globally important events shape humanity.

And that’s perhaps the saddest thing of all about our information age – although we all know what’s going on in the world, we don’t experience it anymore.