America’s Information Crisis - Hope for a Truth Starved Planet
I’ve mentioned the American information crisis for many years and now it’s reaching its tipping point. News credibility is at an all time low combined with younger audiences skewing away from traditional media and the presentation. The national opinion is mired in mis information and often nonsense.
Radical redesigns are needed to reverse the trend before it descends into viral de -evolutionary chaos where the social impact is destructive to the character and hope for the Nation. Stabilizing the National IQ.
Strong words, but it IS a crisis. There are solutions but they will take remarkable courage for an organization to create powerful new ways of presenting information to a truth starved planet. Attempting to be unbiased won’t work unless it’s presented in a dramatic new way that captures the interest and need for a radical rethink of a tired medium. It’s a complete reworking. Journalistic components include:
A DIFFERENT FORMAT FOR PRESENTING INFORMATION. We live in a social media environment where the eye ear and brain is conditioned more to the look and feel of Tik Tok than the 5 o’clock news or CNN. Why then, tweak a dying style at the expense of generating new styles in harmony with this century? To use a music analogy the news style is a tired old record in the era generating a whole new sound. Like in music, there are so many instruments available. Visual instruments that tell stories far beyond the capabilities on an anchor or an on-the-street reporter. A video orchestra rooted in vision rather than set furniture.
AGGRESSIVELY SHOW BOTH SIDES. Key word is aggressive. Put a Ted Nugent next to a Hollywood liberal to argue gun control. You get the idea. Take positions…all of them. Be a clearing house for all positions and use strong voices. And not talking over each other on a nervous looking cluttered screen .
COMMENTATORS AND JOE PUBLIC MORE THAN ANCHORS AND REPORTERS. They are the neutral carriers not the opinionators. High personality short form Commentators from different positions can tell the story with infinitely more impact and cred. There are new ways to involve the public opinion beyond the tired man-on-the-street interview. Take the pressure and emphasis off talking heads and rethink who and how opinions are presented.
GEOGRAPHIC NEWS MAPPING. Opinions aren’t generally National but specific to regions. Illustrate WHERE those regions are. Put geographic context into arguments. Put the divide into perspective
HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. We live in a global society. Show what the world is thinking. It’s good, bad and ugly but needs to be seen
CELEBRITY CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. Celebrating celebrity mischief is insane. Call them out with the same intensity as a politician may be called out. The celebrities sadly have enormous power and that needs to be neutralized.
CONSPIRACY BUSTING. Most of these are not information driven but mass insanity driven. Social media gone amok. High BS/Low IQ
EMPATHY RATHER THAN DISTAIN FOR OPPOSITE OPINION. Brutal even-ness and Dragnet like “ just the facts” without prejudice, backed with the power of graphics.
MULTI CULTURAL. It’s getting better but news is hardly the rainbow of colors that IS America. Usually opting for, well, news caricature rather than characters. A plastic sameness in the looks and voices
ACTIONS NOT SLOGANS. It borders on hilarious to see news operations slogan-ize themselves to an attempt at being even. But slogans and the tired news style of presenting won’t move the needle in a country where the BS radar is on high gain. No one believes an operation is “on your side, in it for you, fair and balanced” etc… more marketing by slogan rather than action. Aka lies.
There is hope but the time is now. Sadly, no one in the walled in information circles are bold enough, fearless enough and visionary enough to lead the change
That too will change….