Lately when I have been seeing the news i'm noticing that news stations make a big deal of making a huge story when something small or not terrible happens in countries. Is this because the news channels want to add more exciting news or is it because the news channels want to make more money? Take for instance instead of focusing on 4th Of July celebrations today all the news showed was footage of today's earthquake in California and I couldn't believe it when the earthquake happened the news treated it like it was the end of the world when they should've been talking about 4th Of July. Another thing I notice about news is that they take a story then focus on it for the rest of the newscast and I have never figured it out. For example when a famous celebrity dies the news has a habit of devoting the whole hour to stories about the celebrity and there isn't any time for the other stories. It used to be that when celebrities passed away the news would mention these types of stories after funerals were over and the news would then move on to other news stories. If the news were better then the newscasts would get better ratings and attract a better audience
Do you agree of what today's news has become?
Bestie

I forgot what story I read this past week (that's how insignificant it was), but I had the same thought: "Why is this news?" I think it might've been about a hiker who was rescued or something. It's almost as if the news, for lack of something to report, just picks a random story and makes a big deal out of it.

Not to be cold but I didn't understand why the local news was making such a big deal about this Disney actor dying, and by big deal, I mean "OMG; he was practically a legendary TV star who inspired millions of children the world over"-level of reporting. What???

I cannot understand how something not terrible can turn into a giant news story. Take for example yesterday when New York had their blackout every single news station made a huge story out of it and it caused FOX News to preempt all of it's night time shows and I cannot figure out why a blackout is major news and when it happened the news treated it like the children's story Chicken Little and all the other news stories were forgotten about. I think the news stations are desperate for money and these types of stories are used as a quick way to make money
Bestie

I cannot understand how something not terrible can turn into a giant news story. Take for example yesterday when New York had their blackout every single news station made a huge story out of it and it caused FOX News to preempt all of it's night time shows and I cannot figure out why a blackout is major news and when it happened the news treated it like the children's story Chicken Little and all the other news stories were forgotten about. I think the news stations are desperate for money and these types of stories are used as a quick way to make money
Bestie

Yes. I am from NYC, and this blackout barely impacted 10% of the population. Plus, we've had major blackouts before where the entire city (not just a small strip) went out. But the news was making such a big, ridiculous deal over it, especially about all the "cool pictures" people were taking. Yawn. Been there, done that.

Another thing they've hyped to death was this tropical storm Barry. I get so sick of seeing that spinning storm on radar. Tropical storms and hurricanes are a fact of life problem in coastal areas.

And yes that relatively small blackout in NYC was way overplayed. A transformer burned out. It happens. Everywhere. Can't be helped. Memo to NY Governor: equipment WILL fail. It's not perfect.

Another thing on news that gets on my nerves--calling happenings on their reality shows "news." I don't care who won on the Voice. Nor the best dancer on The Stars. And heaven help us if a local person advances on the Voice. We never hear the end of it.

And famous people dying. We never hear the end of that either. I'm sad to hear it but five days later it's not news anymore. It's like that old 1970s SNL gag--Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo_Francisco_Franco_is_still_dead

Another type of news story that the news makes a big deal over is when a weather emergency or giant type of emergency happens such as a big fire or earthquake. Take for instance every time you turn on the news they focus on Hurricane Dorian and they treat it like it's the hot topic of the town and there should be other stories that should be covered like when Valerie Harper passed away the news stations should've had nice tributes to Valerie Harper and talked about her career but instead focused on Hurricane Dorian the whole week and I do not know why a hurricane is such a big event when all a hurricane is mostly rain and wind. And another thing that surprises me about news is that 99% of it is mostly crime stories and you see very few sports stories and happy stories on any news broadcast and I think the news should save the crime stories for the late night news broadcasts to make room for more interesting stories. Is this becoming a trend in news today?
Bestie

I think weather and earthquake related news is important because people like and need to know what kind of weather is happening in the world. I'm in Washington but I always find it interesting when the news covers storms or severe weather in other parts of the country (particularly Texas where my family is), although sometimes they either exaggerate or downplay what's going on.

Take for instance every time you turn on the news they focus on Hurricane Dorian and they treat it like it's the hot topic of the town and there should be other stories that should be covered like when Valerie Harper passed away the news stations should've had nice tributes to Valerie Harper and talked about her career but instead focused on Hurricane Dorian the whole week and I do not know why a hurricane is such a big event when all a hurricane is mostly rain and wind.


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sLB6kuMOGLI/hqdefault.jpg

Another type of news story that the news makes a big deal over is when a weather emergency or giant type of emergency happens such as a big fire or earthquake. Take for instance every time you turn on the news they focus on Hurricane Dorian and they treat it like it's the hot topic of the town and there should be other stories that should be covered like when Valerie Harper passed away the news stations should've had nice tributes to Valerie Harper and talked about her career but instead focused on Hurricane Dorian the whole week and I do not know why a hurricane is such a big event when all a hurricane is mostly rain and wind. And another thing that surprises me about news is that 99% of it is mostly crime stories and you see very few sports stories and happy stories on any news broadcast and I think the news should save the crime stories for the late night news broadcasts to make room for more interesting stories. Is this becoming a trend in news today?
Bestie

Yes, people losing their loved ones and homes and businesses to a hurricane is obviously something not to make a big deal out of.

Yes, people losing their loved ones and homes and businesses to a hurricane is obviously something not to make a big deal out of.

Yeah, I can't believe what LaBestia is saying here. As someone who was affected by a hurricane (Sandy), it pissed me off to hear it's just wind and rain. Did she not see the destruction going on in the Bahamas?

In a perfect world all news would be good unfortunately it is not a perfect world and bad things happen that the news must report on!! A hurricane, earthquake, tornado, shooting etc. are really a big deal and they must cover it a head of little happy news stories! A hurricane is devastating, people get killed, homes are destroyed, whole towns are destroyed, even a whole country can be destroyed, third world places that don't have the same building codes as here in the U.S., Same and in an earthquake. It is really bad, very sad and devastating! It must be reported and keeping us informed. Even if one doesn't live there, people could have family and friends that do. And we have to know what is going on!


It can get to be a little much and a bit overwhelming, than just turn the channel! Go to a non news cable station or with the invention of the DVD player , we can watch our favorite TV shows and movies if nothing interesting is on cable , but bottom line is there are other options if you don't want to see the coverage of a hurricane or other non pleasant news topics! And you can read sports news and fun human interest stories on the internet!;)

I don't think a hurricane is the best example. I think a much better example was the plane that disappeared in the far east a few years ago. CNN did nothing but that story every night for a year and a half even though there was no actual news about the plane during that time. That's another reason I had no use for CNN even before they turned to Trump bashing 24 hours a day.

The reason they hype these stories is because they want people to have a reason to watch their stations, nothing more.