Why does the news matter?

We say “what the government does makes no difference to me”….but then complain about taxes increases, cry foul at the loss of clean water regulations, say a prayer for those killed in the latest mass shooting, lament about changing gas prices, and so on.

Social media isn’t a solution

More and more, people are realizing that the things being decided at all levels of government, and being done by those in power, directly affect all of us, and can no longer be ignored. People are paying attention and weighing in on far-ranging topics like gas prices, climate change, unemployment benefits, social security, health care, gun control, abortion, foreign policy, trade imbalances, poverty and more.

Social media has helped foster these discussions, even if we set aside fake news and disinformation. But it doesn’t make our feelings known directly to our government representatives or corporate leaders, rarely impacts change and doesn’t help us effectively make informed decisions when it comes to elections.

In 2015, six of the 10 websites in Myanmar getting the most engagement on Facebook were from legitimate media … By 2018, they accounted for zero. All the engagement had instead gone to fake news and clickbait websites.”

As an example of why social media isn’t a solution, take a look at this article, written by Karen Ho. It talks about Myanmar, and how the ‘news’ wasn’t real, etc. Here is an excerpt:

“In 2015, six of the 10 websites in Myanmar getting the most engagement on Facebook were from legitimate media, according to data from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-run tool. A year later, Facebook (which recently rebranded to Meta) offered global access to Instant Articles, a program publishers could use to monetize their content.

One year after that rollout, legitimate publishers accounted for only two of the top 10 publishers on Facebook in Myanmar. By 2018, they accounted for zero. All the engagement had instead gone to fake news and clickbait websites. In a country where Facebook is synonymous with the internet,  the low-grade content overwhelmed other information sources.”

You can make a difference.

We’re all busy with our daily lives (that’s my excuse sometimes), and that’s often why we don’t pay more attention to what our elected representatives are doing. If you’re like me, of course, we get pissed off at the government at all levels, for the inefficiency, for the partisan politics, but it isn’t long before we settle back into frustration or apathy because we think we can’t do anything about it.

That’s simply not true.

The news is key; without news and journalism, how we would know what’s happening unless we see a price increase, an empty shelf, or a military insurgent with a gun on our street?  You can read my other blogs on how important journalism is, but let’s talk about how we can take action and make a difference through TrueNews.global.