Hey Blog! This post is about the news and where we find it.
There are many ways to find out what is going on in the world: the radio in my bedroom, the newspaper through the front door, friends you meet, magazines, social media, (antisocial media?), the internet, local chit-chat, gossip and conversation. They all have different benefits, different downsides, etc. but it could be said that there are two main branches of information sourcing. News from primary sources is generally at a national level, formally expressed, covering a wide range of topics with little speculation, and very detailed; and the social secondary sourced is generally passed person to person, at a community-level, informally presented, containing lots of speculation and often quite vague.
Though I am mostly aware of the news from national sources, be it what presenters eat for breakfast or the current state of the economy, during the recent bout of flooding a few weeks ago in the local area, I saw the local-level side as there was a lot of random information being thrown about as to the extent of the floodwater. This was very inexact and you could mostly only trust what you knew and saw. However, there are some places where trust in media at all is very low, mostly when the media of that place is controlled, censored, or biased. Propaganda, misinformation and disinformation, all under the infamous heading “Fake News”, run riot and harm the trustworthy news sources. Ultimately, it’s all down to how people react. Some truths are not very pleasant, but they are the truth, and we need to accept and move on. The news is linked to us, the people, as we are the ones who make the choices and determine what happens. It’s up to us.
Of course, the most important news you need to catch up with is this blog, so keep looking out for posts!