What is the News Cycle Doing To America?

Piper Genkin

As the 2020 election creeps up and COVID-19 cases are on the rise, it’s understandable why the news cycle has become flooded with the same political and health-related stories.  However, in repeating the same information again and again, the news has become a repetitive machine, just repeating facts about COVID and the election, while neglecting all of the other important things going on in the world.  News sources are able to help people in a way they never could before, providing information and resources faster than ever.  And while this information may be important, what is it actually accomplishing?  

Looking at the political side of things, over 60 million votes have been cast as of Tuesday the 27th, according to CNBC, and millions more will be cast before election day.  It's safe to say that almost everyone voting has a strong idea of which candidate they’re going to vote for -- so is it that necessary for every newspaper in the country to be putting out several articles about politics, per day? Is it that necessary for every news channel to discuss politics at all hours, even when they have designated sub-channels to do so?  Is it that necessary that every piece of media must now be breaking news, or it is somehow not newsworthy?  The answer is that it’s not, it just provides good ratings and easy stories for news outlets.  

Now turning to the health side of things, COVID-19 has, and will continue, to dominate the news cycle until it’s gone, and probably even after that.  Still, is it necessary for every media outlet to be discussing COVID in multiple ways, whether that be articles or televised pieces, every single day?  A consistent, daily, piece about the virus and it’s trends, by state, country, or on a global level is an appropriate amount of coverage on the topic, not half a dozen articles per day from the same source just confirming what every other article says.  People have the right to be informed but it doesn’t need to be shoved down our throats so heavily.  Coronavirus statistics can be found with a quick Google search, it isn’t so necessary to be covered every hour of every day of every week.  This nagging of the topic dulls the issue down everytime a viewer, listener, or reader consumes the same information as they had just an hour ago.

So what should the media be talking about?  What should the average American be informed about?  What should the average high school student be informed about?  Maybe the fact that newly found water on the moon could support a livable base; maybe the simultaneous wildfires in Colorado and California; or how about the SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) protests in Nigeria that turned deadly?  These groundbreaking things are happening everyday and yet they don’t seem to be talked about close to the amount of coverage COVID and politics get.  To put my assumptions to the test I asked eight of my classmates at New Rochelle High School whether or not they had heard about these topics (all of which have occurred or developed significantly within the last week): #EndSARS, Colorado Wildfires, California Wildfires, new findings of water on the Moon, the oncoming Vietnam typhoon, the oncoming US hurricane, the first black Cardinal in the Vatican, COVID spikes, and any information regarding the election.  What I found supported my claim: politics and the election are talked about twice as much as almost every other topic mentioned.  While all eight students had heard new information about both COVID and the election, (and the new California Wildfire) only four of the eight students I interviewed knew anything about the ongoing record-setting Colorado wildfire, the #endSARS campaign in Nigeria in which protestors have already died, the incoming US hurricane or the fact that water on the moon could lead to something astronauts have dreamed about for years.  Only one of the eight students had heard information about all eight of the topics, also being the only one to have heard about the incoming typhoon in Vietnam threatening millions or the historical decision of Pope Francis to instate the first black Cardinal in the Vatican.  And what is gained from this unequal news coverage and access?  A tired, weak, and divided America.

With every news story reaffirming the horrible reality that is the world right now, the average viewer looking at the television loses a little bit of hope.  And every time an image comes up of Donald Trump or Joe Biden’s latest quotes, for the tenth time that week, Americans stir angrily at the television hating anyone or anything that disagrees with their politics. Now, am I saying that we should pretend COVID doesn’t exist or even dull it down so that people feel better? No. Am I saying we should forget politics (and the important information around it) exist to make everyone love each other? No.   Ignoring these issues to sleep better at night is not the solution, but the focus on these two topics is mentally exhausting for the country.  When people wonder why we America is so divided, why everything is somehow political, it really isn’t a big secret: the only news we seem to get in today’s world is political.  However, we can’t pretend that real world problems don’t exist because of the mental strain they may put on us.  What we can do however, is heal a little bit through a news cycle that incorporates more than just two main topics.  It would be nice if every once in a while something else could make the headlines, something to inspire and unite America.  Water was found on the moon that could sustain a lunar base!  A lunar base!  This has been something dreamed about for decades, as soon as space travel was thought possible… and yet only four out of the eight students I spoke to had any idea that such an achievement had been made.  And maybe a story circulating in the news about the first Black Cardinal in the Vatican which is yet another groundbreaking advancement in the Vatican (first being the Pope supporting gay marriage) as well as a groundbreaking advancement in the Black community.   Finally, would it be too much to ask news organizations to expose America to the importance of protecting our dying climate which seems to be facing a new “natural” disaster every day.  Maybe seeing the intense wildfires and hurricanes that ensue every other week, would help Americans to see what humans are doing to our planet and how this kind of climate should not be normalized.  

High schoolers aren’t going to read a newspaper everyday, front to back--they’re going to get most of their information from hearing things and seeing things from everyone else and that’s not going to change.  What can change are the few topics that wind up getting circulated,  and it would certainly be nice for one or two things to come around to inspire us all.