Maybe the best way to make people care about the news is to market it better, as if its a product/service rather than a source of information.  We may have the average American why he/she should care about the news, the same way the late Billy Mays convinced many people they need OxiClean.

The first story I clicked was “Pakistan Objects to U.S. Expansion in Afghan War“.  Below is the first paragraph of the story, which I “translated” for a general audience.  I don’t mean to oversimplify the issue here, but I want to show what I mean by marketing the news.  We need to give people a reason to care!

(Pictured at left: Why you should care bear, by johntrainor)

Original Text: “Pakistan is objecting to expanded American combat operations in neighboring Afghanistan, creating new fissures in the alliance with Washington at a critical juncture when thousands of new American forces are arriving in the region.”

Translation: Pakistan wants to keep American forces out of Afghanistan.  Because Pakistan and America are friends, this disagreement is causing tension.

Why News Matters: Do you know anyone in the Marines? This conflict could affect who gets sent to Afghanistan to fight and who gets sent home.  If America grants Pakistan’s wishes, less Americans will be fighting overseas. If we piss off Pakistan enough, “terrorists” may turn on American troops and start a conflict. This could potentially launch a new war.

One problem with this is that no one can really predict what will make someone care.  As an American, I can guess.  However, my friend Mark wrote, via Facebook chat, “People have such cognitive dissonance it’s hard to tell what would make them care.”  But what if we could make a few people care?  Could that save news industry?

(Pictured at left: Media is cool again, by Noël Zia Lee)

Everyone, young and old, had to read Harry Potter, and everyone anticipated J.K. Rowling’s next installment.  The characters are compelling, the story is imaginative, the writing is clear and easy to read, and the imagery is vivid.

Harry Potter is a series of fantasy books.  I understand that many people read fantasy books to escape reality, but we need to remember that reality is often times much more interesting than fantasy.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can’t make this stuff up.”?

How can newspapers and magazines inspire the same enthusiasm as Rowling did in her readers?  I am trying to think about how reporters can tell their stories in new and interesting ways.  How can news outlets excite and capture the imagination of their readers without compromising factual content and the serious nature of the news?

The Daily Show gets viewers excited about news, even if the show is meant to be satirical.  The New York Times is trying to retain readers by updating the design of its print edition.  Journalists have launched their own blogs with the hopes of telling their stories in new ways, without the constraints of a news organization limiting their output.

(Pictured at right: Why escape?, by Sam Judson)

News media should exist in order to inspire citizens to take action and make change.  How will you inspire anyone if your message does not engage someone’s imagination?

Somehow, the news media needs to focus more on titillating creativity and thought; reality should be such a commanding presence that no one feels the need to escape it.

Twitter member @TravelingAnna wrote, “Michael Jackson broke the Internet. everything is down.”

CNN and NY Times wouldn’t confirm his death until almost a half hour later. I kept wondering what would happen if TMZ was wrong; many people trust this AOL-owned website, despite the its typically-”fluffy” subject matter.

(Pictured at left: Breaking news!, by emutree)

Twitter member @BethanyShondark wrote, “They (TMZ) have people in every LA hospital on their payrolls. I didn’t doubt it when they broke it first.”

My Facebook and Twitter friends believed the news of Jackson’s death before the major news networks released official word. Do we have social media and the Internet to thank for the speedy and very viral spread of news? Who can we trust to report the news?

Honestly, I didn’t believe it until the LA Times confirmed it. I refuse to believe TMZ, Twitter, and Facebook. What does that say about me? Am I the only one who believes that big media venues like CNN and MSNBC know everything?

My brother directed me to this article from The Onion in 2005: “During a search for evidence at the Neverland Valley Ranch, investigators discovered a corpse that has been identified as that of Michael Jackson, Santa Barbara police officials announced Tuesday.” Sure, most people understand that The Onion is not a real news source. But who is to say that what is printed is or isn’t true?

Will there come a time when hearsay is news? Will we ever lose respect for the serious reporting done by the major news networks and publications? Will we jump the gun just because we want to be the first ones to know the truth? And how will we know what is the truth?

(Pictured at right: The gossip bench, by ercwttmn)

Will there be a day when we’re not waiting for CNN to confirm that something is true before we believe it’s true, even though we heard it first?

I found a great quote by Lord Northcliffe via Daringfireball.net about the relevation of news: “News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.” If this is true and if it is so hard to get the “news”, then we will always question the validity and truth of the sources.

If we’re trying to get to the bottom of something, some facts will always be missing. Does that mean we should put more trust in the efforts that everyone makes to get that news or in the belief that eventually someone (CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC) will get to the bottom of it?

Today, I am writing simply because I stumbled upon Journalism Is Dead, “a collection of alarmist, bombastic and otherwise humorous quotes about why journalism as an industry is dead”.

(Pictured at left: We get the point, by vortistic)

I’m pretty sure that Mark S. Luckie, the guy behind this site and 10,000 Words, is trying to poke fun at the issue, but every time I refresh the page, my stomach sinks. “Just in case no-one told you, printed newspapers are dead.” “Newspapers are DEAD, done now stop being surprised about it.”

Yo, everyone needs to settle down. Settle down!

I wholeheartedly believe that the ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and with integrity is one of the most valuable skills a person can possess. In order to maintain a peaceful and organized society, we must be able to communicate with one another.

Not everyone is a stellar communicator (not everyone has to be!), but certain people interpret, translate, compile, compose, and transmit messages on society’s behalf. Those people are JOURNALISTS in some way, shape, or form.

Whether these gifted communicators are writing for a NEWSPAPER or for a BLOG, these people are TELLING STORIES. The most coherent stories are the ones that readers will read. The stories written by the most trusted communicators will be the most valuable.

(Pictured at right: Some people are good at telling stories, by kodomut)

The story dictates the way it needs to be told. Today’s stories require a different mode of telling.

So seriously, calm down.