What is news, anyway? Why are we at times so addicted to it, yet other times it is the most mundane thing on earth?
As a child, from 6 to 7 p.m. there was a talking head on television yammering on about some junk that was definitely not The Electric Company or The Banana Splits. In the intimate world of a child, news of interest is restricted to that child’s home or neighborhood block. The child does not care about world events, or even about an aunt or uncle who does not frequently visit.
As one gets older, the scope of news broadens. The world expands to an entire school, with hundreds of children, notes in lockers and juicy pre-teen gossip. There are more people involved, and seemingly a lot more is going on. The news of interest, however, remains small. World events come and go, but the pre-teen’s mind is focused far more closely on getting chores done in time to go roller-skating.
High school is a building filled with overly emotional miniature adults. They demand to be given the respect and freedoms of adulthood, but adult responsibility is “not fair.” Finally the news has taken a more national turn. The teenager takes up the newspaper to skim the front page, then ravenously takes in entertainment pages and record reviews. The interest has broken from the tiny bubble of the teen’s immediate world.
We grow slowly into fully functioning, fully responsible adults. We still read the comics and the record reviews, but it is our duty to be informed of the hard news. We need to be educated in the world so we can impress our friends, neighbors, and potential employers. What fools we would seem if we walked into the voting booth to do our patriotic duty and we did not know a single name on the ballot. Or screamed about taxes going up when we were the ones who voted for every new bond issue on that same ballot.
What is news? Is it Bill and Monica? Or the Dow dipping below 8,000? Who cares about Iraq unless it makes the gas cheaper? Who decides what the news is?
People tell the news organizations what is going on, and they in turn tell everyone else. The newspapers go snooping around courthouses and police blotters and then they report their findings to everyone else. The news radio stations take public records and make them public.
The news purveyors have to get the information from somewhere. They are not omniscient. Police officers need someone to call 911. Superman had to hear the voice of Lois Lane crying “Superman! Help!” News and information are two-way streets. Someone tells the news organizations what is going on, the news organizations tell you, and then you tell them if that is what is news to you.
Readership forms a publication as much as the editorial staff. Without constant feedback from the readers, the newspaper would be in a vacuum.
We are college students, however diverse we are. What is important to the college student from any walk should be in this paper.
The Free Press is real news with a select audience of over 11,000. Among that 11,000 are at least a few with a scoop. There are also at least a few who can write. One in that 11,000 is reading this. Are you angry? Are you interested? Do you have the skinny?
Send me an e-mail: [email protected]. Send me a note: 92 Bedford St., Portland, ME, 04102. Give me a call: 780-4084.