The Feather • February 24, 2016 • https://thefeather.com/111708/letter-to-editor/111708/
LETTER: Appreciating the news
Guest Writer and Guest Writer
This letter was written in response to Scholastic Journalism Week.
Dear editor,
Scholastic Journalism Week has arrived, and I can say that a few different things have been brought to my attention that I didn’t quite realize. Some of The Feather staff came into our advisory classes and spoke to us a little bit about why news is so important. I completely agree with all of their arguments concerning the importance of news, but later, after further pondering, a thought struck. Nobody pays attention to the news anymore, right?
The truth is, how many people really turn on the 11 o’clock news to pass time or pick up a newspaper to go along with their coffee on a Sunday afternoon? Not many people from this generation rarely do, if at all for that matter. What I am really trying to get at here is that the way we get our news is evolving, and fast.
Social media is becoming the most popular way for us to see what’s new around the world. It allows us to keep in touch with our favorite celebrities, stay informed about what is going on with our favorite sports team, and it can even tell you what your friends are looking at too. That is the beauty of it all, the immense accessibility and real time, down to the minute updates, at the end of your fingertips.
News allows us to stay connected or “in the know,” if you will. The best part about it is that due to our first amendment rights, it also gives us something we here in America take for granted. A voice. News shouldn’t be just a one way act of merely giving information, it should be an active, ongoing conversation between the two parties. The reporters and the people. I mean, the subject of news is the people themselves. It can’t thrive without the people, whether it be their support via viewership or their feedback, it relies on the people.
A faulty news source is biased, which can be extremely dangerous especially if it is controlled by the government and is the people’s only source of information, much like it is in some Communist countries. This could be considered propaganda and some type of brainwashing. The difference between us and them is that we have the power to say what we want to say back. We have the power to hold the presenter of news accountable. This is why it is important for us to be active in news.
The Feather deserves to be commended for their never ending efforts to keep up and stay connected with all of us through all of the latest popular social media sights.
– Roman Endicott
For more letters to the editor, read LETTER: Cheer reestablishes competition squad.