So Much Media, So Little News

So Much Media, So little News
The Elusive Big Idea

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So little attention

So much information, so little Idea The disease of new media has greatly shrink human minds that rub off on more and more people in this technology-accelerating world at present. Daily life nowadays has significant changed compare to ten years ago that office workers used to waiting for subway by reading a daily newspaper, housewives seating at balcony and reading a newspaper in the morning. But now, most people read news on their cellphone or television instead of newspaper. What is rubbing off on their behavior? Peter Funt who is an op-ed writer for the New York Times, writes about blablablabla on his essay “So much media, So Little News”. Neal Gabler who is a journalist and culture historian, writes about the relationship between big idea and post-idea world. On his essay “The Elusive Big Idea”, he argues that people don’t care as much about ideas as they used to be. The connection between the two authors has one of the most important reasons that new media gradually twisted the true value of newspaper that smother big ideas. Thus, in order to correct the twisted value that media are rubbing off on news, the society needs to redefine the value of news and reexamine the concept of big ideas.

The broadsheets offered daily coverage by publishing company, but no commentator or analyst gave any context and readers were left to make up their own minds. Peter Funt believes that there is barely people would create ideas on news, “The sad truth is that while some of us are naturally curious about what we don't know, an increasing number of readers and viewers want only reinforcement of what they already know.”(pg.198) Newspapers believed that their prime duty was to report what had happened the previous day and give a space to reader a way to think, to brainstorm rather than make argument to an event or judge on someone that post online. Were newspapers then better or worse? Certainly, they seem calmer, just followed a formula that required true story rather then come along with a high quality argument to rub off on reader and offer them a ready-made idea. Neal Gabler argues a social fact that people loss attitude to create ideas in his essay, “It’s not because we are dumber than our forebears but because we just don’t care as much about ideas as they did. In effect, we are living in an increasingly post-idea world that fewer people are generating them and fewer outlets are disseminating them, the Internet notwithstanding”(pg 533) New media offers a way that what people can get idea from others immediately. Post-idea is a shortcut to make someone become lazy without thinking or taking advantage of technology as the modern science to make unceasing progress. But more and more people choose new media in order to save effort and expect a quick result, which is called the culture of instant gratification. New media provides a fast way to help them to get to know the others’ opinion of news directly. Obliviously, newspaper is a better choice to help people create idea and prompt advance of society.

Although 24-hour radio news stations had been established, TV equivalents were some years away. The pages may have been fewer, but the number of news stories was, if anything, slightly higher than in today's papers. Peter Funt argues that people pay less attention on on what they not interest, “today's boutique media allow many people to skip news altogether. You can set your Internet home page so that it serves up only what you're interested in.”(pg197) New media has diversity format of news, video, audio and fancy advertisement catches people’s attention. Funt is pointing out a very important social trend in how people approach news media although they have the same nostalgia for the old days. People are seeking out information that confirms their own beliefs and interests as opposed to seeking to be "informed". This creates myopic views of the world resulting in groupthink. The prevalence of more and more "information isolation" is one of the causes of divisiveness. Like what Funt said the best prescription has always been a combination of what Want to know and what we Ought to know. Neal Gabler proposes the reason why people would pay more attention on new media, “It keeps us in the loop, and keeps us connected to our friends and our cohort. Ideas are too airy, too impractical, too much work for too little reward. Few talk ideas. Everyone talks information, usually personal information.” (534). New media takes more advantages from newspaper that could direct to reader’s mind. Newspaper still has a strong positive influence on both spread information and help inspire people’s ideas, but the effect was less overwhelming. This was not just because newspapers had fewer intemperate columnists. It was also because even the miners' strike did not dominate page after page, creating a kind of emotional tsunami, as a similar issue might now. On the broadsheets particularly, width of coverage counted are more than depth of report. People have come to learn more and more and to be given more definite ideas about less and less.
We live in a golden era of information when you don't have to passively rely on the news sellers but can go directly to the source yourself. New media effectively endows us with common eyes, ears, and brain. People should not blindly believe some rumored event occurred as described. Anything remotely of interest is available permanently available for anyone curious enough to look for its true different big idea.