Breaking news that isn't groundbreaking.

I've been taking a Maymester course at the always lovely University of South Carolina- Upstate. I have enjoyed taking SOC 311 (Social Problems) and the professor., Dr. Neary. If you are an Upstate student take a class with her. Do it.

We have been discussing everything from poverty to education to homophobia. All social problems. We talked about the media for a bit today and how it related to our stress levels, and the stress levels of students in grade school. I looked at our local newspaper's website today: goupstate.com and also cnn.com and thought about the news and why it exists. I have come up with one theory so far. I think it has to do with a type of voyeuristic nature in all of us. I came to this conclusion when I asked myself, "what is the news for?". I really didn't come up with a good answer right away. I thought maybe the news could change people's mindsets, or tear down stereotypes. I realized that I was coming from a mind framed around doing good. I thought that it should do some good, everything should do some good. I was wrong. Sure, there are some parts of the news that help people. Almost every channel has a segment about how the reporter calls a company for someone who has gotten the run around on a rebate check, a bad car tune up or even outlandish water bills. Another way that news is helpful is if it shares information that can help others- for instance a segment on the importance of giving blood. However, the majority of the news I see and read has to do with violence or some other form of criminal activity. Why do I want to know about it? A mother runs over her baby in their families driveway. All that does is create sadness for the people who read about it, and adds pain to the family it happened to. It's not necessary. Are our lives so boring that we need to fill it with other people's pain? To have something to talk about at work during those off moments?

If there is something that can be learned from a news story than I am all for it, but if its just for shock value, I'm done with it. I feel for people who have lost and I can share grief with those who have been displaced by war, famine, or catastrophic weather events, but don't rub our faces in it, soon we will all become desensitized and not care what is news. Wait, it may have already happened.