What has become of the news?

Question: When did "television news" stop being the news and start being "entertainment"?

Answer: When our excuse for a media started chasing ratings - in other words pretty much forever.

It's why many of us won't watch commercial television - because there hasn't been any real news coverage there since about 1970 maybe earlier.

And it's why the ABC is attracting so much criticism today - because they have decided that they want to be *popular*. And apparently being *popular* means that you need to discard things like truth and facts.

Question: Why?

Answer: Because it’s easier being *popular* if you also discard *truth* and *facts* and make stuff up. Apparently, it's what people want to hear. Duh?

And that Virginia is why in 2011 we now have an Australian population that can't seem to get its head around important issues like - Climate Change, Carbon Tax, Immigration, Asylum Seekers, the NBN and so on.

Because since about 1970 they have been force fed oodles of manufactured pap that is designed to *entertain* them as opposed to *inform* them - all under the banner of *News*.

And now we expect them to magically be *informed* and make sensible choices. It simply ain't possible.

Solution: Go watch "Goodnight and Goodluck" and then tell me this debacle wasn't predicted.