Like many other people who've been burned by believing too quickly, I've learned to put almost all of what journalists call "breaking news" into the categories of gossip or, in the words of a scientist friend, "interesting if true." That is, even though I gobble up "the latest" from a variety of sources, the closer the information is in time to the actual event, the more I assume it's unreliable if not false.Toward a Slow-News Movement (Thanks, Dan!)It's my own version of "slow news" -- an expression I first heard on Friday, coined by my friend Ethan Zuckerman in a wonderful riff off the slow-food movement. We were at a Berkman Center for Internet & Society retreat in suburban Boston, in a group discussion of ways to improve the quality of what we know when we have so many sources from which to choose at every minute of the day...
But this isn't about saving the old guard. It's mostly about persuading audiences to, among other things, "take a deep breath" before leaping to conclusions, as PaidContent's Staci Kramer tweeted. (I don't trust journalists to do this anymore, with too few exceptions.)
In a practical sense, we can help it along if we find ways to preserve a happy by-product of the manufacturing process. Or, as Clay puts it in an email, "the idea -- that we have to get back, by design, the kinds of things we used to get as side-effects of the environment -- is so important right now, and especially for news."
Slow News: designing reflection and contemplation into the news-cycle
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I like Gilmor's instinct. It's why people still head to the NYTimes. They tend to treat news as more than a headline. You need quotes from experts and background information to contextualize.
Isn't this just a fancy way of saying "daily newspaper?"
Is he describing magazines?
I'd say The Atlantic and The New Yorker have been doing 'slow news' for a long, long time.
The painful truth is that most people today want their news like they want their food: fast.
Opinion pieces?
Yeah, I'm thinking there is some existing term that would cover this idea but I can't pin it down either. Bill Moyers?
Oddly enough, on the largest network news stations (BBC World and CCN, better known as Propaganda 1 and Propaganda 2), I find the breaking news to be most interesting. Often, after the news has broken and the editors get hold of the story, much gets sanitised, and sometimes the whole story even drops OFF the newscycle.
I've often come across bits of news which are never mentioned again, or spun. Researching the internet, blogs, different newssources (foreign press) then tells me that the news is valid and true, but (due to editorial bias?) these things never get mentioned again on tv.
So, I do agree with the concept of slow news, however, breaking news tends to be more honest in it's reporting and even if somtimes a restraction is needed, I've noticed that more often than not (certain parts of) stories just vanish from the larger stations.
Remember how Thoreau questioned whether man really needed to travel at (the then unheard of) 60 miles-per-hour? Well, how does it really benefit my life to know right this second about almost anything, other than local weather or traffic conditions? If some bill passes in congress, if there is a tsunami in Malaysia, if a car bomb kills 20 people in Iraq, if Taylor Swift and Kanye are getting married, I don't need to hear about it right away. The 24-hour news networks are always trying to "scoop" each other-- why? If CNN reports it FIRST, is Fox or MSNBC really "scooped" if they report it 5 minutes later? FIVE MINUTES!!!?? Relax, and slowly step away from the teleprompter.
I have been thinking about this in connection with our society for some time.
For instance, our legislative process used to require weeks or months to respond to even the most emotional issue giving time for rational thought.
The throw away society in general. Quantity over quality, price over quality. Even though in many aspects a quality item will long outlast and outperform the cheap disposable items. Not to mention being cheaper in the long run.
Now here is the blow the lid off idea that could result in returning society back to being LOCAL. People would literally shoot me for this idea.
Make all personal automobiles illegal.
Consider all the ramifications. No longer easy to travel long distances so most things would need to be provided locally. Extended families would once again tend to live near each other which would provide much more support to families. Because items would harder to get people would prefer to purchase better quality that will last.
Mind you, I'm not saying dump the advantages of technological society, but dumping the disadvantages... I can't think of any other single change that would make such a large difference.
Ward
No, Anon#2, Slow News is not usually a daily newspaper - it's the Sunday New York Times. Occasionally it's articles that get run as multi-day serials in the daily papers - the LA Times and occasionally San Jose Mercury News have done that. Occasionally it's long insightful articles in the Wall Street Journal. Back when local newspapers really were local newspapers, as opposed to outlets for some big chain, they'd sometimes also do real reporting of stories that actually required investigative journalism, but that's increasingly rare.
"Is he describing magazines?
I'd say The Atlantic and The New Yorker have been doing 'slow news' for a long, long time."
A lot of slow news comes from magazines, but not all magazines provide slow news. Slow news means actual journalistic footwork, with the intent to get the facts right more than just getting the facts out first. The Atlantic is a good example.
Remember Katrina? The stories of the first week were heavily contaminated by uncorroboratted rumors and racist scaremongering. We all had to wait two weeks before reliable reporting started coming out. If we don't support slow news, our society will suffer.
So what we're talking about here is braking news?