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No Such Thing as Objective News · The Daily Writer

• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, welcome to this episode of The Daily Writer.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Every day you're surrounded by news.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: News on the internet, news on television, news in the newspaper, news that other people deliver.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: But have you ever thought about how the quote unquote news is actually created?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: What makes a news story anyway?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take the most ubiquitous form of news that we all grew up with, the nightly news on TV.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: The news anchor sits at a desk and delivers a script talking about a handful of stories about the day's events.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And these can be a mix of world, national, and local news stories.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then it goes to sports, weather, and probably some human interest stories.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever noticed that the day's news conveniently fits into a half-hour broadcast?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, we know that more things happen than fit into a news program each day, but we're so conditioned to accepting this content as news that we rarely question it.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the reality though.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's really no such thing as objective news.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Producers select events and they create a broadcast around those events.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: They choose events that have gotten widespread attention or that seem important.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then those events are framed with a certain point of view supported by facts and details that are chosen to support that point of view.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: A script is written and then is delivered by a news anchor.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Every day there are millions of events happening around the world, but it's not possible to report on all those events, so only the most relevant, exciting, or interesting events are selected and reported on in a typical TV news broadcast.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, it may seem kind of disconcerting to realize that there's no such thing as objective news, but I don't think this necessarily is a negative thing.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, I think it's a freeing realization to know that you have the same power as a news producer or a desk anchor.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can take events or situations and you can write about them.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can add your perspective and your commentary.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And instead of being just a consumer of news, you can become a curator, a tastemaker, a person who influences what other people think is important.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And this isn't manipulation, it's just leadership.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's been said that the first job of a leader is to define reality.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the first job of a writer, too.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Your first and foremost responsibility is to tell the truth as you see it.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So no matter what you're writing about, tell us what you know, tell us how you see it, and tell us how we can use that information to make our lives better.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: There can be no higher calling for a writer than this.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Here's today's question How does it make you feel to know that there's no such thing as objective news and that you have the power to influence people's perspective on life and events?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.