I Did Learn Something at SIUC

As I mentioned in an earlier post I check my news feeds daily. I will admit that some days I am busy enough to do a headline scan and on other days I actually get a chance to read. Never the less, I am noticing a trend in the news that I actually learned about in college. I took a really interesting class at Southern called Politics of Journalism. It could have been a great class but the instructor was not very engaging but I did pick up a few things. One of those things: thematic vs. episodic news coverage.

Episodic coverage is the covering of news events that seem to be unrelated and provide little back story and rarely get followed up. Thematic coverage is a little different. Thematic news coverage tends to follow similar events like it is part of a tv show. Ultimately, these events prompt policy makers to act based on public perception of what ever problem is being thematically coved.

The thematic coverage of the past few months have obviously been guns and kids since the Sandy Hook tragedy. Any story that can be ran is either about guns, kids, or both at the same time. I see tons of mainstream news coverage of kids behaving violently. I have posted some of these articles on my Facebook wall because it has really struck me. Any story about juvenile crime is fair game these days. I get a little frustrated because I am in the kid business and I hate to see them portrayed in a negative light. We school types are doing the best we can.

Can this be helpful or hurtful? I am going to be non-committal and say both. Continued coverage of teen troubles will make the conservative types frightened and wonder, "What is wrong with kids these days?" and ask "Where are these kids parents?" The more liberal types will begin to question the system and devise ways to change institutions to create the desired outcome. The fact is both of these things need to happen. We too often are asked to pick side rather than bring what we have to the table. There is simply too much at stake to play politics or point fingers. Thanks to the news coverage, new conversations are happening. They may be uncomfortable but they need to be held.

I have often said if we want to fix our societal ills we must fix our families. Don't let the news discourage you, let it inspire you. In my post, Lead With the Positive I dreamed about a day that I would look at the news and see positive stories to start my day. Now my new dream, to see positive thematic coverage.