Cable News: How Much is Too Much?

The question we keep coming back to is how the 24-Hour News Cycle changes the dynamic of the news viewer. Do we get too much coverage? Do we get the right coverage? Do we get drastically different coverage based on which channel we watch? All are valid, interesting question every viewer has to ask themselves.

My big take away from four years of journalism school is that Cable News is just like any other news. Yes, we are oversaturated with news outlet. But, this can be a very good thing.

When news outlets have more competitors, it fosters two things: News consumers allowing their eyeballs dictate who succeeds and who fails, and news outlets are forced to do new and different things to attract said eyeballs.

In recent years, this has meant 24 hour news networks have skewed more toward the margins of the political spectrum and society than the middle, which could be a problem, sure. However, when the mainstream news media forces itself out to the margins, it leaves a gaping hole in the middle of every demographic that wants news.

The way those holes are being filled now are through countless niche sites that create a news buffet of sorts where the consumer is allowed to pick a sampling of news that best fit their interests. This creates a news environment where everyone who wants a specific sort of coverage to seek out the networks that best meet their needs.

This is called a "pull" news environment (as opposed to a "push" environment). Instead of the major networks only deciding what gets covered, there are so many producers of news that the viewer can get exactly what they want.

Does this mean the quality of each individual news service will degrade? This is possible, but it's up to each consumer to demand the best of their news service and abandon ship. Because of how many news producers there are, a news industry could not survive a situation where they lose readers for being dishonest. It's in their best interest to tell the truth.

So, while it is a little alarming that so often, mainstream news sites like Fox and MSNBC can be playing both sides of the fence - because that can obviously destroy the quality of their news coverage - it doesn't have to be. We can be our own editors and get mad enough to give the power to other news organizations to tell the story. And, if there's any one benefit from the digital revolution of news, it's that.