Thomas Crooks Thomas Crooks was just an ordinary guy until he listened to his overtaxed brain. Brain: Do you know you can be famous? Crooks: How? Brain: By attempting the infamous! So, Crooks picked his father’s AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. He listened to his confused brain again and headed to a rally nearby. Minutes later, he did a crooked thing by firing at Donald Trump! Crooks wasn't a known professional crook. But he obviously had a enough crooked mind to store explosives in his car and home. Yes, the Trump shooter was one man. But his name, “Crooks,” gave the impression of a multiple negative character. His crooked act and plans probably justified the addition of letter “s” to a his name, making him one but many crooks! Crooks’ “crooked shot missed Trump by an inch. Thomas Crooks was probably so crooked that he couldn't think straight. But thank God he couldn't shoot straight, either. Otherwise, the world would have missed a daring, straight...
JOURNALISM AND ITS MANY SIDECHICS.
Welcome, dear journalists (real and fake) and mischief-makers, to a wonderful day on the calendar— Press Freedom Day! Today, we raise our pens or two-kobo Android phones in celebration of the noble pursuit of attention, truth, justice, and the occasional typo.
Well, the pen might be
“mightier than the sword”, but never as sharp as autocorrect. In any case, that used to be before Andy Rubin, et al, came up with the android project. Now, quacks even have the unconstitutional right to turn a presidential proclamation into an inconsequential recipe for pancakes. The tragedy of misinterpretations in communication, if you ask me. But, don’t, anyway!
Yes, in today’s fast-paced world of journalism, every story is urgent. Sorry, “breaking!” From groundbreaking news to and about breaking wind, journalism now walks a fine line between uncovering truth and discovering the colour of foul air.
Ah, that enigmatic allure of "breaking news"! Sometimes, despite the fake urgency, it leaves us scratching our heads, wondering what exactly is so "breaking" about it. Yet, the only thing truly breaking about “breaking news” often turns out to be our patience - as we wait endlessly for the actual news to break. Imagine a wide-eyed anchor declaring: "We interrupt our regular programming for this breaking news!" Only for you to see a picture of acat stuck in a tree!
“Breaking news” is now a sign of
desperation - a tool used to attract undue attention. It’s a frantic attempt to lure someone to read, watch or listen to an empty content. So, relax. It's not the news that's breaking—it's our collective sanity as we try to make sense of it all.
Headlines used to act as windows into the stories. And, someone described headline crafting as a “dance between accuracy and alliteration”. But today, man can bite dogs. And, a "Politician Speaks Truth…” A newspaper once accidentally wrote "Pubic Library" instead of "Public Library" in a headline. Unless clean shaven, it must have been a hairy situation, I guess.
I was taught that when doctors make mistakes, they are buried - six feet, sometimes. Lawyers’ mistakes are hidden - locked up behind bars. But journalists’ mistakes are always blown open - on the front pages and public tv screens! For instance, there was an occasion when one group was “unjustly” replaced with another: "Prostitutes Appeal to Pope," when it was meant to be "Protesters Appeal to Pope."
A foreign newspaper once told us that: "Obama Visits Friends President" instead of "Obama Visits French President." While the French president may have enjoyed the friendship, another medium gleefully announced in a photo caption that a: “Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter." Perhaps, the man was more active and vindictive as a ghost!
Yet, the blunders the real journalists make in their genuine hurry to update the world with news only shows their human side. They also show that even in the serious business - where journalists risk lives and limbs to bring us the news from some of the world's most dangerous places - there's always room for a little laugh.
Still, while fighting with the authorities for a freer press, the need for fact-checking redoubles! Even in this era of alternative truths, facts still remain sacred.
Yeah, truth is stranger than fiction and fiction is sometimes presented as truth. So, the sure way to remain credible in journalism is to fact-check! Without facts, we might as well all be watching a prankfilled reality show called: “Impractical Jokers”!
At the moment, the true health of journalism is not certain. Half alive; half dead! Any possibility of full recovery? Maybe. Perhaps, dropping some of the sidechics mentioned above may help speed up recovery. Yet, as ethics of the practice give way to android emojis and illiterate Gen Z coinages, journalism increasingly risks usurpation by charlatans. We no long struggle with the quacks, only. Robots may soon replace reporters, and may one day win the Pulitzer Prize for the most creative use of emojis in a “breaking tweet”!
Meanwhile, raise your glasses in celebration of the day. And, never forget the countless journalists who occasionally stumble over their own words as they struggle to inform! Here’s also to the numerous sidechics dragging journalism down!
Comments
Post a Comment