I'm sitting in my office at home this afternoon watching TV. Not on my TV mind you and not my local stations. I'm watching local news from New Orleans and Houston while writing this post. Now there's nothing new about this and those of you who might happen across this post on the net, or are under the age of say 30, are going to say "well duh!" Well, take it from an aging guy who grew up watching 3 channels, and served as a human remote control, this is amazing.
Now, the question becomes is it good? In general I believe more information is better than less information. That said, instant information can be a double edged sword. On the upside, anybody who cares can get all the information they desire from a variety of sources previously unavailable to them. However, instant access has degraded the quality of journalism and has clearly contributed to the sensationalization of journalism. It has created the concept of "scud studs" and "hurricane heros" and with the possible exception of NPR and PBS has all but eliminated in depth reporting.
That said, am I contributing to the dilution of news? I haven't watched this much TV news in some time and if it weren't for the storm I probably wouldn't be today. Are the media simply giving us what we've asked for?
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