CROSSING THE CARO-LINE : No New News

CAROLINE REN
Editor in Chief

This election day, less than one year before I am of legal voting age, I cannot help but regretfully realize how tragically little I know about current political issues. While it is undoubtedly my role to educate myself, I nevertheless feel a certain sense of betrayal from news media.

As a student journalist, I am disappointed by what I see on television in the morning before I head to school: frivolous stories reported seemingly for the sole purpose of entertainment. Journalists should tell people what they need to know and what they want to know, but it seems more and more that some news channels focus on the latter far more than on the former. A lack of proper information leads to poor decision-making by the public, which is unacceptable and only creates more problems.

Many of us as teenagers will be able to register as voters very soon, within the next year or next few years. We are the next generation that can advocate change in local as well as state and national governments. We must demand stronger political coverage in the media, because we deserve to know more about what we are supporting or opposing. Appealing to emotions while cutting out important information in order to garner views and thereby generate revenue from advertisers is unacceptable. It is lazy journalism, and it is something we should by no means condone.