I’ve been reflecting on the news a lot lately. Like many the fate of Malaysian Flight MH370 has held me in its thrall. There is a lot going on aside from the personal tragedy which should be everyone’s first concern. There is the ‘race’ to who finds it first. Australia, New Zealand and the US were all in there competing when our colonial forebears the Brits came in over the top and proved beyond doubt that the plane had indeed crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Clever scientists using theories developed in the 1800s put the pieces together aided by sophisticated computer modelling to draw their conclusions; still to be actually proven at the writing of this blog.
What is interesting is that all the spy technology in the world couldn’t apparently find the plane either while in flight or after it had crashed. There are more than a few people scratching their heads on this and a few others going sceptically – ‘really’? Then there has been the inept handling of the information flow from the Malaysian authorities.
What is surprising about this is the fact that there is so much precedent about how to and how not to handle similar situations. Still fresh in our collective memories is the handling of the nuclear reactor disaster in Fukushima. It is hard to fathom that a similarly inept performance could be repeated within such a short space of time. Here the issue strikes me as one of face. It can be hard to understand this in Australia without a more developed understanding of the Asian region in which we are located but still seem somewhat disengaged from.
So this brought me to a more philosophical consideration of news. As a result of 24 hour TV news and digital platforms, we have access to news more than ever before. It is everywhere and we can’t keep checking it constantly. We have, it seems, an almost unquenchable thirst for news and developments of a news story as it unfolds.
The MH370 story has been a fascinating example of this because it has been a drip, drip of developments over such a protracted period. Almost, I hate to say, a godsend to a 24 hour TV news editor. It has been a story that has kept on giving.
I had the pleasure of listening to philosopher Alain de Botton (http://alaindebotton.com/news-users-manual/) the other day. His latest thinking has been around this very topic of news. It seems strange in the midst of a news event that has focused on technology and its failure and success (e.g. the crashing of the plane and locating it) that we turn to a philosopher to give us some perspective on these things.
He raises questions like: How come disaster stories are often so uplifting? What makes the love lives of celebrities so interesting? Why do we enjoy politicians being brought down? Why are upheavals in far off lands often so… boring? It is reassuring that not only our great science minds can be helpful in such trying times but our thinkers as well.
In a digital age it is all too tempting to dismiss the role of philosophers and ethicists when we probably need them now more than ever. Just to show that he doesn’t take himself too seriously he has his own news site, “The Philosophers’ Mail”. Great laugh if you get a chance http://www.philosophersmail.com/.
And because our news is coming more and more from digital platforms, having reliable news sources where we know the editorial policies and intents is becoming increasingly important. One I favour is The Conversation. Perhaps not so much an immediate news feeder, it gives you more background to the issues as well as commentary. As a not for profit you can be reasonably assured that big business or other vested interests are not pushing a certain editorial line. Of course I also like the ABC and that bastion of editorial independence the BBC. They set the standard and I think are seldom surpassed.
OK here’s the segue to CTC. It’s clumsy but none more so than Andrew Lofthouse to the King on Channel Nine most week nights! At CTC we are about to make our own news.
Hot Leasing is rapidly becoming a known phenomenon as our marketing (spreading our news) is starting to take effect. With the Ministerial opening scheduled for the 29th of April this has to be news worthy event. Not only is it the launch of Hot Leasing, a ground breaking example of collaborative consumption, but it also sees us celebrating 20 years in business. Someone wise once said to me ‘don’t be the best, be the longest’ and there is a lot of truth in that. Twenty years in business is no mean feat and one worth celebrating. It is worthy of shouting about; a bit like the town criers of old who, after all, were the original purveyors of the news.
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