News needs debate

On occasion as I'm falling asleep I watch TV news. I also read newspapers when they are left on the table at my coffee shop.

I do not find news, in its current format, to be very appealing. I have gone a decade at a time without paying attention to the news.

One of the reasons for my disdain, and possibly the reason for the declining role of newspapers and TV news, is the failure to understand that news is never a single matter of truth or solitary observation.

Most events are seen differently by different people and accepted in different interpretations.

I suspect this is the reason that there are completely separate modalities around Fox news and MSNBC and that CNN is unable to capture either of those audiences. Both the Fox news and the MSNBC audiences understand that news is always a polarity and they accept the polarity that they are offered on these two networks.  Few believe in the false middle ground of CNN.

What I think is missing is a news source, TV and newspaper, that presents the debate inherent in most news reporting. Let me give you an example since most TV news is fire, murder or mayhem.

Fire can be reported from the perspective of a property owner, Fire Chief or a neighbor. A murder always has multiple perspectives based on multiple observers and it is always seen differently by family members and outsiders. Mayhem is inherently subject to controversy both as to cause, negligence and remediation.

There is plenty of room to introduce debate and controversy into the core of news reporting.  I believe it will be more interesting to ordinary human beings if it has debate and controversy.