I would like to briefly revisit a previous blog: A Tracking Device on a Press Release. A comment from Chris van Opstal made the important point that the issue with reporting stories on AIDS in Africa, is finding some new angle - a REASON - to report the story everyone already feels they know.
I am in no hurry to criticise the media for its reporting methods, and I understand market and editorial pressures place great restraints on the journalist.
The problem lies however, in my belief that there are articles-a-plenty (particularly in the health sector) where the same topic has been printed over and over again… Lose that extra weight before Summer… Winter beauty-tips… How to de-stress…
The conspicuous pattern my examples fall into is that those stories people never seem to tire of, are ’self-help’ type articles. Perhaps this is simply proof that in the health beat, readers, listeners and viewers are searching more for health advice than health news.
I think many of us would like to think however that if people are happy to read the same fitness tips over and over, a small development in the massive issue of AIDS in Africa should get a look-in at the major news organisations. This is especially important with the ever-growing use of the Internet to report the news.
In a time when running an article meant committing to one story whilst omitting another, perhaps an editorial policy that cast out articles that SEEMED to be ‘old news’ could be understood.
But news organisations today publish massive amounts of extra information on the web, with no space constraints. So why not publish a news story where US pharmaceutical firms have decided not to sell their WHO-recommended drugs in Africa and have provided a limited explanation as to why?
The Internet brings with it many great opportunities for journalism. One of these should be the opportunity to report stories in significant news firms that may not be covered in the hard copy of the publication itself. The Internet should not just be a place where alternate news sources and individuals are given a voice, but a place where those facing the greatest editorial constraints in their other mediums are given room to breathe.
