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THURSDAY, APRIL 18 - APRIL 24, 2019
Are we suffering from ‘TMINO’ (too much info news overload)?
Is Social Media a Public Health Risk?
Since 1996
VOL. 7, , NO. 16
Terry MILLER
F
tmiller@beaconmedianews.com
ive things are certain in life: birth, death, change, social media and of course email. Each day, I’m knackered beyond understanding after examining hundreds of news websites, Facebook alerts and good old fashioned emails - it’s only 9:30 in the morning. I’ve been reading more “news” than ever but what have I learned? Perhaps basic headlines and maybe a few “names in the news” might have piqued my interest. But did I grasp the “big picture” or did I just add a few million clicks to someone’s digital portfolio enough so to make them appear at the top of a Google search. Those of us fossils who have been in the newspaper business for 30-40 years or more have seen profound changes in recent years: shrinking newsroom budgets in addition to layoffs, buyouts, and in many cases complete shuttering of newspapers’ print operations. Additionally, journalists have been facing an onslaught of increasingly dangerous intimidations, inspired in part, by the current administration’s fear and loathing of news organizations it deems as “the enemy of the people” or “fake news.” A lot of this nasty and unjustified rhetoric is coming our way via social media, Twitter and Facebook to name the top two offenders. This fear-mongering and unfortunate portrayal of reporters as the enemy isn’t anything new, actually.
The amount of information the average American sees on a daily basis can feel cumbersome. – Courtesy photo
Remember back in the 1950s and McCarthyism? History is repeating itself. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created i¬¬n 1938 to investigate ‘disloyalty and subversive activities’ on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist ties. HUAC’s controversial tactics contributed to
the fear, distrust and repression that existed during the anticommunist hysteria of the 1950s. Critics claim that HUAC’s tactics amounted to a “witch hunt” that trampled on citizens’ rights and ruined their careers and reputations. These critics argued that most people who were called before the committee had broken no laws, but instead were targeted for their politi-
cal beliefs or for exercising their very right to voice that freedom of speech. Supporters of the committee, on the other hand, believed that its efforts were justified “given the grave threat to U.S. security posed by communism.” The film industry investigations reached their peak with the events surrounding the Hollywood Ten, a group of writers and directors who
were called to testify in October 1947, refused to cooperate with the investigation and used their HUAC appearances to denounce the committee’s tactics. All were cited for contempt of Congress and sentenced to prison terms, in addition to being blacklisted from working in Hollywood. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy
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