A recent AP article claims the above. In this new book titled “No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle,” Howard Rosenberg and Charles S. Feldman:
“argue that the need for speed results in news telecasts with more mistakes and less analysis. And with so much airtime to fill, second-rate content that shouldn't qualify as news comes to dominate the programming,” the article states.
Of course, this theory can be applied to many sources, not just the news media.
The book description notes:
“Veteran journalists Rosenberg and Feldman examine the shrinking news cycle-the period of time between when a news event occurs and its reportage-through a series of incisive essays.
They decry the reckless speed at which stories appear in print, electronic, and broadcast media, which sacrifices journalistic integrity and fact-checking processes. They trace this need for speed back to the advent of 24/7 cable news networks like CNN, which was founded in 1980.
Under pressure to fill hours of airtime, networks began inflating stories by constantly updating them, magnifying non-news events, and injecting personal conjecture from anchors. The Internet, blogs, and the birth of citizen journalism led to even higher stakes for the professionals.
Rosenberg and Feldman suggest that while speed itself is not bad, the resultant
Similar in tone to Rosenberg's earlier Not So Prime Time: Chasing the Trivial on American Television, this book pulls no punches in its assessment of the profession. Recommended for academic and public libraries.”
Continuum International Publishing Group is the publisher, and the AP reviewer ironically notes that the book is a “quick read.”
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