I was in my car, listening to the radio, on came the hourly 60 second clip of news. 15 seconds was dedicated to the woman from Texas who drowned her children in a bath tub last year and is in court again. (I turned the radio off!) Why is this on national news? Why don't I subscribe to the newspaper or watch TV News any more? I'll tell you why. You don't cover the issues and content that I am interested in. I don't care that the fiancé of a man has gone missing on the other side of the country. This is not of national importance.
What I want to hear/see in my press coverage:
Local
I want to hear about up coming events in my community. Events like Relay for Life, the high school graduation, the new theater or sporting arena. I want to hear about proposed development and zoning, sewer treatment concerns, land use issues. Personal stories here are ok, because I might know the person. These affect me locally.
Regional
I want to hear about things that affect me at a regional level. Some may be political, who is running for what office on what issues. Some may be a state law or initiative that will affect me. Or it may be some other state level event. The plowing of Logan Pass in Glacier National Park matters to me, I live in Western Montana.
Federal
I want to hear about the war in Iraq. Who died, how they died, why they died. What are our plans to address what is going wrong. (If you don't know, you might ask!) What success have we had.
I want to know about proposed legislation and it's pros and cons. I want to know about the proposed Medicare Part D legislation before it is on the floor and what is good about it and what isn't. And who is backing it and why. What may be good for the people backing it, may not be good for me.
I want to know about National Security. I want to know about federal funding concerns for things like the levy's in New Orleans. These things matter to me. They are of national importance.
Why is this difficult? Yes, I know why. Because the above would be a press that is informing the public. Heaven forbid that the public should be informed. I choose to be informed and if not by the AP/MSM then by alternative news sources. But don't complain when your market is shrinking because you refused to fill your role as an independent press.