No news is good news
Kevin Niederman
COLUMN LIKE I SEE EM'
I really enjoy local news.
Really.
National news, or world news, has fallen from what news should be. Instead of reporting on stories that affect your life, they provide a series of manipulative emotional garbage.
Car accident? No news there. Kindergarten bus accident where over ten children were doused in fuel and burned alive? That's news people need to hear!
While any such story is a tragedy, if it was an accident, there isn't anything you could do with that knowledge other than feel bad. It's like going to a trusted uncle to hear the latest about familial dealings, only to have him punch me in the stomach and squirt lemon juice in my eyes. It's non-constructive, senseless pain.
Local news, on the other hand, informs you on things that have a direct effect on you.
Need to know if traffic will be bogging down your morning commute, if the weather will be particularly unsettling or if any new local legislation will be implemented? Then local news has you covered.
Every story is relatable and relevant.
Even when reporting on tragedy, the kindergarten bus accident for example, local news lets you know how you can help or what you can do. Do the buses need to be examined for flaws? Do the families of the victims need support? Does the bus driver hiring policy need to be altered?
The ways in which you can get involved and make a difference are often said aloud on the air, and it feels all the more personal when the stories happen at home.
The greatest thing about local news, however, is the lack of news. When you aren't searching the world over for tragedy and ratings, obviously, you'll find less to actually report on. But that doesn't matter. They have a time slot, and they have to fill it. That's where local news comes into its own.
Movie reviews,"celebrity" guests, persons of the week, pets of the week, businesses of the week, recipes, DIYs and "life hacks"—It's all there. For the most part, you won't really use any of these, but each and every one lets you see a little bit more of the quirks and flaws that make up your community.
If national news is like an uncle that hits me, then local news is like an over-enthusiastic grandmother. She loves to tell me stories and she knows all the family gossip.
She loves to find little things she thinks I'll love and show them to me with flare, but she can be serious when she needs to be. She knows I love cookies. And she makes me the cookies I love.
And I love her for it.
Kevin Niederman is a junior nursing major hailing from Santa Rosa CA, about an hour north of San Francisco. He enjoys cartoons, hats, and driving ridiculous distances for food that has the potential of being amazing.