In New York the leading news source is, of course, the New
York Times. This is a national newspaper with an international counterpart:
International New York Times. I have walked past their headquarters many times, which takes up a full building almost the size of one square block, and the size of the building demonstrates the
amount of work done daily for this news source.
However it was also Friday, February 12 that the usual slew
of articles regarding mudslinging in the primary debates was
interrupted with a very world-changing article: “Gravitational Waves Detected,
Confirming Einstein’s Theory”. This article recalls of the successful
recording of the sound of two black holes colliding a billion light-years away by a team of
scientists. They go on to say that the noise heard in this recording “is the first
direct evidence of gravitational waves, the ripple in the fabric of space-time”
as described in Einstein’s general theory of relativity. This gives us a
greater understanding of the connection between space and time and “a ringing
confirmation of the nature of black holes”. This article was filled with
excitement from all ends: the writer, the scientists involved, and the
community. It is a truly enthralling discovery and that fact can’t be denied.
Being a national source with an international counterpart the Times is well versed in both international and domestic affairs, including those of the scientific community, however being
a characteristically liberal news source does cause blind spots in regards to unbiased
coverage of the impending elections. Also, because the newspaper is global in
its topics, domestic affairs are often overlooked, for at the back page of yesterday’s
paper was a small blurb on how a prostitute was found dead off of the Hudson
River. Since the New York Times is a national newspaper, it is available almost
everywhere that sells newspapers, including Allegheny college, therefore there is no discrepancy
between the news coverage from here to there. It is in my experience however that the individuals in the streets of New York are much more likely to be seen carrying and reading the New York Times
than those at Allegheny are.
That's the only problem I have with the New york times. They have great articles and can remain largely unbiased in some of them but then there are others, such as the Hillary Clinton ones after they endorsed her, that have been unabashedly biased in her favor. I think news sources should stay away from making individual endorsements. That's when they stray off too far into opinion in my opinion. Over here in France, newspapers, not unlike the new york times, are known to be leftist, moderate, or conservative but there's a level of objectivity that I believe they hold on to by not writing articles that are unapologetically pro-one candidate.
ReplyDeletePretty cool news about the gravitational waves; one member of the team that proved Einstein right is an Allegheny grad! I agree with Ricardo that news sources should stay away from making individual endorsements, but the media is fundamentally geared towards generating news stories that sway one way or the other, so I understand that it's often hard to not agree a lot of the time with a candidate.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like for so many students studying away right now, the American election is a big topic! But I'm so glad you covered these other topics that made the news. It's incredible hearing about the gravitational waves, and your mention of the prostitute who was found dead off the Hudson river is a perfect example of how sometimes more local events get overshadowed. It's interesting too to hear how the ways people interact with the news change even throughout our own country, as you mentioned it's pretty common for people there to actually carry around and read the New York Times.
ReplyDelete