Pew has released its yearly report on the state of the news media. The study concluded that in five hours of cable news, one would see 26 minutes or more of crime, 12 minutes of accidents and disasters, and 10 minutes of celebrity and entertainment. But what of science and technology? With all of the high-tech industries and gadgets out there, one would expect at least as much media coverage of science and technology as of the latest celebrity exploits. But one would be wrong. Out of those same five hours of coverage, only a scant one minute is dedicated to science and technology.
One minute of science news out of five hours of coverage? I know that science and technology can be difficult to understand, but they are important topics that warrant more than 0.33% of news reporting time. What this report says is that crime, accidents and disasters, and celebrities are collectively 48 times more important to the average American than science. That is a sad state of affairs indeed.
