Calming Chaos

Reporting on problems is the job of researchers, academics and journalists. Creating solutions is the job of academics, researchers, government agencies, private think tanks and corporations which see an opportunity for new products and services. Reporting on those solutions and developments, is the job of journalists and marketers. The latter for the public relations benefits caused by the emergent solutions.

Problems and solutions. The problem side of this two word formula is something widely reported. Propagandists report on this. So do journalists. And agencies, and anyone else with a special interest in the matter. Problems as fodder for public communications. This is where the chaos resides and grows.

The result is growing unrest among the people, the citizens. Laments and teeth gnashing become more common, more public. The chaos grows as do calls for someone to do something about these problems. In the early stages of reporting on all this, of course, is naming someone to blame for the chaos. This drives the chaos deeper and more insistent.

On the other hand of this matter is what society does about the chaos. What solutions are possible? To learn more about this, research must be done. Causes of chaos need to be nailed down in order to take appropriate action in curbing more of the same chaos. Causes need not be confused with blame. Blame only creates anger and emotions that derail commonsense solutions.

Studying a problem is just one phase of managing the chaos. But to solve the chaos, far-reaching research needs to uncover what triggered the problems in the first place. With that knowledge we can begin the process of lessening the negative outcomes. We can begin to fashion solutions, not just band aids, but actual solutions that turn a negative into a neutral, and possibly into a positive.

Reporting on these developments helps a society calm down and think creatively for solutions. We have been here before. We have survived the negative. We have created the positive. Progress has edged forward over and over again in just such a manner. We did it before; we can do it again.

Like gun violence. We know the violence from guns is real. We see the results everyday in the news. The question not being asked is – “What causes gun violence? What can we do to lessen gun violence? Whose job is it to manage this problem? Do we address the horrors of outcomes? Or do we address causes and attempt to find workable solutions?”

The objective is to reduce gun violence. In an ideal world the objective is to eliminate gun violence. Reducing the violence is a start, a very good start. So, what information on this objective do we hear in the news? Anything?

No. We do not. The press, academic, and government arenas are silent on this subject. Why is that? what do we do about that?

Gun violence is just one example of the unanswered chaos being reported today. Why do these issues remain unreported? As a society, how do we create dialogue and solutions to our pressing problems?

Just what is the role of journalism in the 21st Century?

November 16, 2021

 

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