All the News That's Fit to Upload

by A. E. O'Neill

[Originally published September 11, 1999]

The moment when I first realized I had a slightly different set of priorities than the average consumer of information was in sixth grade English class. I was passing notes with my best friend when the teacher came in late; flushed and flustered, and sat down on the edge of her desk, pleading for our attention.

She proceeded to inform us, her voice full of the instructional calm used to impress upon children the gravity of the situation, that the space shuttle had just exploded, moments after launch. Silent in the crackling void that followed her pronouncement, I remember looking around at the stunned classroom and thinking, What space shuttle?

I'll just come right out and admit it: News bores me to tears.

My family was just as politically aware as the next; but somehow I managed to filter anything that didn't entertain my young mind. That day in Mrs. Whipple's class was only the first of many tests of that filter.

At a liberal high school and in college, consuming news was a matter of social necessity; when you're surrounded by politically correct professors and tie-dyed teenagers, being unaware of the latest conflicts in the Gulf or the various platforms of government leaders simply isn't an option.

Luckily, our society has reached a point of media-saturation where anything of vital importance to the general public is spread through so many channels at once that it would be impossible not to hear it within a few hours. Earthquake? War? Celebrity death? The well-oiled machine churns out headlines the instant of impact. And if we feel the need to actually pursue more news, we have many options that are tailored perfectly to whatever demographic we belong to.

For reliable, mainstream, in-the-moment information, CNN (http://www.cnn.com) has secured a foothold on the internet similar to the one they enjoy on television. Wired News (http://www.wired.com) can be trusted to address not only the technology headlines of the day, but enough political and world news to make even the most overworked mouse-potatoes feel like they're still in the loop.

The new Digital Entertainment Network (http://www.den.net), launched on May 10th, has the "Generation Y" market clearly in its sights. So far, it has offered up a handful of original programs as an alternative to mainstream, network-based television and will soon be adding a news program to keep their devotees informed on a narrow band of topics.

The one story running currently offers detailed accounts by various sources, available through different links, video interviews and a section to submit your own news story or opinion. Their closing incitement, "If you have an internet connection you can be a part of the newsDEN team," is a call to action that turns the chore of reporting news into a Choose Your Own Adventure game.

Newcity.com Alternative America (http://www.newcity.com/newcity) offers links to about ten partner sites with a similar slant to youthful, articulate sufferers of Attention Deficit Disorder. No article is longer than a single page; I now know more about Burning Man than I do about the crisis in Indonesia - and I wouldn't have it any other way.