The revelation of the identity of the Watergate personality known as "Deep Throat" has obscured another important story this week: less news is happening now than ever before.
By a simple headlines count, the usual high number of stories have been released, a number consistent with reporting levels seen since the early 1990s when 24-hour cable news exploded onto the scene. However, according to the two content analysis studies released today by AP and Reuters, the preponderance of news headlines since 2003 merely restate or refract already reported stories. The studies were undertaken independently by the two news providers.
Industry pundits, ironically enough, have initially laid blame for the dearth of news on themselves. With the public's appetite for immediate analysis of news stories, reporters have become most concerned with ensuring that known stories achieve complete coverage in all their nuances. Meanwhile, news organizations have devoted correspondingly greater media space, whether print, radio, interactive, or television, to commentary, leaving less space for "new" news and less incentive for reporters to find it. Also emergent is a practice termed the "Camp O.J." Effect, where reporters reportedly seek out new stories that are likely to have a high degree of interest to facilitate saturation coverage, are mostly based on opinion rather than events, and take place within a circumscribed area where reporters can temporarily set up banks of broadcasting equipment and cameras so as to be able to cover every development at a moment's notice.
Dark Matter is investigating the relationship between this drop in news and a possibly related drop in the number of events taking place worldwide. Dark Matter's editorial policy remains firmly rooted in the principle that all events are ontologically suspect and, for this reason, should be reported with caution.
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