In 2007, John Piper wrote a post on his blog titled “The Importance of News”. In that post, he wrote a statement that challenged me. He said;
“I determined that for me, news is important to the extent that it (1) affects me or those I care about (from my family in Florida to wider areas of social justice), (2) applies to ideas I care or should care about, and (3) allows me to take action on it. With that in mind, I can seek out journals, magazines, blogs, etc. that filter news close to my criteria.”
This statement remains applicable to today and more important, now, that we consider it. There is so much junk reported, some for political reasons, some to “sell papers”, and some to just fill up space. This isn’t simply a moral matter–because there is immoral junk out there as well, but a practical one. Why should I spend my time reading something that has no purpose for? Am we not entertained enough?
So what is my purpose with the news? It is somewhat different than Piper’s–in content rather than principle. I need to read the Army news to be up on the news. I still need to read the current, but brief, celebrity stuff so that I can know what soldiers are watching and listening to. It is important for me to relate to foster relationships. And, I need to have a general understanding of world events to be ready with a thoughtful response as an advisor to others. And more and more, I keep current through my feed reader rather than a news outlet.
The point is that in the news media there are things to read, but there are things to ignore. Why waste your time with the space fillers, when you can spend your time truly enriching yourself?
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This post is a fresh rewrite of a post titled “The Important News” from October 2007.
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