Dr. Lee B. Becker, Director, James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, University of Georgia, U.S.A. One of the most frequently heard criticisms of news, in the United States at least, is that it is episodic, rather than integrated based on an accumulation of knowledge. We see stories on the televison news each night about crime, but we see few stories that really explain trends in crime. In fact, crime news seems to be increasing at a time when most indicators are that violent crimes, at least in the U.S., are on the decline. International news is particularly flawed in this regard. Stories about famine are covered only at the point where something triggers media attention.
Famine exists before and after the triggering event, yet the media ignore it until the event occurs.
The same is true of economic issues, in the case of development news and in the case of environmental issues. Perhaps nowhere is this focus on the episodic more obvious, however, than in the coverage of medical science. The media repeatedly present their readers, listeners and viewers with stories about cures for cancer and other major diseases, raising false hopes and creating frustration on the part of those who know how painfully slow the process of medical science is. In my view, the focus on the episodic is a defining characteristic of news. This makes news somewhat at odds with science, with its focus on the cumulative.