This afternoon, a member of The Dickinsonian approached me and asked if I would consider writing an opinion piece. I asked for a specific subject, but she left it open for me to decide. What a task! How can I write about something that is both memorable, but not too controversial; exciting but not overtly inflammatory? It seems opinions no longer necessarily need to be thoughtful or well reasoned. The opinions we listen to are instead often the loudest or the most violent. People often joke about how “bad news sells” – and this appears to be the case to me, at least after having this point constantly bombarded from CNN in the caf. I have seen countless natural disasters (violent and deadly!) on TV but rarely a discussion of the cause behind this: climate change. Last year I remember talking to a foreign exchange student from Germany, who wondered how many people really cared about Flight 370 that it needed to be played 24-7 for a whole month. Is a plane crash important? Absolutely. But it is important to spend time talking about other issues as well, those that interest everyday viewers the most. How would this student react this year if he could see the progression? The good news is that CNN has stopped reporting on Flight 370 incessantly. The bad news is that this topic has been replaced by a similarly singular focus. Really, CNN? Are you going to talk about something other than Donald Trump or ISIS today? This polarization of the world into loud (Trump) and violent (ISIS) doesn’t benefit anyone. Instead, it is cheap entertainment, which has surprising power when it is repeated enough. What is on the news drives conversation in the Dickinson cafeteria, and CNN is often playing in the background.

I originally wanted to write an opinion piece about how a diversity of news sources would be a nice change in the caf. But the problem is that the same ‘the louder and more controversial takes precedence’ mantra seems to apply across the board for other news sources like MSNBC or Fox News.

In Dickinson classes I have pushed myself to engage opinions with which I disagree and tried to see everything from a variety of viewpoints (as any good Dickinsonian should). But separating the world into a loud and/or violent polarization often creates a divide, which makes consensus about issues difficult or impossible. Calling multiple people into a room that agree on some points and proceed to have an issue-based, respectful discussion is seen as boring and not newsworthy because people would rather see a controversial yelling match than real solutions. This is why we, as Dickinson students, should demand a more ‘sustainable’ solution from news channels and expect adults on the news to bring the same level of respectful disagreement in their discussions that students in their late teens and twenties manage to achieve at this college. Dickinson students should be vocal about our opposition to cheap news stories that offer easy solutions or uncomplicated descriptions of complex issues or problems. Dickinson is a global community, so maybe the best place for us to look for informative news is from non-U.S. sources.