Yesterday morning my mum told me about a major crisis happening in the Middle East, and during breakfast the radio switched to the news. I was expecting news on the Middle East conflict. But, the main news story was…
Germany beating Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup.
Now I know that the World Cup is huge and that many people love it, but should it really be THE main headline, especially when there are very real and much more serious events going on in the world, such as a potential terrorist risk and the Indonesian election?
If football is that important, then what about the news about the Doctor Who leaked scripts? Enough people care about Doctor Who for it to be headline news. Why football?
It is my opinion that the important, world impacting news should be headline news, while entertainment like the World Cup (or even Doctor Who) shouldn’t be more important than a potential war in the Middle East. Sports should be, in my opinion, put into entertainment.
Headline news should be the news which affects the world, news which will make people think and make people learn about the world. Major world news should be reported first and then be followed up with entertainment like sports and film. News is informing people of world events, and the most important ones should be reported first.
Editor’s note: The original version of What news is the most important? was published on 10th July 2014 in Ben Williams’s World.
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It is incredible isn’t it that something like football can generate such deep feelings in people not just a few but a whole nation, like Brazil, or a whole community like the worldwide football community.
It is true that the result of the football match seems insignificant but what is not insignificant is the reaction of Brazil’s fans and the feelings of grief and in some cases, the rage of the fans towards their team. How their idols and heroes, overnight, became the subject of scorn and even hatred. A lot of things to think about, (can we ever understand our fellow human beings?) but it is good to see that you take such an interest in events all around the world.
I was surprised that the football news overshadowed other news yesterday at 8am, when we were listening for the news headlines, to try to get a quick summary of the world news. I understand that the 7-1 result was worth mentioning as the defeat of Brazil was unusual. However, I didn’t expect to be listening to great details about the verdict (fans’ reaction, Germany and Brazil’s reactions……) at 8am, while other world news were not included. It was BBC we were listening to.