News, news and yet more news...

If you tap into a search engine the question: ‘what is the Collins English Dictionary definition of the word NEWS’ you will get that strange phenomenon that is ‘AI’ (artificial intelligence) quickly respond with: ‘According to the Collins English Dictionary, news is information that is new or previously unknown. It can also refer to a collection of reports about recent events, such as those broadcast on television or radio, or published in a newspaper’.

The traditional way of taking in news was always the printed press, from the television stations and the radio newsrooms. 

Nowadays, of course, social media plays a massive part of our daily lives and so, many folk – some who (sadly in the opinion of this particular scribe) choose to spend most of their waking moments ‘attached’ to their mobile device, get their news updates via websites.

The one constant we do have is that ‘news’ is coming at us, these days, from multiple directions. But, and here is the ‘million pound question’ – from where do get your news and, perhaps of greater importance – how much do you trust the source from which you get that news?

Me personally (and please dear reader bear in mind that the scribe serving up this particular offering is of ‘pension age’), I like to get a daily newspaper – though I have to confess that while I get my news intake from multiple sources I also get the newspaper (it’s actually THE i PAPER) because I get tremendous pleasure out of doing the Jigsawdoku, Kakuro, idoku and codeword puzzles – they give me a good hour (and sometimes more) of pleasure.

Sorry, I digress, we are not hear to debate my enjoyment of newspaper puzzles – no! We are here to look at the source of YOUR news and whether or not you trust the source of that news.

Let’s face it, with social media as it is these days you can find multiple angles dissecting every event. One such case was that terrible air crash that happened in Washington, USA, last week.

As something of a ‘news hound’ I watched intently as the various news outlets spewed forth the terrible details of what looks to have been a crazy, crazy accident.

However, a visit to a number of different websites and you get all manner of conspiracy theories which all left the reader/viewer wondering ‘just who or what to believe’.

Yes, ‘news’ provides us with a real conundrum – how legitimate is it. One thing is very clear as we look at the evolving news in early 2025 that the world is indeed quite a worrying place just now.

No matter how you consume your news and whatever angle you chose to adopt – be that developments from the USA and the possibility of a trade war over ‘tarrifs’ – or maybe it’s the dreadful news of a shooting at a Swedish School – or perhaps another awful incident at a School in Sheffield – or maybe its following ‘Climate Change’ – or perhaps you just catch the daily news to keep up-to-speed with your favourite sports team.

Just take in the information and then sit back and digest it further – oh yes, and don’t get over worried – what was that ‘old grandmothers saying’ – Today’s news headlines are tomorrow’s fish’n’chip supper wrapping paper’.