Where does News go?

I had one of those random thoughts as I listened to the early morning news. We get showered with it, or more accurately, hosed with it, twenty-four hours a day, from every type of media. So, where does it go, and what does it create?

What triggered it was side by side news items. The first on Afghanistan, a moral, political and logistical crisis that seems destined to mark another turning point on Western adventurism. The second, run immediately afterwards, was that McDonald's has run out of milkshakes. Really? After the headlines come the analysis and commentary, some thoughtful, some crass, all of limited use to most of us. What are we meant to do with it as those who lead us demonstrate their limited grasp of the complexity of the events they are tackling? Just watch?

To a considerable extent, we are what we consume, from Fast News to Fast Food. We absorb this news into our systems like trees take nutrients from root systems, shaping how we see the world. Our physiology determines ou…