In this week's a point of view on the BBC Will Self argues for slow news.
Self looks at the way digitalisation and mediation has affected memorisation and the way we think about the past, the present and the future. He argues that it has created a sense of a permanent and 'monstrous' now and the news cycle has been spinning ever faster with more events, more comments on events and more comments on comments.
Slow news he says may be an answer to the "babyishness" of much of contemporary news reporting. By this he means historical context even as events are unfolding, putting scandals and crises in context, rather than everything being made to seem new and unprecedented. Our news reporting, Self argues, now confuses Greek tragedy with the outcomes of TV reality shows.
He hopes that this will mean a better perspective and reduce the breathless reporting of so much that will soon to be revealed as inconsequential.
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