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> Why is this news? It’s something that happened and might interest some people. That makes it news and someone found it interesting enough to share on HN. Ne
by dgellow 5y ago
> Why is this news?
It’s something that happened and might interest some people. That makes it news and someone found it interesting enough to share on HN.
News items don’t have to be more meaningful than “x happened”.
In this case it’s interesting to know actions taken by China in the context of Ukraine invasion by Russia. Even if it isn’t that meaningful, it’s still a message.
- krapp 5y ago>News items don’t have to be more meaningful than “x happened”. Yes, they do. Any news story that would be covered by the mainstream media needs to present evidence of a new or interesting phenomenon that satisfies intellectual curiosity. Do most stories about Ukraine, Russia, China or the war satisfy intellectual curiosity, or emotional needs? Do they generate intellectually stimulating conversation, or just act as a medium for the same tedious political tribalism that most political subjects tend to generate? The bar has to be higher than "x happened" or else we'll get flooded with pedestrian nonsense, which we are every time a major mainstream topic takes over and the existing moderation safeguards fail.
- dgellow 5y agoCurrent safeguards seem to work quite well, even for what you call pedestrian nonsense.