COMMENTS:
Voted : Once the facts of the story are clear and established, then they should move on
I haven't even turned on the TV today, for fear of coming across this story.
Voted : Once the facts of the story are clear and established, then they should move on
Great point, audreyanne
by mojo on Thu Apr 19, 07 5:07pm
[+]
Voted : As long as people watch, and the ratings are high
I seldom watch tv, but I'm sure that ratings have a lot to do with it.
Voted : Minimal
it is horrible for the families to endure. In addition to the tragedy of losing a loved one, they have to put up with the harrassment of the media and seeing this splattered everywhere they turn. These families are deep in grief and need to mourn in the quiet and peace of close friends and each other - not as part of a media spectacle. I hear there is some group that wants to attend the funerals as some sort of protest against colleges - i dunno the details. How can anyone be so insensitive to the pain these families are trying to cope with?
The main reason why the American mass media (T.V.) blows the coverage of stories such as this so far out of proportion in comparison to their actual significance is that they sell. They sell for many reasons.
- Really the hook is the exploitation of emotions. Our simplest emotions are natural instincts and were crucial in the survival of our species. Fear, anxiety, anger, sorrow, happiness, and love have only changed in the last 150,000-odd years in terms of context and manifestation. The fear, anxiety, and anger which helped us escape or attack threats to our self-preservation sometime supersede reason. The problem today is that our survival mechanisms are often a liability. Now, primal instincts manifest themselves in the context of an artificial world. It's sort of like domesticating a wild animal, the main difference being that this animal isn't the one who invented belief systems or technology.
- Exploitation of social psychology such as group conformity.
- They provide a kind of release or distraction from stories which are more important--(meaning relevant to the lives of more people) and uncomfortable, such as those concerning the 500 people who were killed in Iraq during this past week.
The worst thing about network news is that the viewer receives a steady, deliberate flow of information regulated by the network. If the network attracts enough viewers they can and do manipulate public opinion.
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