Jeff Thomas
New member
Anyone else considered this lately? Especially with the never-ending coverage of the JFK, Jr. 'tragedy'?
Now we have 2 channels of CNN, MSNBC and a local, 24 hour news station in my city. I'm sure I have even more, but don't keep up. They run a lot of the same garbage over and over ... and over. But, I'm noticing something I've never considered before.
Obviously they now create theatrics, almost a movie out of every 'major' news story. They give it a title, a theme, music and then examine every angle. With an electron microscope. They beat the living hell out of everything. With the Persian Gulf War it seemed to make some sense. The OK City bombing, Littleton, and now JFK, Jr. Of course, there have probably been scores or hundreds of stories in between.
The stories become much, much larger than life. And, no matter what it is, with their steady drumbeat and examination of minutia, the subject grows out of all proportion. Often with a clear, political slant, usually calling for more regulation 'so this will never happen again', to 'protect the children', 'we're the only industrialized country that doesn't regulate / license widgets', etc.
So, in spite of violent crime dropping 7%, and the lowest crime rate since 1973 per the WSJ, the Littleton coverage makes people think violent crime (especially re: firearms) has reached 'epidemic' proportions. As we've been 'kidding' lately (soon, perhaps, to be no longer a joke), we all expect tighter regulation of general aviation after JFK, Jr.'s demise. In spite of relatively improving private plane safety.
As a society, with this kind of news pressure, how do people keep their bearings? The CNN's of the world aren't going to back off - they have 24 hours to fill. And, people seem to eat this stuff up. Are we now doomed to reacting, overreacting, to every darn 'tragedy', 'crisis' and so on, ad nauseum? Because the way it looks right now, this kind of coverage gets people all worked up when reality would tell you to ignore what is not really a 'crisis'.
I used to think news on TV was a positive indicator, and professional wrestling a negative. After considering the above versus Jesse Ventura, I'm sorely tempted to reverse positions.
Now we have 2 channels of CNN, MSNBC and a local, 24 hour news station in my city. I'm sure I have even more, but don't keep up. They run a lot of the same garbage over and over ... and over. But, I'm noticing something I've never considered before.
Obviously they now create theatrics, almost a movie out of every 'major' news story. They give it a title, a theme, music and then examine every angle. With an electron microscope. They beat the living hell out of everything. With the Persian Gulf War it seemed to make some sense. The OK City bombing, Littleton, and now JFK, Jr. Of course, there have probably been scores or hundreds of stories in between.
The stories become much, much larger than life. And, no matter what it is, with their steady drumbeat and examination of minutia, the subject grows out of all proportion. Often with a clear, political slant, usually calling for more regulation 'so this will never happen again', to 'protect the children', 'we're the only industrialized country that doesn't regulate / license widgets', etc.
So, in spite of violent crime dropping 7%, and the lowest crime rate since 1973 per the WSJ, the Littleton coverage makes people think violent crime (especially re: firearms) has reached 'epidemic' proportions. As we've been 'kidding' lately (soon, perhaps, to be no longer a joke), we all expect tighter regulation of general aviation after JFK, Jr.'s demise. In spite of relatively improving private plane safety.
As a society, with this kind of news pressure, how do people keep their bearings? The CNN's of the world aren't going to back off - they have 24 hours to fill. And, people seem to eat this stuff up. Are we now doomed to reacting, overreacting, to every darn 'tragedy', 'crisis' and so on, ad nauseum? Because the way it looks right now, this kind of coverage gets people all worked up when reality would tell you to ignore what is not really a 'crisis'.
I used to think news on TV was a positive indicator, and professional wrestling a negative. After considering the above versus Jesse Ventura, I'm sorely tempted to reverse positions.