The title is shamelessly from a Louis CK riff.
-In other news, I can fly in the sky on a chair, while watching a movie, surfing the internet and drinking a beer.
-I can travel from East Coast to West Coast in a few hours (rather than what used to take years).
-I have goods delivered to my door which requires no more effort than moving my index finger.
-I have a phone that fits in my pocket.
-I have never walked into a bank branch for the bank I use.
-The deaf hear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsOo3jzkhYA
-The blind see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EltIpB4EtYU
But these aren't "news" because (a) we take them for granted and (b) the "news" seen on TV and various other media is curated in a manner to get you get you to watch - to occupy your eyeballs so that you see what the advertisers are selling. Media makes it's money off of advertising, and the most assured way to win advertising dollars is to use various methods that are assured to grab your attention. Reporting things that appeal to base emotions like happiness, sadness, fear/surprise, and anger/disgust is the surest way to grab your attention. Appealing to routine things doesn't grab your attention in the same way that base emotions do. When things happen as expected, you are likely to ignore them.
Think about a hot topic these days: The Affluenza Mother and her son. Why is this story even news? Does this affect your life in any way whatsoever? Of course not, but it's all over media because it sells. It sells because it evokes anger and disgust. We're disgusted and angry when justice isn't exercised correctly - when someone gets away with murder only because they were rich.
How about media reporting on exactly how many people died in various acts of violence? Why is there nothing ever reported on the number of lives saved by something like doctors working long hours in surgeries? Because the latter is too routine and so it wouldn't command your attention.
Base emotion grabs attention, and so it sells, and the overwhelmingly negative topics on this board testify that we're buying what's being sold.
-In other news, I can fly in the sky on a chair, while watching a movie, surfing the internet and drinking a beer.
-I can travel from East Coast to West Coast in a few hours (rather than what used to take years).
-I have goods delivered to my door which requires no more effort than moving my index finger.
-I have a phone that fits in my pocket.
-I have never walked into a bank branch for the bank I use.
-The deaf hear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsOo3jzkhYA
-The blind see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EltIpB4EtYU
But these aren't "news" because (a) we take them for granted and (b) the "news" seen on TV and various other media is curated in a manner to get you get you to watch - to occupy your eyeballs so that you see what the advertisers are selling. Media makes it's money off of advertising, and the most assured way to win advertising dollars is to use various methods that are assured to grab your attention. Reporting things that appeal to base emotions like happiness, sadness, fear/surprise, and anger/disgust is the surest way to grab your attention. Appealing to routine things doesn't grab your attention in the same way that base emotions do. When things happen as expected, you are likely to ignore them.
Think about a hot topic these days: The Affluenza Mother and her son. Why is this story even news? Does this affect your life in any way whatsoever? Of course not, but it's all over media because it sells. It sells because it evokes anger and disgust. We're disgusted and angry when justice isn't exercised correctly - when someone gets away with murder only because they were rich.
How about media reporting on exactly how many people died in various acts of violence? Why is there nothing ever reported on the number of lives saved by something like doctors working long hours in surgeries? Because the latter is too routine and so it wouldn't command your attention.
Base emotion grabs attention, and so it sells, and the overwhelmingly negative topics on this board testify that we're buying what's being sold.