Media reporting on tragedies

This isn't just an Irish problem.

Hence the American news motto "If it bleeds, it leads."

We tend to show funerals more than most ( heads of State excepted). We do seem to like misery.

The Malaysian flight is the best example of this in recent memory, especially on the rolling news stations like Sky where the coverage turned into a TV soap/drama - it was like watching the "next on..." part of something between Eastenders and Lost a lot of the time, and was quite disgusting.

But to no surprise, that's exactly how the public treated it unrealistic, dramatic theories of what happened (and a number of people I worked with who were certain they were stranded on a hidden island... I'm genuinely not making that up).

All the papers, TV stations and news websites care about are units sold, ratings and clicks on their pages - e.g. their bottom line. There's no debating that, all there is to talk about is whether that is right (as privately run companies) or wrong (from an ethical standpoint).

I feel like a lot of people don't understand the relationship businesses (and that's what the media is, a business) have with the public. You often hear complaints about the media objectifying women, or showing ads with only fit, attractive people....but the list of complaints goes on and on.

What they don't get, is that the media doesn't dictate what we want to see. In this day and age, ANYONE can produce content. Anyone can produce a newspaper, blog, website, video...and people do. The ones that become popular and successful are a result of PEOPLE LIKING THEM.

The media REFLECTS what people want to see.

When a business wants to sell clothing and they show it on a young, fit, model - PEOPLE buy it at a higher rate then if they show it on an average looking, slightly overweight, model. Because our SOCIETY COLLECTIVELY PREFERS it. Businesses want to make money, so that is what they show.

Newspapers want to sell copies of the paper.
TV Stations want viewers (so they can sell ads).

And they'll both do anything they can to get those. I've heard a lot of people complain about news stations that report everything as if it were a serious epidemic, as if they are trying to scare viewers into watching. But why do they do that? Because if they say, 'What common household item is in your kitchen THAT COULD KILL YOU' - people tune in. They don't change the channel. We *want* to know what item can kill us.

When a tragedy happens, people WANT to know about it. And if you can make a personal connection - by interviewing those close to the dead - it hooks viewers. People want to watch it. THAT's why the media does it.

If we, collectively, stopped watching when they did these things; they'd stop.

The question shouldn't be 'Why does the media ____________' the question should be 'Why do WE enjoying seeing ______________'. As long as we go out of our way to watch _____________ the media will keep on giving it to us.

UCDVet wrote: »

I feel like a lot of people don't understand the relationship businesses (and that's what the media is, a business) have with the public. You often hear complaints about the media objectifying women, or showing ads with only fit, attractive people....but the list of complaints goes on and on.

What they don't get, is that the media doesn't dictate what we want to see. In this day and age, ANYONE can produce content. Anyone can produce a newspaper, blog, website, video...and people do. The ones that become popular and successful are a result of PEOPLE LIKING THEM.

The media REFLECTS what people want to see.

When a business wants to sell clothing and they show it on a young, fit, model - PEOPLE buy it at a higher rate then if they show it on an average looking, slightly overweight, model. Because our SOCIETY COLLECTIVELY PREFERS it. Businesses want to make money, so that is what they show.

Newspapers want to sell copies of the paper.
TV Stations want viewers (so they can sell ads).

And they'll both do anything they can to get those. I've heard a lot of people complain about news stations that report everything as if it were a serious epidemic, as if they are trying to scare viewers into watching. But why do they do that? Because if they say, 'What common household item is in your kitchen THAT COULD KILL YOU' - people tune in. They don't change the channel. We *want* to know what item can kill us.

When a tragedy happens, people WANT to know about it. And if you can make a personal connection - by interviewing those close to the dead - it hooks viewers. People want to watch it. THAT's why the media does it.

If we, collectively, stopped watching when they did these things; they'd stop.

The question shouldn't be 'Why does the media ____________' the question should be 'Why do WE enjoying seeing ______________'. As long as we go out of our way to watch _____________ the media will keep on giving it to us.

Of course. But that goes without saying. There is an irish love of morbidity. A fetishisation of death. An interest is cancer and other terminal conditions masquerading as "concern". So much so that the main entertainment on Friday on irelands biggest entertainment show can have an hour with the terminally ill, survivors or Hollywood stars who got a cold once. Either way disease is mentioned.

I once turned over from Norton (he's Irish but the show is of british sensibility ) to the late late show.

Norton had Michael Douglas on. He congratulated Douglas on surviving throat cancer and moved on -- tout suite -- to a funny story about Douglas in a jungle being recognised as the guy in Pretty Woman.

Boring enough so I turned to RTE where Amanda Bunker was crying because -- despite her largely charmed existence -- someone once broke her heart. And Ryan was wiggling around trying to get a rise about the breakup. When she eventually broke down he played the concerned host. So cancer survivor entertaining us with stories unrelated to cancer on BBC , healthy confident lady crying over normal life on RTE.

The mystery porn must have a market.

Billy86 wrote: »

Michael Douglas... wasn't in Pretty Woman?

Though I have a vague memory of that on Graham Norton (was it Fatal Attraction, maybe?) so I'll take your word on it.

Yeah sorry. Got mixed up with Gere.

The Indo are vultures for it, plagued my neighbours when their son died

The Irish Daily Star had a front page photo of motorcycle legend Joey Dunlop lying dead on the ground. He died during a race in Estonia after losing control in wet conditions and struck a tree

Scumbags

Have any of you seen 'Nightcrawler'?

That's the world we live in now....but the media aren't totally to blame, in some morbid way people seem fascinated with destruction, misery and chaos far more so than the good news story. The media will cross boundaries to ensure they deliver what their audience demands.

gctest50 wrote: »

sure about that ?

Yes.


All muslims are murderers.

*Insert link of 2 muslim murderers*