Circus of Death

[Fe 26]

news sucks because we the people suck.
They need ratings and we are more apt to look at a train wreck than something mundane.

They are killing their consumer base. Young people just don't watch the shit.

[gameoverDude]

I think a lot of crime is a direct response to how news portrays things. Mass shooters are given a lime light for their misdeeds for example. It would be much better if the news was more basic boring facts and less sensationalism. The pics from Sandy Hook can only be described as victim porn.

I find it hard not to feel the same. Mass shooters are probably gloating while their story is being played out.

news sucks because we the people suck.
They need ratings and we are more apt to look at a train wreck than something mundane.

Too true. It's like on the freeway when everyone is slowing the hell down for no good reason. A bit later, you see it's because of the accident everyone's been checking out. Too many people crave dirty laundry.

[kedawa]

Mass shooters more often than not kill themselves long before the news biz reports who they are.

[Fe 26]

That might be part of the fantasy for them.

[Drewbacca]

Of course. They want to exact revenge and let the world know it deserved the misery because of how it treated them (or didn't accept them, or give them the riches they felt owed).

[YellerDog]

I don't think it's so much a need for dirty laundry as much as a need to understand why something happened in some small way in order to avoid it. That's baked in to human nature, you're never getting rid of it.

People are going to make money off of that, because of course they are.

[Fe 26]

That's the joke though. They studied this. It doesn't give you more control over your life or help you make informed decisions. It just increases the stress load on your body.

[YellerDog]

Rationality doesn't enter in to that decision to look, it's hard wired.

[Drewbacca]

I don't think it's so much a need for dirty laundry as much as a need to understand why something happened in some small way in order to avoid it. That's baked in to human nature, you're never getting rid of it.

People are going to make money off of that, because of course they are.

They tried banning names from media coverage of youth crime up here and it worked. Though I acknowledge the media landscape in Canada is much simpler than in America.

[Vasteel]

When I visit family I end up seeing hours of local news. I don't know if we just didn't watch local news or the news has changed since I was a child but their is a good hour of reporting deaths.

At my lady's folks, I noticed exactly the same thing on their local news, and my girlfriend and I both commented on it simultaneously. We couldn't decide if it was more than usual, or if it's just that we hadn't watched it in so long we are no longer accustomed to it.

But yeah, I think you're exactly right, and I would go farther and add its a malefic influence on society. In like what, 2000, 2005? 07?violent crime in the US was at an all time low. But the perception of its danger (and racist political agenda) was disproportionately high. There is only one thing to blame for that.