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Chris, you're the picture of mental health.
Right behind me!
We are wired to tune in to danger. It's pro-survival, just like the stampede instinct, while not helpful to the group, makes the event more-survivable for the individual who makes it out the door to the street first.
So, we feed people what they want...sex, danger and rumors including sex and danger.
And oatmeal. Never forget oatmeal.
posted by
majroj
on May 20, 2005 at 3:19 PM
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You can defend it when the pleasant picture is the victim.
e.g., Lacy Peterson.
posted by
majroj
on May 20, 2005 at 3:16 PM
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I guess other people's bad news makes us feel better about ourselves
posted by
Azur
on May 20, 2005 at 5:36 AM
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MayB
People only like good news if it's theirs...me included.
posted by
chris2303
on May 20, 2005 at 5:27 AM
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Benzinha, I know what you mean about the silliness. There is something seriously wrong when reporting on casualties is seen as suppporting the enemy.
Sometimes the city news is like a parade of road crashes which unless it is particularly bad or in a black spot is not news at all.
I notice this more on TV than in the papers
posted by
Azur
on May 20, 2005 at 5:24 AM
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Wiley, nice idea but it would send me broke ;-)
posted by
Azur
on May 20, 2005 at 5:21 AM
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Offbeatpub, yes some people do wallow in bad news. I don't like to hear it over and over. I know some people who work on the news who never switch off and I tend to notice that those people have no life. I think you can follow the news without letting it take over your mind except for some very disturbing or significant news but even then you have to say enough
posted by
Azur
on May 20, 2005 at 5:20 AM
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Elan27, don't get me wrong, I don't want all bad news but I am saying that it would be irresponsible not to cover a tragedy just because you wanted good news that day. This is why they have features sections If you had been affected by the tragedy you would want it covered. Also not to cover it would skew the news
posted by
Azur
on May 20, 2005 at 12:49 AM
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Your point seem quite valid, but guess I don't agree. I feel, the good moments are equally captured as much as th tragedies. Its a balance the newpaper editors, anyways, have to draw. Can be understood by a little thing like, how many of us would like to read a newspaper that has all the tragedies and no note of positivity! I don't think anyone of us can.
Now there is a balance happening everywhere, in its own way. For every two tragedies, there may be atleast one good thing happening, and if taht is not covered, then it the newspaper is really not self suffiecient!! 
posted by
Elan27
on May 19, 2005 at 10:13 PM
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MayB
I think you ought to star a new newspaper luv.
Daily Good News Why I'll betcha you'd clean up with that luv
Nice post and thanx for explaining that.
posted by
WileyJohn
on May 19, 2005 at 9:28 PM
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MayB, out media doesn't cover the bad news about Iraq with any visuals,
other than that of Hummer debris and smoking truck parts. We never see the PEOPLE, the really sad and bad news. So, people die there, but we never see them crying and injured, no matter which country they come from, our t.v. services won't put the video on.
They rip up al Jazeera and Europeans for showing the footage, saying that it is done as criticism, when I say, it's just showing reality, which we never do.
So, we put on bad news, but only generally bad news, like Senators fighting in Senate sessions, silliness.
posted by
benzinha
on May 19, 2005 at 8:11 PM
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MayB
Good point, however for me, I will switch the channel if I am watching the tube, or go to another article if I am reading the paper just to find something positive. Not that I keep my head buried in the sand, but in today's world of instant everthing, I noticed I was becoming almost to the point of apathy. I turned off the tube, and now get my news on line and for the most part without bias. My sister, on the other hand, will listen to the news every hour of the day. Needless to say, our conversations are limited because of the negative impact the news has on her...
posted by
Offy
on May 19, 2005 at 8:04 PM
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Indeed it's the same whether the story be about conflict or a tea party
posted by
Azur
on May 19, 2005 at 7:57 PM
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Flightpath, of course. I tried to teach them that the way into a story is the human route--tell a story about one person and how that event impacted on them--unfold it that way, don't just list facts. That is the secret in covering even the biggest of events.
posted by
Azur
on May 19, 2005 at 7:54 PM
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It's in the WRITING,......! There's drama, excitement, and adventure in grassroots news- as much or more than in blood, crime and conflict. Teach, encourage, your students to seek, find, & write it.
posted by
reasons
on May 19, 2005 at 7:45 PM
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L.E.Gant, I never knew what adverts were running. It was separate. I decided on news according to its news value. I did not take the advertising into account nor was I asked to. The only change I ever made was in placement--I would move a story say for example a car crash report running beside a car advert. There are some editors and publications with integrity.
Even now I sometimes write for sections of papers which exist only because of the adverts sold and yet I am never told who is advertising or told what to write. Again it is separate. I am never directed to write favorably. I am only asked to provide a comprehensive and balanced report.
Long ago I worked on local papers where unfortunately it is not always possible to be like that and the lines are much more blurred.
I like to know about news global and local although I skip the really mundane local stuff
posted by
Azur
on May 19, 2005 at 7:35 PM
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I'm a great believer in the "think globally, act locally" approach. I'd rather know what's happening locally (mostly good news, local actions) than what's happening globally (big picture stuff, mostly bad news,pundits at large). I don't blame editors for what they choose to print - I know they have a hard job making things fit. But I'll still hold onto the belief that they are driven by money: adverts are why newspapers (and even TV news) exist!
posted by
L.E.Gant
on May 19, 2005 at 7:22 PM
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Terpgirl30, I can believe that comment about Columbine. People often minimalize some events because they affect the young or some racial group or other. The question I always ask is -- what if this was my mother, sister, child in this story? Some things can't be ignored
posted by
Azur
on May 19, 2005 at 6:13 PM
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You know how the pendulum swings
I have a friend who so much like Edna Buchanan. She lives in the number one Meth-lab spot in the country. It's a tiny, Virginia country area. It was covered big time, then editors changed. All of a sudden, it's happy news on the first pages. People are getting blown up, etc., and garden events are on the front page.
You have the people who say editors go for the sensational. Well, look at it from the other side. In the '70s, when my grandfather was murdered, happy news was the big deal, too. My grandfather got 1 1/2 inches buried deep inside the paper. He mattered to his family, friends, those concerned with the crime trends, etc. It was important. It was news. That's what newspapers do: print news. A death outranks a garden party every day of the week.
That people think editors lead with that to create a sensation is purely stupid. If it were your loved one or friend, you'd want to hear about it.
In a writing group, I actually heard how stupid was that the day of Columbine, it was all over the news. What is the definition of news? If a shoot out by teenagers in a school isn't it, I don't know what is.
Kim
posted by
terpgirl30
on May 19, 2005 at 5:48 PM
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Ginnieb, yeah maybe I should write some of those
posted by
Azur
on May 19, 2005 at 5:24 PM
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Scoop, The people who whine about that kind of news watch it avidly.
They never look for the alternatives.
posted by
Azur
on May 19, 2005 at 5:21 PM
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MayB Don Henley said it best
We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who
Comes on at five
She can tell you ’bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
It’s interesting when people die-
Give us dirty laundry
We rubberneck at accident scenes and love to watch car races for the wrecks
That is why wild ass headlines work here on Blogit
posted by
scoop
on May 19, 2005 at 5:18 PM
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I agree MayB...
..and there are always plenty of magazines that deal with 'good news' stories. Glad to hear you have a rest planned! :)
posted by
ginnieb
on May 19, 2005 at 5:10 PM
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