Encouraging . . . Somewhat
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Breaking News — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Of course, all of this means that the next time there is a real disaster, if a complete social breakdown really does occur, the media may be gun-shy about reporting it. It should be noted as well that the misreporting that went on in this case is a consequence of the "if it bleeds, it leads" attitude that most journalists take. It seems as if there is some kind of virtue attached with reporting bad news. Such reporting--it is thought--makes news organizations seem edgy and hard-hitting. But it's exactly that kind of mentality that led to the misreporting in this case.
I suppose it would be too much to ask at this point that we have just straight reporting of news. Good and bad. Let the chips fall where they may. It would be nice to see news organizations accept this new ethos. But the reigning ethos will probably be with us for a while longer, never mind the journalistic breakdown it led to in the coverage of post-Katrina New Orleans.
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Encouraging . . . Somewhat 5 Comments (0 topical, 5 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
MSM.
Cable news is part of this problem, and while there are some good things cable news brings and does, they also tend to act like the national enquirer in their search for 24/7 news.
Also, overall I think reportingin general has gotten lazy. They no longer fact chack, they just go with the story, because they are scared their competitor is going to beat them.
I remember years ago living in Charlesont, SC during a senate race. One of the news channels was the first to call the race for a specific candidate-turns out that candidate didn't win the election (faulty exit polls). For months after that though, the news channel would tout their "first to report on the senate race" stat as if they actually called the race right. That is sort of how news everywhere is now-it isn't so much important that you be right, but that you be first.
I wrote several blog posts (some of them published here) based in part on the assumption of the social breakdown that, it now seems, was greatly exaggerated. I can sense my own reluctance to admit this, because by my writing (see here and here) I had invested in that narrative. Undoubtedly this sort of defensiveness is part of what we are dealing with.
And of course the media was not helped by the NOLA officials' willingness to endorse rumor and spectulation.
is what they sell on cable news now. No longer is it just the news, they have to make it entertaining and that has an effect on what stories they cover and how they cover them. To say any of the cable news networks are purely about news is like saying MTV is all about music videos.. The closest one to pure news is CNN Headline News to be honest, and even they pop some infotainment stories in... I liken it to MTV when "The Real World" began. Largely MTV played videos still, but once "The Real World" type stuff caught on and took off you had to get up at 5am to see videos pretty much.
I think you're somewhat missing the cause for the media's constant desire to play up dramatic scenes of mayhem, violence, chaos, and tragedy.
It has nothing, or very little, to do with as you call it "some kind of virtue attached with reporting bad news". There's no virtue surrounding this.
Rather, there is a much simpler, far more easily quantifiable reason for this reporting: RATINGS.
Throughout time, people have complained about negative reporting (particularly when they disagree with the coverage that is being conveyed), and seek answers for it.
It's quite simple. People like to watch it. It's the same reason we all watch police chases when we know what the outcome will be, it's the same reason we watch a hostage situation, it's the same reason we watch looters rampaging around in the streets, and the same reason we watch Natalee Holloway and Scott Peterson and Chandra Levy.
And it's the same reason we watch the mayhem in New Orleans and carnage in Baghdad. We, as viewers, are addicted to this stuff, can't avert our eyes, and the media is only too happy to keep feeding it to us and watching their ratings soar.
So forget about some journalistic virtue. It's about dollars. Ratings dollars. Nothing more, nothing less.