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Local
broadcasting news consist mainly of local killings, accidents,
fires, robberies, etc; occasionally they ascend to genocides and
large natural catastrophes. In the absence of wars, massacres,
floods and earthquakes, national broadcasting agencies select the
most colorful local killing or rape. Not to sag behind, Weather
Channel has introduced Storm Stories (and recently Animal Storm
Stories!). Are they intentionally fueling the dark side of human
nature? Or they believe in viewer’s catharsis healing power?
Just
as action events such as football games are more entertaining on
television than quiet events such as chess matches, it is more
likely that riots, bombings, earthquakes, massacres, and other
violent acts will get more air time than stories about people
helping each other or working to prevent violence. Thus, news
telecasts tend to focus on the violent behavior of individuals -
terrorists, protesters, strikers, or police - because action makes
for more exciting viewing than does a portrayal of people behaving
in a peaceful, orderly manner. Such coverage does not present a
balanced picture of what is happening in the nation, not because the
people who run the news media are evil and trying to manipulate us
but simply because they are trying to entertain us.
Elliot
Aronson: The social Animal, 8th ed., Worth
Publishers, 1999; first published in 1972.
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Bol, island of Brac : after the winter storm of 2005.
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I don’t buy that. Making money
under entertainment blanket maybe does not deserve ‘evil’
attribute, but brainwashing does: even if mass media do not guide me
how to think, they push me what to think about.
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