As newsrooms come under profit pressures similar to those that the regular network programming folks have lived under for years, their decisions seem to resemble them more and more, as well.
Everyone knows that TV show themes are kind of cyclical. At one time, lawyer shows are hot, then crime dramas, then doctor shows, then teacher shows. While I can't immediately find a reference, I do recall reading somewhere that as various professions end up on popular TV shows, there's a curious increase in applications to profressional academic programs for those careers.
The same, it appears to me, is true for what the news wants to cover. If you remember back in the summer of 2002, you would have thought that every second grader was being snatched out of mommy's arms. There was an article in our local paper back then of a man getting run down by the police in a small town.
What exactly did he do wrong?
He was driving through a neighborhood and pulled in a driveway so he could back out and turn around.
But the media's coverage of these kid-snatchings had everyone worked into such a frenzy that they thought it was happening left and right. Statistically, of course, it was no different from other recent years.
Other crimes are the attractive teenager (ie Natalie Holloway) disappearing, anything at all race-related and the hot-for-teacher syndrome (why none of these teachers worked at Andrean HS is yet another indication of the bad sign I was born under). They get covered to death and any other story that one finds that even remotely resembles it gets grossly overcovered.
Everyone knows that TV show themes are kind of cyclical. At one time, lawyer shows are hot, then crime dramas, then doctor shows, then teacher shows. While I can't immediately find a reference, I do recall reading somewhere that as various professions end up on popular TV shows, there's a curious increase in applications to profressional academic programs for those careers.
The same, it appears to me, is true for what the news wants to cover. If you remember back in the summer of 2002, you would have thought that every second grader was being snatched out of mommy's arms. There was an article in our local paper back then of a man getting run down by the police in a small town.
What exactly did he do wrong?
He was driving through a neighborhood and pulled in a driveway so he could back out and turn around.
But the media's coverage of these kid-snatchings had everyone worked into such a frenzy that they thought it was happening left and right. Statistically, of course, it was no different from other recent years.
Other crimes are the attractive teenager (ie Natalie Holloway) disappearing, anything at all race-related and the hot-for-teacher syndrome (why none of these teachers worked at Andrean HS is yet another indication of the bad sign I was born under). They get covered to death and any other story that one finds that even remotely resembles it gets grossly overcovered.
The latest one is granny targeting. This week, the jerkoff who was caught on tape mugging an old woman in a walker was brought into custody. Now, Fox and other outlets are fawning over a 68-year old grandmother of 8 who beat up a robber at her little store in upstate New York with a Yankees bat.
It's halfway amusing to flip past this crap, but it does start to take its toll when I am expecetd to take these anchors seriously when real news events come up. 95% of their coverage is not at all different from Access Hollywood.
It's halfway amusing to flip past this crap, but it does start to take its toll when I am expecetd to take these anchors seriously when real news events come up. 95% of their coverage is not at all different from Access Hollywood.
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