Saturday night is not a big audience for network TV. People have other things to do with their weekend, than pull up a chair exhausted from the commute, from co-workers and bosses who have conspired to make one's life stressful.
The appeal of violence in news reports is that it is happening to someone else. It's the same secret of success of the Weather Channel and its aging audience.
Last night, the first eleven minutes of Nightly News -- before the Pope and his message of hope -- were stories of violence. A shooter in Hialeah snaps. Bloodshed in Egypt. An overturned bus. The Korean War.
It's all about glueing eyeballs to advertisers. Royal couples only have babies once in a while. Mayhem never lacks for opportunity in American culture. Yesterday, Hialeah had its place in the news firmament as another example of random violence in the US. So many to choose from, so little time to process.
The appeal of violence in news reports is that it is happening to someone else. It's the same secret of success of the Weather Channel and its aging audience.
Last night, the first eleven minutes of Nightly News -- before the Pope and his message of hope -- were stories of violence. A shooter in Hialeah snaps. Bloodshed in Egypt. An overturned bus. The Korean War.
It's all about glueing eyeballs to advertisers. Royal couples only have babies once in a while. Mayhem never lacks for opportunity in American culture. Yesterday, Hialeah had its place in the news firmament as another example of random violence in the US. So many to choose from, so little time to process.
1 comment:
I just heard today that the Hialeah shooter Pedro Vargas was a Democrat and an Obama supporter. It figures.
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