Media Hype...and why do they do that?

[TheWobble]

I was sitting here and overheard the San Antonio..or Houston news (get both so cant be sure)

The reporter blurts out something like..

AN INDEPTH INVESTIGATION INTO TEEN DRIVING THAT JUST  MIGHT  SAVE  YOUR  CHILDS  LIFE!!

they go into how last year there were 24  severe car wrecks involving teens and that this is a BIG problem, and that teen driving is becaoming a major problem...bla bla bla, well I did a little research.  There were over 300 severe car wrecks in both Houston and San Antonio..sounds like 24 of them being teen drivers seems to be about the normal slice of the pie to me..??   Not to say its good or anything, but there is nothing out of proportion or EXTREME about it.


CASE 2:

A laid off worker goes into his former place of work and goes on a shooting spree killing 6 people and injuring 9 before offing himself.  as it turns out one of the victims was a black.  The Media lables it a "race related slaying"  and then poured into how he must killed the black guy because the got fired and the black guy kept his job.  Then they interview all the guys friends asking if they knew he was a racist, and then when they said he wasnt they come back and say that he "OBVIOUSLY" was harboring a deep racal hatred that suddenly got out of control.  again a sad incident..but hardly race motivated.


Why does he media do crap like that??

[Ripsnort]

Coco, or Cocoa?  (G.W. and the New York Times)

[miko2d]

 Of course the guy was a racist! If you were any better at math, you would have seen it.

 Blacks comprise 12% of the US population. Since the guy killed one black out of 6 victims it makes 16% - obviously a disproportionately hight number (by a third). He should have killed two more white guys if he did not want to be a racist - that would have made it nice 12.5%.

miko

[TheWobble]

Of course the guy was a racist! If you were any better at math, you would have seen it.
Blacks comprise 12% of the US population.  

Since the guy killed one black out of 6 victims it makes 16% - obviously a disproportionately hight number (by a third). He should have killed two more white guys if he did not want to be a racist - that would have made it nice 12.5%.

miko

LOL!  

[Maverick]

Wobble,

Media hacks know that the more sensational they make the news the more people will tune in to listen / watch. Remember they are pandering to the same kind of mentality that supports Jerry Springer, Survivors, Temptation Isle and so on. Just presenting facts or news doesn't do it. Society is so jaded on "reality" that the real has to be "jazzed up" in order to get attention.

It is far easier to "make" (sensationalize)  the news than to go out, find it, REALLY analize it for factual presentation and then tell the audience what happened.

Journalism's pendulum has swung back to the type of writing that was prevalent in the 1800's. It used to be called yellow journalism, sensationalist journalism and other terms I can't think of right now. The best example of it is the supermarket tabloids with all the stories of an alien elvis who is really implanting evil machines into helpless kids.... and so on. Come to think of it that isn't far off of what we get now on the regular news casts..  


Mav

[Fury]

Agree with Maverick.

Media is big business, they will do anything to get you to watch so they can get their revenue.

Ever notice how the local news teases you with a "big" story and then tells you to tune in at 10 to find out the rest?

Fury