I have a "spam account" e-mail address that I use whenever a business requires one for marketing purposes. It's through Yahoo!, which lists the latest news headlines on its e-mail landing page -- whether you want them or not.
Now, I spent nearly six years at a daily newspaper, most of them as an editor who scanned the newswires and posted content nearly constantly each day. In that time, I saw (and shared with the world) thousands of articles, most of which involved some form of horror: sex crimes, street violence, nasty crashes, child abuse, political scandals and award shows (the latter being a kind of mashup of all the others).
It's the focus on horror that turned me -- and many, many former readers -- off to much of the newspaper life. But the sad fact is, we humans are hard-wired to respond to the titillating and the terrifying. Time and again I saw it: the mayhem stories got anywhere from three to 10 times as much traffic as the "good news" articles on local kids doing well, politicians actually doing their jobs, elders sharing their adventures and wisdom.
The only "good news" that came remotely close to generating such numbers invariably involved cute animals.
I'm sure it's got something to do with our ancient survival needs. The caveman who didn't instantly give attention to something alarming was likely the caveman who didn't survive to pass his genes down to a new generation. But surely we've evolved enough to focus our collective attention on things besides fear and sex today.
I finally changed the settings on that e-mail account to the latest sports headlines, so the first thing I see is something mind-bogglingly repetitive about people and places and sports I've never heard of: "Pedroyak settles negotiations with Aspen State" or "Black scores 20 in final ATC round." No one announcing someone's horrible death while I check for coupons from Save-A-Lot. No one describing the latest drama in a pedophilia case while I click through the day's online comic strips.
Still, I sometimes wonder if I'm missing out on something important. "Puppies save the day at local orphanage," for instance. Oh, well. One of these days, they'll save a golf caddy instead, and I'll be the first to know.
Murphy's Law -- here's today's headlines on that list, and two of them involve awfulness:
ReplyDelete* Johnson, Gordon involved in 14-car wreck (AP)
* Celtics, Heat vs. Kobe in All-Star game (AP)
* Moore's 38 lift Purdue by No. 2 Ohio St. (AP)
* NFL, union meet before mediator again (AP)
* Duerson's death ruled suicide (AP)
* Knicks: Isiah not part of Anthony talks (AP)
OK, is there a "top news headlines" list for LOLcats?
Well, if it is any consolation other countries actually have real news you can use.
ReplyDeleteI lived in France 3 years. The news consisted of political and economic developments domestically and abroad, equally. A little soccer and then a segment on a topic of genuine interest to society, most often very positive.
That was over 10 years ago.... but their news definitely isn't about useless demoralizing violence and they sure didn't care if Clinton got a blow job.
So I assure you America may be screwed on their broadcasting priorities, but it isn't a universal scenario.
Lots of hugs for orphanages, puppies and a delightful lady with a bright spirit!
~KC