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The local news seems to always be about murders and violence. Why is it beneficial to learn about every instance of "humans behaving badly"? (Celebrities, ok,

by Tempest1981 10y ago

The local news seems to always be about murders and violence. Why is it beneficial to learn about every instance of "humans behaving badly"? (Celebrities, ok, maybe, but random people?)

TwoBit 10y ago
celebrities, not OK.
crimsonalucard 10y ago
what are celebrities if not random people?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
closeparen 10y ago
>Why is it beneficial to learn about every instance of "humans behaving badly"? Because it is your civic responsibility to care that such things are happening in your community, and to allocate your political activity, voting, and charitable giving in a way that you believe will mitigate that suffering. Because if everyone said, "sometimes humans behave badly; why should I care?" we'd be living in a hellscape.
- Tempest1981 10y ago
  I see your point. I guess I would prefer a summary every month/year, vs. a graphic live video report each night.
  - ianai 10y ago
    It's because violence gets viewers and it's a constant. Every channel has a weather man/woman for the same reasons.
- nul_byte 10y ago
  I tend to apply sphere of influence here.. If there is violence in my local community, then its realistic that I could affect some level of change there. For example, I could join a neighbourhood watch, work with local police etc. Help fund a youth club. On the contrary, if I stay informed on as much snippets of murder, deceit and corruption that happen globally, pretty soon I will feel overwhelmed and rendered powerless. Knowing about a drug murder in Mexico or a child slavery in north Korea, is not something I can do anything about, apart from feel depressed.
- lobotryas 10y ago
  >civic responsibility to care about such things Says who? Where is that written? I couldn't care less about such problems in my community. I pay my taxes so the city/county can hire people to solve these issues. My politicians have little to no competition so voting for who's in office is largely meaningless in my case. Why should I spend my time, mental and emotional energy on "the news" when this offers zero immediate benefit to me? Even during watercooler talk if someone says "did you hear about x?" I can reply "no, please tell me about it" without losing any face. I've been thinking about deleting news apps from my phone lately because I realized I did not actually enjoy or benefit from reading what's going on in Us politics or international affairs. This article cinched the deal. If something is really important then I'll read about it here, on reddit's FP or hear it from my friends/colleagues. Everything else is just noise.
CM30 10y ago
If it bleeds it leads. That's the motivation behind a lot of news coverage. Fear and drama brings views and clicks.

The local news seems to always be about murders and violence. Why is it beneficial to learn about every instance of "humans behaving badly"? (Celebrities, ok, maybe, but random people?)

TwoBit 10y ago

celebrities, not OK.

crimsonalucard 10y ago

what are celebrities if not random people?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

closeparen 10y ago

>Why is it beneficial to learn about every instance of "humans behaving badly"? Because it is your civic responsibility to care that such things are happening in your community, and to allocate your political activity, voting, and charitable giving in a way that you believe will mitigate that suffering. Because if everyone said, "sometimes humans behave badly; why should I care?" we'd be living in a hellscape.

Tempest1981 10y ago
I see your point. I guess I would prefer a summary every month/year, vs. a graphic live video report each night.
- ianai 10y ago
  It's because violence gets viewers and it's a constant. Every channel has a weather man/woman for the same reasons.
nul_byte 10y ago
I tend to apply sphere of influence here.. If there is violence in my local community, then its realistic that I could affect some level of change there. For example, I could join a neighbourhood watch, work with local police etc. Help fund a youth club. On the contrary, if I stay informed on as much snippets of murder, deceit and corruption that happen globally, pretty soon I will feel overwhelmed and rendered powerless. Knowing about a drug murder in Mexico or a child slavery in north Korea, is not something I can do anything about, apart from feel depressed.
lobotryas 10y ago
>civic responsibility to care about such things Says who? Where is that written? I couldn't care less about such problems in my community. I pay my taxes so the city/county can hire people to solve these issues. My politicians have little to no competition so voting for who's in office is largely meaningless in my case. Why should I spend my time, mental and emotional energy on "the news" when this offers zero immediate benefit to me? Even during watercooler talk if someone says "did you hear about x?" I can reply "no, please tell me about it" without losing any face. I've been thinking about deleting news apps from my phone lately because I realized I did not actually enjoy or benefit from reading what's going on in Us politics or international affairs. This article cinched the deal. If something is really important then I'll read about it here, on reddit's FP or hear it from my friends/colleagues. Everything else is just noise.

CM30 10y ago

If it bleeds it leads. That's the motivation behind a lot of news coverage. Fear and drama brings views and clicks.