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The people deserves to know the externalities of such practices of the animals agriculture business. Why is it that main stream news is so afraid of exposing s

The people deserves to know the externalities of such practices of the animals agriculture business. Why is it that main stream news is so afraid of exposing stuff like this ?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
thephyber 6y ago
> afraid of exposing They are afraid of losing their audience and/or advertisers. Not that hard to figure out. Same reason why I tune out Facebook posts like this -- I have a visceral reaction to pictures of destroyed animals when I see pictures/videos. I would argue it's the news consumers that have a problem with it, not investigative journalists. Also, there are laws in many of the states which specialize in factory livestock that criminalize gathering evidence, so it's difficult to report.
- ta17711771 6y ago
  They don't need to flash the gore to make the report. Murders are reported without showing the body with holes in it, etc.
  - thephyber 6y ago
    I don't think people react the same to murders even of different classes of people, let alone all animals. I don't make up the rules; I only observe them. Humans have heuristics. I suspect the more we can personally identify with a victim, the more we are likely to be interested in hearing about it. Why don't news programs continue to post about all of the Pakistanis, Afghanis, Somalis, Libyans, etc that are killed either by terrorists or US drone strikes? There's only so much people will tolerate before their attention moves elsewhere. I trust that news outlets will follow the money. If it was low risk of being sued, not terribly expensive to cover (as in didn't piss off advertisers), and got viewers to pay attention (without vomiting during dinner time), news programs would cover it.
    - saltedonion 6y ago
      Good point. Compared to murder, animal cruelty segments will be a lot of cruelty without generating much sympathy.
ta17711771 6y ago
Because then Tyson and companies with common investors/board members will threaten to pull advertising dollars.

The people deserves to know the externalities of such practices of the animals agriculture business. Why is it that main stream news is so afraid of exposing stuff like this ?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

thephyber 6y ago

> afraid of exposing They are afraid of losing their audience and/or advertisers. Not that hard to figure out. Same reason why I tune out Facebook posts like this -- I have a visceral reaction to pictures of destroyed animals when I see pictures/videos. I would argue it's the news consumers that have a problem with it, not investigative journalists. Also, there are laws in many of the states which specialize in factory livestock that criminalize gathering evidence, so it's difficult to report.

ta17711771 6y ago
They don't need to flash the gore to make the report. Murders are reported without showing the body with holes in it, etc.
- thephyber 6y ago
  I don't think people react the same to murders even of different classes of people, let alone all animals. I don't make up the rules; I only observe them. Humans have heuristics. I suspect the more we can personally identify with a victim, the more we are likely to be interested in hearing about it. Why don't news programs continue to post about all of the Pakistanis, Afghanis, Somalis, Libyans, etc that are killed either by terrorists or US drone strikes? There's only so much people will tolerate before their attention moves elsewhere. I trust that news outlets will follow the money. If it was low risk of being sued, not terribly expensive to cover (as in didn't piss off advertisers), and got viewers to pay attention (without vomiting during dinner time), news programs would cover it.
  - saltedonion 6y ago
    Good point. Compared to murder, animal cruelty segments will be a lot of cruelty without generating much sympathy.

ta17711771 6y ago

Because then Tyson and companies with common investors/board members will threaten to pull advertising dollars.