It's not the public who is pleased. It's the talking heads, the newsroom bosses, the politicians, the corporate officers. The people who can spread the message

It's not the public who is pleased. It's the talking heads, the newsroom bosses, the politicians, the corporate officers. The people who can spread the message that the public is pleased, regardless of whether the public is actually pleased. And as long as the public is not incredibly angry, they'll mostly just quietly go along with it, because it's not worth fighting against. But they're not the source. It's manufactured forgiveness.