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A recent example: as you might have heard, the CEO of an insurance company was shot. As I'm not from the US, the most interesting thing to me about this killin

A recent example: as you might have heard, the CEO of an insurance company was shot. As I'm not from the US, the most interesting thing to me about this killing is that a significant amount of the population thinks that the killing was justified. I've seen numbers like 60% of young people support his actions. If you go on reddit, you'll see that he has a huge amount of support there. Now, I don't personally know what to think about all this,. although my gut reaction is that violence is rarely a good solution. But one thing I am sure of: the public reaction to this killing is incredibly newsworthy. Possibly will go down in history as the starting point of a revolution levels of newsworthy. How much reporting on this aspect of the killing have you seen in the media? Especially in the first couple of days. Barely a whisper. When people talk about manufacturing consent and controlling the narrative, this is the kind of thing they mean. In a healthy press, in a healthy society, there should be a ton of discussion happening about this, why so many people are so upset and angry with their situation that they're willing to support a killing in broad daylight, what can be done to fix these issues, how this should be a wake-up call that deep changes are needed, and so on. Do you see that happening anywhere in the established media? The coordination doesn't require some shadowy network of media moguls making phone calls. Although I'm sure that is happening a bit since there are hardly any independent newsrooms anymore.

mewpmewp2 2y ago
> Do you see that happening anywhere in the established media? The coordination doesn't require some shadowy network of media moguls making phone calls. Although I'm sure that is happening a bit since there are hardly any independent newsrooms anymore. This works naturally in a top down hierarchy where people who do what you want get promoted and who do not will not. There doesn't have to be a conspiracy. It is the little things influencing who exactly has decision power and everything can just go unspoken. A powerful and rich person who owns part of a business would exert influence on the hierarchy by funding only what they like and hierarchy promotes only what gets funding. Nobody has to utter a word, it is a bit like evolutionary algorithm of incentives.
libertine 2y ago
> a significant amount of the population thinks that the killing was justified. I've seen numbers like 60% of young people support his actions. If you go on reddit, you'll see that he has a huge amount of support there. Can you share where you've seen these numbers? > In a healthy press, in a healthy society, there should be a ton of discussion happening about this, why so many people are so upset and angry with their situation that they're willing to support a killing in broad daylight, what can be done to fix these issues, how this should be a wake-up call that deep changes are needed, and so on. Doesn't this go against the ethics of reporting such extreme events, which empower people with mental health issues to "copy cat" in order to seek attention and gain social status?[0] I don't see how empowering someone with a mental disorder who chose murder as a means to set the public agenda as a "healthy press in a healthy society". Isn't this simply devaluing those who choose to pursue justice through peaceful means? Like using the Justice System, Protesting, etc? > Do you see that happening anywhere in the established media? Yes, I've seen plenty of coverage, I'll even say too much coverage on this subject as a whole. [0]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5296697/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5296697/
- maeil 2y ago
  > Doesn't this go against the ethics of reporting such extreme events, which empower people with mental health issues to "copy cat" in order to seek attention and gain social status?[0] These ethics are completely disregarded by the media when reporting on e.g. school shootings. They do not factor in whatsoever.
  - libertine 2y ago
    Well, we don't know to what extent they factor it in. It would be interesting to see how it evolved throughout the years - but that's beyond the point: The ethics and the effects of it are there, and to have a murderer set the public agenda doesn't make much sense.
- esperent 2y ago
  > Doesn't this go against the ethics of reporting such extreme events, which empower people with mental health issues to "copy cat" in order to seek attention and gain social status? If we're talking about opinion pieces, sure. But when it comes to headlines, those are supposed to be a reasonably dispassionate reporting of facts. A fact is that a significant percentage of the population supported this killing. I don't remember where I saw that 60% number, but suppose it's only 10%, or 20%. That's still tens of millions of people, it should still be reported on, dispassionately and factually. If the newspaper decides it would be ethically wrong to have opinion pieces representing this section of the population, that's another matter. Personally, given that we've all been forced to listen to representatives from both sides for several decades on things like gay marriage, abortion, and so on, I think they should apply that rule in this case too and give opinions from both sides.

mewpmewp2 2y ago

> Do you see that happening anywhere in the established media? The coordination doesn't require some shadowy network of media moguls making phone calls. Although I'm sure that is happening a bit since there are hardly any independent newsrooms anymore. This works naturally in a top down hierarchy where people who do what you want get promoted and who do not will not. There doesn't have to be a conspiracy. It is the little things influencing who exactly has decision power and everything can just go unspoken. A powerful and rich person who owns part of a business would exert influence on the hierarchy by funding only what they like and hierarchy promotes only what gets funding. Nobody has to utter a word, it is a bit like evolutionary algorithm of incentives.

libertine 2y ago

> a significant amount of the population thinks that the killing was justified. I've seen numbers like 60% of young people support his actions. If you go on reddit, you'll see that he has a huge amount of support there. Can you share where you've seen these numbers? > In a healthy press, in a healthy society, there should be a ton of discussion happening about this, why so many people are so upset and angry with their situation that they're willing to support a killing in broad daylight, what can be done to fix these issues, how this should be a wake-up call that deep changes are needed, and so on. Doesn't this go against the ethics of reporting such extreme events, which empower people with mental health issues to "copy cat" in order to seek attention and gain social status?[0] I don't see how empowering someone with a mental disorder who chose murder as a means to set the public agenda as a "healthy press in a healthy society". Isn't this simply devaluing those who choose to pursue justice through peaceful means? Like using the Justice System, Protesting, etc? > Do you see that happening anywhere in the established media? Yes, I've seen plenty of coverage, I'll even say too much coverage on this subject as a whole. [0]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5296697/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5296697/

maeil 2y ago
> Doesn't this go against the ethics of reporting such extreme events, which empower people with mental health issues to "copy cat" in order to seek attention and gain social status?[0] These ethics are completely disregarded by the media when reporting on e.g. school shootings. They do not factor in whatsoever.
- libertine 2y ago
  Well, we don't know to what extent they factor it in. It would be interesting to see how it evolved throughout the years - but that's beyond the point: The ethics and the effects of it are there, and to have a murderer set the public agenda doesn't make much sense.
esperent 2y ago
> Doesn't this go against the ethics of reporting such extreme events, which empower people with mental health issues to "copy cat" in order to seek attention and gain social status? If we're talking about opinion pieces, sure. But when it comes to headlines, those are supposed to be a reasonably dispassionate reporting of facts. A fact is that a significant percentage of the population supported this killing. I don't remember where I saw that 60% number, but suppose it's only 10%, or 20%. That's still tens of millions of people, it should still be reported on, dispassionately and factually. If the newspaper decides it would be ethically wrong to have opinion pieces representing this section of the population, that's another matter. Personally, given that we've all been forced to listen to representatives from both sides for several decades on things like gay marriage, abortion, and so on, I think they should apply that rule in this case too and give opinions from both sides.