elenvlnc
Feb 19, 2013
Writing Feedback / "For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news." [6]
"For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news."
Gloria Borger, American journalist, b. 1952
Rarely have folks felt happy when they read newspapers. Although it is well known that media are necessary to inform about what it is going on in the world, most people feel depressed when they get a newspaper. In my opinion, not only bad news should be reported.
The first and most important reason is that depressing stories make people feel sad. Consequently, they are not going to buy the newspaper anymore, watch the news on TV or visit the Internet. For example, only with one click on the website for the local newspaper, thousands of headlines will pop up on your screen, and all of them will be catastrophic...
The breaking news headlines always include suspicious deaths, terrible accidents, cases of corruption or terrorism. How depressing!
It is often suggested that reality must be approached to people. For instance, it is an undeniable fact that we cannot hide wars, deaths, murders, corruption, rapes or robberies. Nevertheless, from my point of view, why can't we reserve the front-page for happy stories? Why don't press show us also the good ones? People would appreciate reading not only about horror and tragedy, because their lives are enough hard, but about great advances in medical therapies, researches and development.
One final argument against the bad news is that media folks glorify the gore and ignore the good, because all they care about are selling papers and making money through people's misery. Criminals do get more headlines than victims - or heroes. And the more horrendous their acts, the bigger those headlines.
In conclusion, the press must share the good news first followed by the bad news in order to develop a peaceful harmonious society. They should stop thinking of communication as a business.
"For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news."
Gloria Borger, American journalist, b. 1952
Rarely have folks felt happy when they read newspapers. Although it is well known that media are necessary to inform about what it is going on in the world, most people feel depressed when they get a newspaper. In my opinion, not only bad news should be reported.
The first and most important reason is that depressing stories make people feel sad. Consequently, they are not going to buy the newspaper anymore, watch the news on TV or visit the Internet. For example, only with one click on the website for the local newspaper, thousands of headlines will pop up on your screen, and all of them will be catastrophic...
The breaking news headlines always include suspicious deaths, terrible accidents, cases of corruption or terrorism. How depressing!
It is often suggested that reality must be approached to people. For instance, it is an undeniable fact that we cannot hide wars, deaths, murders, corruption, rapes or robberies. Nevertheless, from my point of view, why can't we reserve the front-page for happy stories? Why don't press show us also the good ones? People would appreciate reading not only about horror and tragedy, because their lives are enough hard, but about great advances in medical therapies, researches and development.
One final argument against the bad news is that media folks glorify the gore and ignore the good, because all they care about are selling papers and making money through people's misery. Criminals do get more headlines than victims - or heroes. And the more horrendous their acts, the bigger those headlines.
In conclusion, the press must share the good news first followed by the bad news in order to develop a peaceful harmonious society. They should stop thinking of communication as a business.