Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, Aug 10 2006
Why one story over another?
I woke to find more than 1800 stories on the terrorist attacks that were apparently being planned for US airliners carrying passengers to the states from the UK. But Google says that stories on the Lamont/Lieberman Senate race and the Israel/Lebanon conflicts were even more popular than the stories on the plans for terrorism in the air.
It's interesting to see how we're encouraged to change our focus on events as news agencies and network/cable channels jockey to hype the most disturbing or terrifying development they can find. Without new developments in any given headline we're certain to see it slip in major news reports. There are probably actual statistics on how long that takes, though I've never looked into it. I do know that Mother Nature usually trumps war. And a California quake trumps an East Coast hurricane. I only know this because I lived here in California when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake not only interrupted the World Series, but took reporter interest completely away from the aftermath of September's Hurricane Hugo, when the folks back on the East Coast really could have used more news focus as they struggled to rebuild.
It's fairly easy to see that the news, like other things in life, has both a chaotic side and a fairly predictable side, probably because it reflects the duality of our human condition.
posted at: 09:39 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
I woke to find more than 1800 stories on the terrorist attacks that were apparently being planned for US airliners carrying passengers to the states from the UK. But Google says that stories on the Lamont/Lieberman Senate race and the Israel/Lebanon conflicts were even more popular than the stories on the plans for terrorism in the air.
It's interesting to see how we're encouraged to change our focus on events as news agencies and network/cable channels jockey to hype the most disturbing or terrifying development they can find. Without new developments in any given headline we're certain to see it slip in major news reports. There are probably actual statistics on how long that takes, though I've never looked into it. I do know that Mother Nature usually trumps war. And a California quake trumps an East Coast hurricane. I only know this because I lived here in California when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake not only interrupted the World Series, but took reporter interest completely away from the aftermath of September's Hurricane Hugo, when the folks back on the East Coast really could have used more news focus as they struggled to rebuild.
It's fairly easy to see that the news, like other things in life, has both a chaotic side and a fairly predictable side, probably because it reflects the duality of our human condition.
posted at: 09:39 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
