- Watching cable TV and listening to radio last night and this morning, I found myself trapped in an endless loop of panicked victims screaming and fleeing the suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester, England. Shaky witness cellphone video aired again and again, and the image of a girl leaping off a staircase lodged in my mind.
Yes, the attack is news. But does replaying footage of victims for hours or turning over the entire homepage to the story, as CNN, Fox News and Breitbart did, elevate the public understanding of why terrorism is committed or how to stop it? Or is it just lazy and sensationalist tabloid journalism, blowing the murder of 22 people out of proportion to stoke fear?
I would argue that these media outlets are more concerned with their viewing numbers rather than generating fear deliberately. It just so happens that fear/terror gets a lot of attention which means more money. So these outlets have a incentive to replay the horror, fear as a consequence rather than a goal. Good article though.
ISIS just figured out what Ryan Holiday did 5 years ago: if you give the media companies a story that'll sell, they'll report on it regardless of its effects.
I'd argue this falls into the Hanlon's razor argument. And I agree.