Thursday, January 27, 2005
(1:38 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
TV News
Rich of Infinite Diablogue posts his befuddlement about a recent newsradio broadcast in which they reported on the damage that could possibly occur were a terrorist to launch a shoulder-mounted rocket at a commercial airliner. He wondered why they would report about something that hasn't happened and speculated that it might be a desire to drum up fear.I don't listen to radio news other than NPR, where such scare-tactic pieces seem to have a very limited role, but on TV news -- on every single TV news broadcast I have ever seen, particularly local news -- they seem to do nothing but talk about some previously unnoticed health risk or danger. "Seatbelts -- could they strangle your infant to death?" "Fire-hydrant explosions that kill groups of children playing nearby -- is the city doing enough to prevent them?" "Disgruntled kindergarteners with assault weapons -- could it happen in your child's classroom?" When did this become the dominant format for TV news?
I would propose a unilateral shutdown of all TV news shows, but that would have the unfortunate consequence of rendering many of the jokes on The Daily Show unintelligible.
