May 17, 2018

Media's Emotional Pull

Ah, the media. Their modern tactic is to have the reader or viewer engage emotionally. The more shocking, the better. But what if it is a lie being promoted and that lie may be about a person. The attention others pay to the report will be larger if the lie is bigger…leaving us ready to take up our pitchforks and stampede the person’s place of residence. Picture that.  It becomes a story with a plot and numerous climaxes, as long as someone keeps the story alive and feeds the beast with new lies every now and then. And that is what makes news NEWS.

With 1,800 media outlets scrambling to post a plethora of “news” stories each and everyday, we get a sense of what it means to be put under the gun. If you are an editor, reporter, online outlet, or owner of one of those outlets, you must report something! 

Why do we mere mortals think we can trust the media pimps to tell us the truth about anything? The very idea that we do have some trust in the media should scare us. Do we want to be duped? 

I heard a reporter once say that he was first and foremost an entertainer. He wasn’t a reporter first, but an entertainer and wanted the public to understand that he was paid to entertain, not report the truth no matter what, so help him God.  

The truth is, we want to believe something and want desperately to connect with something…anything. We want community and a sense of acceptance. If we can get on board with a story and feel for that victim or hate the supposed bad guy, then we have connection. We have something real. Or so we think.

But what if someone’s reputation is ruined because someone had nothing really to report one day and then heard a guy said something that was construed to mean something awful, so it was reported as facts. The guy now has to explain what the comment really meant because it was totally taken out of context and spit out as something resembling a horrifying truth. 

Are we willing to stop and look at each story with the eyes of a critique, who understands that maybe 10% of the story may be true but 90% is embellished? Ratings are the name of the game and if 10% truths sell, then the rationalization of all those involved will become immune to the other 90%. And eventually, the public becomes immune because of the craving for the fantastical and the human need for connection...any kind of connection.