Ever notice that majority of the news you read on the internet or see on TV is bad? The front page reports terrorist attacks, environmental screw-ups, and depressing economic data. Turn on the TV at night and you’re greeted with “After the commercial break, here are 10 Things In Your Fridge That Can Kill You”. You get to hear about the shooting in your city and the child who died in the freak accident. Then, you get four minutes of national bad news: the latest election idiocy, storms ravaging the coast, and updates about the current national health crisis. Finally, they show you a minute or two of international bad news—usually more terrorism or natural disasters.
So why does every talking head on the TV and internet do nothing but shriek about all the crappy stuff going on in the world? How does turning their viewers into paranoid agoraphobics benefit them? The answer is simple--it’s the best way to keep you watching.
The point of TV and internet news is not to tell you about what’s going on in the world. It’s a product meant keep your attention so that you’ll sit through the advertisements. That’s it. It’s all about money. It keeps you focused on the screen in front of you long enough to see how effective Tide is at removing stains or how important it is that you buy a new Lexus.
Human brains are optimized to focus on bad news. At one point, it was crucial to our survival. Scanning the environment for threats was a daily part of staying alive. A rustling bush might hide a predator ready to pounce. But even though we have evolved past that situation, our brains haven’t. They are still optimized to seek out and latch onto threats. The media knows this, which is why the vast majority of news you see is negative. Bad and scary news keeps eyeballs on screens.
Technology is now adept at tracking everything you do. There’s software that tracks your eye movements while you watch TV to see if you’re paying attention. There are companies that monitor what you do on the internet to see what kind of advertising is most effective on you. We’ve moved from companies convincing you to buy their products to actively manipulating you into buying their products. A great example is the teenager who received ads for baby formula in the mail (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-incredible-story-of-how-target-exposed-a-teen-girls-pregnancy-2012-2). That was four years ago. It's even worse today.
The bottom line here? The news is bad for you. Even if you “only have it on as background noise.” It’s a constant voice telling you how awful the world is, when in reality, the world is safer and happier than it has ever been in history. We are living longer, communicating more effectively, and able to enjoy things that no human has ever had the opportunity to enjoy before. By watching the news, you’re making your life worse and lining the pockets of the corporations trying to manipulate you into buying stuff. Turn off the TV news and stop reading news on the internet. If you need background noise while you cook dinner, Finding Nemo could work. Or the Frank Sinatra Pandora station. If you’re looking for some mental stimulation, there are some great podcasts out there. Try going “news”-free for a week. You will feel good.
No comments:
Post a Comment