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VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA
With the help of TV and Hollywood movies the American public has become conditioned to violence as being a problem solver WITHOUT dire consequences! Violent people tend to be violent with or without TV or movies but these industries make the perfect scapegoat to blame society's violent behavior on.
Violent images make for a wicked assault on our senses. They may be passed off as news and attract more viewers by arousing emotions, anxiety and fears compared to the less interesting, non-visual, "talking head", reasonable, in-depth reporting of issues, policies and so forth.
Due to the cult of violence portrayed on daily TV newscasts many of us may suffer the consequences of constantly viewing irrelevant violence. This is why today many of us may live in irrational fear of remote and unlikely dangers. Violent story after violent story drives our moods up and down from rage to fear. Consequently, are WE ending up the victims of violence in the media.
A typical half hour local newscast in the area where you live may tend to carry around 12 minutes of news of which 50% or more of it may be violent in nature! About 1/2 of all local newscasts surveyed may tend to start off the show with a crime or some violence or disaster even if there were few, if any, reported injuries or little property damage.
Few local TV news departments may do very little in-depth coverage or analysis of local issues and instead favor more sensational news content that stirs viewers' emotions, like violent acts.
Critics charge newscasters have, for the most part, turned into nothing more than "spot deliverers" for advertisers! Local newscasts have essentially become low budget "noisemakers" used simply to attract lots of viewers so management can sell lots of advertisements!
Violent TV news coverage takes the easiest, simplest path to grab viewers' attention. A murder or fire takes just minutes and little manpower to cover or exploit while in-depth coverage or investigative reporting of local news issues and policies may take days, even weeks, not to mention lots of costly manpower, to cover thoroughly.
Less violent coverage of news and events costs more money to produce which means less overall profits for the stations' management. Can the people in your community force local TV news departments into adopting higher standards for news coverage or has the public taste in your community already sunk too low to be salvageable like many TV news department managers may feel it has!
SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: FT. LAUDERDALE SUN SENTINEL NEWSPAPER "SUNSHINE MAGAZINE" 3/10/96
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