“What’s the matter with you?
Why don’t you ever bring us some good news?
It’s not my fault. I only read it.”-”Fiddler on the Roof”
I find it intriguing that the majority of news (or what people consider to be news) is bad. Most of the general public views the publications media as negative, and not without reason at that.
The media publish countless articles and features that portray this world in a negative light. They depict devastating natural disasters, scandalous corruption, and dramatic tragedies. I’d be willing to bet that if a researcher was to flag each published article or feature (on any media) within the span of one month as positive, negative, or neutral, the majority of articles would be negative.
The media isn’t stupid. They aren’t going to report on things that don’t interest us. They likely had analysts study people’s curiosity for good and bad news (just as almost any other successful business does). I don’t question the media’s coverage of mainly “bad news”. It’s all marketing strategy. The marketing strategy is directly caused by people’s gravitation towards bad news.
Why are people so gravitated towards other people’s bad news?
Imagine a world where the media only reported good news. This would be a world in which the media would report on miracles, people’s good works, and the general goodness of mankind. Besides the likelihood that this would create a very naiive public, imagine what would happen if any one person encountered trouble at a point in his life. He would think to himself, “Goodness. Life seems so perfect for everybody else, but why is my life so screwed up? Why does my life suck?
My point is, too much good news is difficult to listen to. Some good news is good because many people need hope and fantasies. But here’s the bottom line: it’s easier to listen to bad news than good news. When one hears bad news he can either sympathize, empathize, or gloat. Sympathy isn’t difficult. All you have to do is feel sorry for the person. Pity is easy. Empathy is rarely lasting. Gloating is ridiculously easy. On the other hand, when one hears good news, it’s easy to become jealous, difficult to share joy with the beneficiary.
Sure, my logic is a bit over-simplified, but there is a seed of truth. It is not necessarily more difficult to listen to somebody else’s good news than to listen to somebody else’s bad news as much as it is that it is easier to listen to somebody else’s bad news than to listen to somebody else’s good news.
Filed under: Fiddler on the Roof
