Media Framing
Posted: January 8 23, 11:51 am
This is a rant. I am convincing myself that the media is a good bit of the problem regarding society's pessimism. Maybe it's more of a symptom but it could certainly be part of the cure.
First, there is no question that many of the stories we view and read are tragedies / bad news. But there is a systematic lack of even-handedness that keeps things dark and bleak.
Case in point: The coverage of this winter's wet weather in California/Oregon. The articles in the NYTimes feed have the following verbs and adjectives:
'crippling', 'lashing', 'battles', 'destructive', 'misery'... you get the idea.
But you know what we who are in the middle of it are doing? We are being very thankful. We are addressing the felled trees and blown away possessions with almost relief. This 'atmospheric river' is a true godsend to our parched states. We look at the rising water levels in the reservoirs with smiles. I am 99% sure that the collective mental health of people in these parts is BETTER rather than worse. The trees we have to clear and repairs we need to make are peanuts compared to what all this rains means for our agriculture, wells, and parched forests.
The media is always there for the tragedies but never lets people hear the good news. Feh.
First, there is no question that many of the stories we view and read are tragedies / bad news. But there is a systematic lack of even-handedness that keeps things dark and bleak.
Case in point: The coverage of this winter's wet weather in California/Oregon. The articles in the NYTimes feed have the following verbs and adjectives:
'crippling', 'lashing', 'battles', 'destructive', 'misery'... you get the idea.
But you know what we who are in the middle of it are doing? We are being very thankful. We are addressing the felled trees and blown away possessions with almost relief. This 'atmospheric river' is a true godsend to our parched states. We look at the rising water levels in the reservoirs with smiles. I am 99% sure that the collective mental health of people in these parts is BETTER rather than worse. The trees we have to clear and repairs we need to make are peanuts compared to what all this rains means for our agriculture, wells, and parched forests.
The media is always there for the tragedies but never lets people hear the good news. Feh.