Horror Story frequency?

[Andrew Green]

but because of the frequency of them... either that or the media's seemingly blood lust to report them as fast as they happen.
SIGH!

Borrowed from another thread.

Why are horror stories becoming more frequent in our news? Are these things happening more often now then a few years ago? Or is it that our news has become more international and news agencies like to pick up on the stories more because they sell?

I look around and things still seem safe, but if I read a newspaper or watch the news a differerent picture seems to be getting painted. What's going on with society?

Has the level of danger increased, or just the perception?

 

[terryl965]

I percieve it as people want nothing but bad news, nobody cares about the goods stuff going around when have you ever heard about people going over seas with green peace or other groups to help those less fortunite. we as a society only care about danger and bad news.
Terry

 

[beau_safken]

I think its mostly because of our access to many forms of information rather than the information itself. They only report whats happening...granted a little biased towards bad things but its the availablity of that info that really is making more of a impact.

 

[Andrew Green]

Yup, bad only.

No one cares if 500,000 people help a old lady across the street. But if one kicks the old lady that person makes the news.

 

[Phoenix44]

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down...

 

[Bigshadow]

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down...

People want Dirty Laundry....

 

[Kacey]

I percieve it as people want nothing but bad news, nobody cares about the goods stuff going around when have you ever heard about people going over seas with green peace or other groups to help those less fortunite. we as a society only care about danger and bad news.
Terry

I'm not sure it's that people want nothing but bad new (myself, I could do without it) but that bad news is more interesting - I mean, good stories are great, but how long can you drag them out, compared to watching horrors unfold? In a writing class I took in college, the professor pointed out that most novels are about negative events - how interesting is "they had a picnic. It was great. There were no ants. A wonderful time was had by all." Still... I could do with more good news in place of the bad.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

people spend money and energy on fear. bad news generates fear. fear is a tool of the people in power over us...

 

[Maltair]

Be afraid, be very afraid...

 

[MA-Caver]

I percieve it as people want nothing but bad news, nobody cares about the goods stuff going around when have you ever heard about people going over seas with green peace or other groups to help those less fortunite. we as a society only care about danger and bad news.
Terry

Sorry to disagree (respectfully) Terry, but we as society appreciate and would LOVE to hear more good news than bad. But the human side of us (or more aptly ... the Dark-Side) has a morbid fascination with the bad... as long as it doesn't happen to us directly (9-11 excepting).
I for one care about the good that's happening and would definitely like to hear more of it. It'd certianly help my cynical nature which has grown (partially) because of the bad stuff you hear from the media.
Still one can ask why we are so drawn to horror (fictionous, real-life) when we verbally decry it so much. Again, morbid fascination. Try going to www.rotten.com and look up their "dead" pictures... (when all the kids are in bed okay), horrible as they are it's very hard to turn it all off.
As Kacey and Bushido pointed out, fear is a big money generating machine... right along with sex. Why else would an unknown first-time author by the name of Bram Stoker suddenly get on the best seller list (in his day), and his predecessors Ed Poe, and then later Stephen King, Dean Koonz, Clive Barker and so on. Alice Cooper in his early years sang about our nightmare and got rich. Dave Cronenberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Earl Hammer, Stanley Krubrick put our fears on the big screen so they're in our faces. Even Speilberg did it with Jaws, Poltergiest and then showed us the horrors of war with Saving Private Ryan and Schindlers List.
Historically bad news helps control the masses... Hitler did it with his Nazi Party and propaganda, Stalin and Lenin did it with Communism followed by Chairman Mao. Everything was done for the good of the people and there was still that undercurrent of fear. Heck even Grand Moff Tarkin said it best: "Fear will keep the local systems in line..."
Using the media en-massed they bombard us with these images and stories to let loose our fears and ask them (read: Big Government) to pass more laws that'll protect us better from these horrors, without grasping the fact that we are cutting bits and pieces (however small) of our civil liberties away a little at a time.
It's human nature to be fascinated with the horrors of life. Look how long media coverage of the Tsunami, was drawn out.
While difficult to do, there are millions of us would rather hear the good-stuff; economy improving, lower gas prices, more jobs, peace treaties signed and honored and so forth, I think all we got to do is ask for it and actively seek it out. There is still good in this world and good people in it. When I look, I see it all the time. There is a lot of beauty as well. Like this (too) cute video http://media.putfile.com/Cute-little-girl-singing-91
(sorry had to put that in there to down play my soapbox... )

 

[Carol]

Having been in broadcasting in a few different roles (my first job was a news producer for Gulf War I)

Bad news sells and sells big. CNN was on the verge of collapse before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Many media stalwarts got their first big break by covering the Kennedy Assassination in Texas.

It's not entirely a bad reaction. When faced with something that we just can't understand, we look for answers...and one of the places that we look is television.

At the same time, television news is a business and a big business at that. The battle for ratings goes on.