Slow news day...

Slow news days... Do they really exist anymore?

I don't think that the mass media in general wants us to believe that they do.

The way I see it is that the media likes to have us in their grip, the more sensational and horrifying news that they print or display the tighter that their grip is on us. Why else would they feel the need to clog up our national and local papers our prime-time news viewing and digital news feeds with information that at a certain level is unnecessary past the local area demographic. I'm referencing of course the recent media storm surrounding the "Batman" shootings. The demographic that would be actually be affected by the event also becomes affected by the news coverage as the whole area becomes a media circus, people that would otherwise be left alone to grieve are splashed across the news as private moments become public.

Is this because the media has such a sense of public service and moral empathy that they believe the only way for the victims' relatives and relationships to receive the support that they need is to publicise their grief for the whole world to see? What about the mass murderers themselves? Does the media believe that the just punishment for the murderer is to print their face and statistics of their "achievements" for all the world to see? Is immortality (in a sense) really fitting for the man or woman who just killed people for their own sick agenda.

NO.

Of course the answer to these questions should be no. There is no reason for the over sensationalism. That is apart from the agenda of the media and the financial gain that they stand to achieve. 

The media would have us believe that we need to see these things, I for one would be interested in finding out whether I'm alone or part of the majority in my belief that we don't need this voyeur experience of world events (let me know in the comment section below!).

Slow news days, I don't necessarily think that they are such bad things, surely not so bad that we need to glorify gore in order to avoid them. Death is a part of life, if the paper covered every car crash, accident, murder, death, illness, local flu epidemic and tragic nail clipper accident that went on around the world the news would be like the internet, an information resource as opposed to localised and specific packet of interesting and vital information.

What I'm getting at is that the mass media, news in particular (be it papers or TV shows)  is too focused on the sensation, not the information.

So when the next shooting does happen, as it unfortunately will (Hooray for the right to bear arms!) let's hope that the only media attention that it gets is the bare minimum. Just the facts for those that need  to know.