Comments on: Newspaper coverage did not accurately reflect real risk.

By: danc

danc — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:35:42 +0000

@Mr Love: FYI: Newspapers depend on advertising for on ~80% of their income. Newspaper generally maintain a separation between the editorial and advertising, even in my Podunky once a week local paper. Writing about traffic, accidents is difficult is what get from the study. I don’t by the “first this, then that” feeling of direct cause and effect.
Acline has a clue, challenge the reporters assumptions, provide alternative. Have you ever heard of letter to the editor?

By: Kevin Love

Kevin Love — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:50:45 +0000

The job of newspapers is to sell newspapers, not communicate “news.” Whatever that may be.

A story with a clear “bad guy” villian sells newspapers. A story about infrastructure and its influence upon driver behaviour does not. A story that disturbs its readers, breaks their assumptions about the world they live in and motivates them to advocate for change is a definite non-seller.

Newspapers make most of their income from advertising. Just look at the amount of auto advertising in the local newspaper to see where their interests really lie.

By: acline

acline — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:30:59 +0000

None of this is surprising given the structural biases of journalism, especially re: “crashes as dramas”

http://rhetorica.net/bias.htm

But this situation is not hopeless. Don’t hesitate to contact a reporter to discuss his/her framing of a news story. They get locked into master narratives. Part of our job should be to suggest alternative narratives.

By: danc

danc — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:52:11 +0000

Thanks for sharing. I’m reading “How to Live Dangerously ” by Warwick Carirns (subtitle: The Hazards of Helment, Bacteria and the Risk of Living to Safe). Media saturation (TV, Radio, Cable, Internet) also plays a role in overloading, overdosing individuals with “terrible events” that cause us to “worry too much” about events that rare or unusual.