"Beyond these specific examples, what is it about our time that causes so many in our business to find the genuinely tough news all around us not to be dramatic enough?"
1) The internet rewards excessive drama. It also makes journalists perpetually aware of the fact that their value (in the job marketplace, at least) is largely measured by engagement metrics. There have always been incentives to amp up drama in journalism, but the internet makes them into an incessant drumbeat.
2) The dearth of stable jobs and fundamental insecurity of this industry leads journalists to follow those incentives even when their better judgment may say otherwise.
3) Ideological polarization begets dramatic narrative and tends to drown out voices of moderation. COVID is a good example.
I'll give a mea culpa. I reported on COVID in hospitals in Nov-Dec 2020. I talked a lot about how hospitals were "on the brink," or "nearing a breaking point," etc. I found plenty of health care professionals willing to talk about how genuinely awful things were inside. I am certain I also could have found people who would have told me the alarm was overblown, that the "collapse" narrative was wrong. But a story questioning that narrative would have been seen by many as downplaying the severity of the pandemic and giving comfort to the other side in the COVID wars. Now, that doesn't excuse me for not doing my job better. But journalists are subject to the same internal social / cultural pressure as everyone else (probably more so). The more that the people around you have deeply held narratives around topics like COVID, the harder it is to muster the will to challenge them.
So well said Dick! I also wish reporters would realize that correlation does not imply causation and state that in reporting on controversies fueled by that belief. For example, the election of George Gascon as LA District Attorney is not in any way associated with the rise in crime there.
I very much enjoyed your latest piece. I also write a blog which you can access at www.seeing-clearly.com. Your article reminded me of a piece I wrote last lear entitled "A Perceived Crisis" which you can access at https://www.seeing-clearly.com/blog/a-perceived-crisis. While we have not seen hospitals overwhelmed as NYC hospitals were in April 2020, I'm not sure that I concur with your assessment that the problems being caused by the Omicron variant are not as grave. Those problems exists is rural areas where hospital facilities are limited and which receive less news coverage.
"Beyond these specific examples, what is it about our time that causes so many in our business to find the genuinely tough news all around us not to be dramatic enough?"
1) The internet rewards excessive drama. It also makes journalists perpetually aware of the fact that their value (in the job marketplace, at least) is largely measured by engagement metrics. There have always been incentives to amp up drama in journalism, but the internet makes them into an incessant drumbeat.
2) The dearth of stable jobs and fundamental insecurity of this industry leads journalists to follow those incentives even when their better judgment may say otherwise.
3) Ideological polarization begets dramatic narrative and tends to drown out voices of moderation. COVID is a good example.
I'll give a mea culpa. I reported on COVID in hospitals in Nov-Dec 2020. I talked a lot about how hospitals were "on the brink," or "nearing a breaking point," etc. I found plenty of health care professionals willing to talk about how genuinely awful things were inside. I am certain I also could have found people who would have told me the alarm was overblown, that the "collapse" narrative was wrong. But a story questioning that narrative would have been seen by many as downplaying the severity of the pandemic and giving comfort to the other side in the COVID wars. Now, that doesn't excuse me for not doing my job better. But journalists are subject to the same internal social / cultural pressure as everyone else (probably more so). The more that the people around you have deeply held narratives around topics like COVID, the harder it is to muster the will to challenge them.
Thank you, Dick!
So well said Dick! I also wish reporters would realize that correlation does not imply causation and state that in reporting on controversies fueled by that belief. For example, the election of George Gascon as LA District Attorney is not in any way associated with the rise in crime there.
I very much enjoyed your latest piece. I also write a blog which you can access at www.seeing-clearly.com. Your article reminded me of a piece I wrote last lear entitled "A Perceived Crisis" which you can access at https://www.seeing-clearly.com/blog/a-perceived-crisis. While we have not seen hospitals overwhelmed as NYC hospitals were in April 2020, I'm not sure that I concur with your assessment that the problems being caused by the Omicron variant are not as grave. Those problems exists is rural areas where hospital facilities are limited and which receive less news coverage.