In 2020, along with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dramatic spike in murders in the United States. This increase in lethal violence, understandably, was covered extensively in national and local media outlets. Yet, much of this coverage lacked critical context. While the increase in murders was significant, the overall murder rate remained far below its peak in the 1980s and 90s.

In 2020, along with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dramatic spike in murders in the United States. This increase in lethal violence, understandably, was covered extensively in national and local media outlets. Yet, much of this coverage lacked critical context. While the increase in murders was significant, the overall murder rate remained far below its peak in the 1980s and 90s.

    • dismalnow@kbin.social
      3·
      1 year ago

      @detectivemittens

      @demvoter

      Agree with your point about for-profit news, and I’m not going to discuss the obvious “what’s the alternative?” because I don’t have an answer other than it was previously delivered by the same corporations at an intentional loss as a more/less public service - and it’s veracity was required by law.

      But the fact that good news isn’t clickworthy says more about those who consume it than the profit motivation that caters to it. When you have a society that is addicted to fear, and rage - you have regression, and authoritarian figures who seem appealing as leaders.

      • parrot-party@kbin.social
        2·
        1 year ago

        The alternative is well funded public news. News is click bait today because they ride or die on advertisement. If the news didn’t need to care about readership at all, then they could work on providing informative but perhaps boring content. We’ll never get that while never ending profits are the goal.