[user104658]

Originally Posted by Twosugars

Re doom and gloom reporting, why is it that bad news sells better?
Why soaps thrive on storylines about gloom and conflict?
Do we secretly like feeling scared?

Probably worthy of a separate thread.

Ask and ye shall receive!

From a social psychology standpoint, I'd assume that people compulsively seeking information that they know will scare them is probably an instinctual survival tactic. If we know that scary information is available then it would make sense that there is a potential threat at hand (be that directly physical, or to our general wellbeing) and the automatic response would be to keep informed and aware of that situation, to be ready to take appropriate defensive action.

The problem is, these are survival instincts designed for keeping a spear ready to fend off a pack of wolves, or for doing some extra hunting and foraging if there's signs of a hard winter ahead.

They're not designed for the modern world where the threats are sweeping global issues, where the threats are vague and unknown. Do we instinctually EXPECT a food shortage in a crisis even when there was no risk of one, so we set out to "forage" and fill our stockpile, in the process CREATING a food shortage for those who weren't quick off the mark? This has happened twice in two years. The first time was just bread, this time its everything.


Of course this is why... *ahem*... Accurate and level-headed reporting of the threat at hand is so important. Listen to the medical experts, read the reports yourself, take sensible action. The mass media KNOWS you are scared and knows that the scarier their front page is, the more compelled you'll be to look at it to find out why you should be so scared. Just like Eastenders know people want to see dark storylines.

Trusting them is a mistake. You absolutely don't need them as a middle man to blend up the available information into scary-soup and spoon feed it to you. You already have access to the same information they do.