Freshman Composition 151 Essay #1: "The traffic accident effect."

Jonathan Hallock

Freshman Composition 151

Essay #1 rewrite - 2/06/2006

A traffic accident effect

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “People get the government they deserve, and when they improve their government will also improve.” Public news media can follow the same principle in that the viewers are the largest deciding factor on what quality media coverage they receive. As viewers mature, so in turn will their news media.

The viewers or readers generate the majority of revenue for all news media sources. Newspaper publications need to sell more newspapers, News broadcasts on television or radio need more viewers, and internet news sites need more website hits. Though consumers do have a direct effect in the case of newspapers, where the more readers the newspapers have, the more papers they can sell, and in turn, the more money they can make. Consumers also have a more indirect effect in the case of television, where the more viewers the program has, the more it is worth to the station because of the larger audience that views the advertisements shown in between program segments, which increases the price they can charge for an advertisement segment.

Just like any corporation, if a news media source delivers a product no one wants or trusts, it cannot make any money. Fewer consumers interested in the news, means lower newspaper sales, lower ad revenues, and fewer website hits, leaving the news source to either find a more interesting product for its consumer, or be lost.

Many newspaper sources have found tricks to keeping a consumer’s attention throughout the entirety of their broadcasts. Newspapers and internet sites have bold attention grabbing headlines, and television and radio broadcasts mention important topics in the beginning of the broadcast only to further explain them near the end.

News sources also have what could be deemed a “traffic accident effect.” Bad news generates attention in the same way a horrible car accident does. No one wants to look at the accident, but no one can turn away either. The worse the news to report, the greater the traffic accident effect, to a point. After being exposed to bad news long enough, one can be lead to believe that only terrible things are happening in the world. Good things happen just as often, but they no longer seem to draw the same attention. The only real question is, if we always walk away from the experience feeling soiled, dirty, or bitter, why do we continue to watch? Human nature, I would assume.

Some people are immune to such blatant attention garnering strategies, and choose wisely to ignore news sources that use such strategies. As time goes on and we as a people mature, this portion of people may become the majority and our news sources will improve, as we prove that we deserve it.

In the meantime, it is up to the individual to have the willpower to simply turn off the news when it is something he or she does not really want to watch. Time is important as well as finite, and you should only entrust it to a news source that delivers the news you really need to hear.