news help: Why does the media have to repeat and repeat and repeat bad news? - Help.com

Its a distraction from real issues.

Then they have no real purpose.

They do this when not much is happening. If there is a train crash and then nothing else newsworthy happens for days … they will keep rehashing the train story until something else happens.

I thought I was the only one who noticed. I hate the news. The media will be our downfall.

Unfortunately, the important news is usually bad news because people want to know when (and why) things have gone wrong; they don’t care about the good news so much as if things are working they don’t feel a need to draw attention to it (Kind of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” sort of attitude). Media companies are after the biggest viewer ratings and the highest profits, so they will cater for this general feeling, repeating the bad news so that the most amount of people see it. Of course, bad news is nearly always far more dramatic (and therefore, interesting) than good news, so media companies are hardly going to waste their time on something that lowers their profits.

I personally like to take (probably a somewhat naive view hehe) that if they are having to repeat so many bad news stories then there aren’t too many bad things happening in the world ;)

I know! isnt that annoying? its like why do you have to do that? it bothers me, of course theres bad news and sometiems theres things we need to know about, but I just dont like it when they try to hook viewers by talking about a murder like its a moive or something

its the shock factor that makes people sit up and take notice. the media use it all the time to make people keep watching/reading.

bad miserable news is there to make miserable depressed people feel better about themselves. i think all news does it make people feel worse because when some1 tries to feel superior over others all it does is bring their emotions crashing down on them again afterwards. short term satisfying, long term a big no no