Particularly because of the most recent (and most epically disastrous) election cycle, I’ve noticed that a lot of people tend to blame the media for Trump’s popularity, Bernie’s losses, Hillary’s successes, and just about every other political problem under the sun. I had to stop reading the comments on New York Times articles because they were just a parade of bitter, bored people raging about how the New York Times is too supportive of Hillary, writes too much about Trump, and doesn’t write enough about Bernie. As a journalism student, I’m here to break some bad news: the supposedly all-powerful entity known as “the media” is just catering to its audience.
Let’s take a look specifically at the articles written about this election cycle. One of the main complaints is that “the media” is giving too much attention to Trump. While this is a valid complaint, the reason that loud orange man gets so much attention is because he’s interesting. On the other end of the spectrum, the reason Bernie gets ignored by “the media” most of the time isn’t because there’s a giant conspiracy against him—it’s because he’s much less interesting than Trump.
Ask yourself which article you would rather read: “Donald Trump Insults All Women” or “Bernie Sanders Hosts a Campaign Rally, People Attend?” If you said you’d rather read about Bernie, you’re lying to yourself. I personally like Bernie much more than Trump, and yet I’d much rather hear about Trump’s latest outrageous comment than Bernie’s latest run-of-the-mill campaign rally. Trump is in the media because he’s unpredictable and insane, and people like reading about that—plus he’s always coming up with something new. Bernie’s barely in the media because he hardly ever deviates from his routine.
This isn’t meant to be a knock on any candidate—it’s just that we’ve all indicated to the media time and time again that we’d rather read about insanity and controversies than hear the same story over and over again. This is also the reason that major tragedies and other generally terrible things are always in the news. It’s not that “the media” wants you to think that the world is falling apart and the apocalypse is imminent during every nightly broadcast—it’s just that reporting on a tragedy in one small area of the world is more newsworthy, interesting, and timely than reporting that all is well in every other corner of the world.
Once again, we have only ourselves to blame. The popularity of gossip magazines and speculation TV shows like TMZ have shown “the media” that we’re interested in scandals and tragedies over morality and happiness. Of course, we all still enjoy the feel-good stories that crop up occasionally in “the media,” but it’s also not as crucial to know that a bulldog learned how to skateboard when compared to vital knowledge of severe weather on the East Coast. Ultimately, most news organizations will focus primarily on what’s current, timely, and newsworthy—not what’s consistent or routine.
