What he meant, I think, is that sensationalism sells newspapers, that
circulation brings in ad revenue. Therefore the more sensational (not
accurate) the news they print is the more money they make.
graywolf
http://www.graywolfphoto.com
"Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof"
-----------------------------------
Paul Stenquist wrote:
Serious newspapers maintain a very solid wall between editorial and
advertising sales. No editor of a major US newspaper would ever bow to
a publisher by inserting a story just to sell ad space. Depending on
the personality of the publication, many editors WILL go with stories
that are likely to increase readership. But even on the car magazines
I've worked for, no one ever was able to push a story through to help
an advertiser. Aside from the obvious moral issues, there's a
practical reason as well. For every advertiser you please, you'll piss
off half a dozen.
Paul
On Nov 3, 2005, at 11:36 PM, David Mann wrote:
On Nov 4, 2005, at 11:24 AM, frank theriault wrote:
certainly, both the police and the press have the legal right to
publish such info. but really, sometimes i wish they'd both use a bit
of discretion in such sensitive cases as those involving sexual
allegations.
Media? Discretion? Discretion doesn't add value to ad space,
unfortunately.
As for the "legal right", I'm sure they'd have to be quite careful
about how they present the information, and any implications they
might make. Public opinion is shaped by exactly how the information
is reported by the media so there is bound to be a certain amount of
room for a civil lawsuit in many cases.
lives can be ruined by mere allegations. "innocent until proven
guilty" is lost on most people with sex crimes are alleged.
Even when people get name suppression, enough details can get out
that lead to wild speculation by just about anyone with an axe to
grind. eg "high-profile ex-sportsman" for one recent case, which was
a relatively minor drugs charge. The guy eventually released his own
name just to stop the rumours from harming his friends.
legal or not, it would be nice to see the police and press do the
~right~ thing in these cases!
The press love to tell us what to think, which is the reason I
stopped reading newspapers. I stopped watching TV news because it's
becoming completely ridiculous for a number of reasons. OK I do
watch the weather girl, but only because there's something good on
just after the news (currently Family Guy). Honest... ;)
Teletext is my favourite news source now because they can fit so
little info onto a page they have no choice but to pick the most
important stories, and include only the most important information
within them. Not sure if you guys have a similar service:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tvnz_story_skin/413580?format=html
- Dave
