Friday, September 29, 2006
Leaders of the herd mentality
We had a saying in Mesa Court back in '04: "freakin' sheep."
It's safe to say that the phrase applies to more than just mindless drones carrying out institutional policies, but, as I see more and more each day, the media.
Case in Point: The TO Show
Yes, I'm a prime example by still harping on something that's been so talked about, but isn't that part of the point? Background is: Terrell Owens either a) attempted suicide by swallowing 35 pain pills or b) had an allergic reaction to an interaction between pain medication and vitamin supplements and lost 35 pain pills somewhere in his house. After the incident occured Tuesday night, the sports press jumped on it like no other. This kind of thing just didn't happen in professional sports. Drunk driving, rape and domestic violence are old news compared to this - one of the NFL's biggest showboaters could be depressed?
Hours and hours passed before any official statements were released by police, publicists or the Cowboys. By the time they had, almost 20 hours after the incident occurred, just about every news outlet in the country was waiting with bated breath to get the "real" story.
But they'd already published the story, or at least The Story as of the morning press deadline. In the name of rightful attribution, nearly every news story cited the break by WFAA, a Dallas-area television station, and a police report that allegedly backed the attempted suicide story. Problem was, the police report had not been officially released yet (a small hitch that NY's Jeanine Pirro is also dealing with around this time). So they had one real source for what could be a sensational story (that they all covered together, apparently).
Newspapers, as you may recall, used to be delivered to our doorsteps every morning (for some of us they still are), and we'd read it, believe it, and line the litterbox with it at night. But with the onslaught of Google news and RSS feeds, etc., it takes only a click of the mouse to read not only our local paper online, but also the local papers of nearly every other city (some major, some not so major) on our computer screens. This has, to the dismay of newspaper readers, allowed us to read and compare stories from different news organizations. True, a lot of stories are taken from the Associated Press, United Press or other newswires, and therefore are just reprints of each other (still a pain to go through on Google news), but other publications are more enterprising, trying to change a thing here or there, or reporting just parts of the story.
The TO Show was definitely an interesting case study in this trend. While all the fuss was being made about a possible suicide attempt, a handful of publications reported exactly what TO's PR machine wanted them to: that it was an allergic reaction. But was the scandal of attempted suicide the product of an independent journalist's thought? Chances are, it was spread by another, equally as capable but perhaps just not as knowledgable, group of press experts. It isn't by chance that some events are reported nationwide. It's the herd mentality.
Which leads us back to sheep. Sure, they might taste good (not to me...I'll stick with beef, thank you), but in an industry where ideas are so valued, it's interesting to see how unoriginal people can be. Have no fear, however, NYU is training plenty of sheep to keep the trend going.
It's safe to say that the phrase applies to more than just mindless drones carrying out institutional policies, but, as I see more and more each day, the media.
Case in Point: The TO Show
Yes, I'm a prime example by still harping on something that's been so talked about, but isn't that part of the point? Background is: Terrell Owens either a) attempted suicide by swallowing 35 pain pills or b) had an allergic reaction to an interaction between pain medication and vitamin supplements and lost 35 pain pills somewhere in his house. After the incident occured Tuesday night, the sports press jumped on it like no other. This kind of thing just didn't happen in professional sports. Drunk driving, rape and domestic violence are old news compared to this - one of the NFL's biggest showboaters could be depressed?
Hours and hours passed before any official statements were released by police, publicists or the Cowboys. By the time they had, almost 20 hours after the incident occurred, just about every news outlet in the country was waiting with bated breath to get the "real" story.
But they'd already published the story, or at least The Story as of the morning press deadline. In the name of rightful attribution, nearly every news story cited the break by WFAA, a Dallas-area television station, and a police report that allegedly backed the attempted suicide story. Problem was, the police report had not been officially released yet (a small hitch that NY's Jeanine Pirro is also dealing with around this time). So they had one real source for what could be a sensational story (that they all covered together, apparently).
Newspapers, as you may recall, used to be delivered to our doorsteps every morning (for some of us they still are), and we'd read it, believe it, and line the litterbox with it at night. But with the onslaught of Google news and RSS feeds, etc., it takes only a click of the mouse to read not only our local paper online, but also the local papers of nearly every other city (some major, some not so major) on our computer screens. This has, to the dismay of newspaper readers, allowed us to read and compare stories from different news organizations. True, a lot of stories are taken from the Associated Press, United Press or other newswires, and therefore are just reprints of each other (still a pain to go through on Google news), but other publications are more enterprising, trying to change a thing here or there, or reporting just parts of the story.
The TO Show was definitely an interesting case study in this trend. While all the fuss was being made about a possible suicide attempt, a handful of publications reported exactly what TO's PR machine wanted them to: that it was an allergic reaction. But was the scandal of attempted suicide the product of an independent journalist's thought? Chances are, it was spread by another, equally as capable but perhaps just not as knowledgable, group of press experts. It isn't by chance that some events are reported nationwide. It's the herd mentality.
Which leads us back to sheep. Sure, they might taste good (not to me...I'll stick with beef, thank you), but in an industry where ideas are so valued, it's interesting to see how unoriginal people can be. Have no fear, however, NYU is training plenty of sheep to keep the trend going.
# posted by ange : 10:34 AM
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