“News You’ll Use?” Or, Useless News?
Let’s make one thing clear: unless you’re my doctor calling with test results, there’s NOTHING that “I Need to Know, RIGHT NOW!!” 🙂
Which is why I sure hope the mainstream media cools it when it comes to increasingly ubiquitous ads insistently telling viewers “what they need to [see/do/read]” . . . not today or tomorrow, but . . . “Right Now!”
First, I’ll be the judge of what’s important for me to know.
Second, such increasingly shrill pitches clearly have nothing to do with concern for viewers’ welfare, and everything to do with intensifying competition for online eyeballs.
In a word, “ratings.”
P.S.: I seem to recall this “Onion-esque” TV ad for the local evening news: “Is There a Tornado Barreling Towards Your Neighborhood? Tune in to Eyewitness News at 10 p.m. tonight to find out!”
Then there’s the famous National Lampoon magazine cover showing a dog with a gun to its head.
The headline: “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, We’ll Kill This Dog.”
