Im entering for a debate competition, and one of the motions is This House Believes That The Press Is Depressing. It would be helpful if you guys could give your opinions both for the motion and against the motion. And any stats that you might have :)
of course they are. nothing gets our interest more than somebody doing something BAD. we flock to it.
Most of that is just stuff trying to keep you living in fear
Well, the press isnt depressing. Its sad sometimes but its also reality. If the press is reality is it their fault the press is sad? No. The press informs people of things going on. Yes, sometimes it is frightning and sad, but thats how things happen, people are not informed of the dangers. What about in the movie Jaws for example, the officials did not want to start a panic because it would be bad for their town during the summertime (otherwise buisness) so, they did not inform the people about the on-going attacks and dangers...and look wut happened, all those people dying could hav been prevented if they had informed the people about the dangers.
On the face of it, the press is depressing because it reports bad news far more readily than good news. Earthquakes, murders, crashes, rapes etc as well as government weaknesses sell papers! HOWEVER this kind of news is not really depressing : quite the opposite : it cheers people up : they love reading about other people's misfortunes and criticising the govt. Communist regimes deplore negative reporting and give the readers only up-beat news, esp about their own achievements. This sounds healthy, but amounts to suppression of press freedom, which is an essential component of individual freedom.
