“Schadenfreude” is a term for pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. I looked up this word after an anonymous blogger commented on my first post.
This got me wondering...
The media is playing on this notion of pleasure to sell newspapers and make money.
But is playing to the “pleasure” of its readers and viewers the role of serious reporting? What happened to stimulating discussion of serious issues that can advance our country or the world’s collective causes?
When a media outlet presents itself as news, can there be pleasure involved?
I think that while there may be value in exposing immoral conduct by politicians that exposes their lack of judgment, or vulnerability to influence by others who threaten to expose them, that value is news limited.
There is no doubt that media “news” coverage of such events today, in both amount and placement, is extravagant and inappropriate.
I think that one can derive pleasure from the news but in writing the news the thought of the reader's pleasure should not be involved.
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