Several commentators, on social networks, compared the great attention received by the submersible Titan, which left five victims in the vicinity of the wreckage of the Titanic, with other news of lesser repercussion and coverage regarding economic migrants who risk themselves in different vessels, sometimes crowded. , in the Mediterranean, trying to reach Europe, or in the Caribbean Sea, trying to reach the United States.
Many drown: according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there were more than 24,400 dead or missing annually in the Mediterranean between 2014 and 2021. Their tragedy, therefore, is not something unusual or unusual.
As is taught in journalism graduations, “news is not when the dog bites the man, but when the man bites the dog”. It is not a complete theory of journalism, but it correctly points to the unusual as one of the common ingredients that make news because they are of spontaneous public interest. The maxim has been circulating since the 19th century, with apparent origins in an 1899 book by playwright Jesse Lynch Williams, spoken by a fictional journalist.
The phenomenon is deeper than the saying suggests. In neuroscience, it is known that repeated stimuli become a backdrop, receiving less attention over time. In mathematical information theory, unusual events are richer in information than routine events.
Many of those who complain about supposedly disproportionate and unfair media attention behave in exactly the same way, expressing fleeting regret over the tragedies of economic migrants but engaging in lengthy debates over the five unfortunate crew members of the Titan.
The defect pointed out in the press, therefore, is more like a general characteristic of human nature.
Read more about the Titan tragedy and the communists’ dehumanizing reaction in the full report from People’s Gazette.
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