Why are we addicted to negative news? – Orange County Register

Last week, I was following the cable news when a heartwarming story told of an NFL player who traveled halfway across the country just to ease the pain of a grieving family.

Holly Soape, who has developed a mild Instagram friendship with her family favorite player, Philadelphia Eagles’ Anthony Harris, by periodically exchanging support and prayers, has taken a leap of faith. when he asked him to take her daughter to their Texas church father’s ball. after the death of the girl’s father.

And the unexpected happened.

Harris flew to Texas, was generous with his time and money, and gave this grieving family something to celebrate.

Now, when I watch this show on Morning Joe, it’s 6 a.m. on a weekday and I’m making coffee while still very sleepy. This segment is preceded by the usual things that fall out of the sky like congressional dysfunction and a possible invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military – you know, stuff that I screw up every morning. in the task of updating information.

Anyway, I started to cry. It was a wonderful surprise and a nice break from doom and gloom. I love it.

I bring this up because A) it’s a touching story and I recommend everyone read about it, and B) because it makes me wonder why there’s so much negative news.

“If it bleeds, it will,” said the old newsroom, making it seem like news outlets are run by ghouls.

But here’s the thing: the media won’t give negative coverage as often if that’s not what consumers want.

We are the problem and science proves it. In 2019, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the majority of people, spanning 17 different countries, were biased towards negative news.

The study suggests that this could be at least in part because negative news conveys helpful information – warning that there is a killer with a loophole is more helpful to consumers than a story about one person. Firefighters save a cat from a tree – but apparently, the problem is worse in America.

Last year, researchers at Dartmouth College published an analysis of the amount of COVID news from around the world, finding that 90% of articles from major US newspapers were negative compared to only about half of the global newspaper pages.

Some examples include ignoring the nationwide drop in COVID cases last summer to focus on hotspots in individual states and cumulative deaths, or minimizing initial successes. vaccines by focusing on new variants or side effects of vaccines.

But we don’t need media coverage to promote our negativity. Who doesn’t like gossip? Or hate reading social media posts?

At the end of 2020, the Pew Research Center found that 64% of Americans think social media has a negative impact on “the way things are going in the United States today.”

And yet, social media is an integral part of American society, and increasingly so.

We agree it’s toxic but we can’t get rid of it. Certainly, social media is sometimes very helpful, allowing us to reach out to celebrities, keeping us informed about important events and helping us stay in touch with friends and family members. family members that we don’t see often.

But we also love the public spoofs, Twitter wars, our lousy relative’s Facebook rants, and scrolling Instagram to feel left out.