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{"id":50768,"date":"2014-02-10T11:32:37","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T18:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=50768"},"modified":"2014-12-29T16:56:54","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T23:56:54","slug":"since-the-job-of-news-is-to-sell-beer-and-shampoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/02\/since-the-job-of-news-is-to-sell-beer-and-shampoo.html","title":{"rendered":"Since the Job of News is to Sell Beer and Shampoo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the same way, our manufacturers of information pitch their \u201cnews\u201d to the obsessions of their viewers, not to actually telling us what\u2019s going on. So, for instance, in our post-Christian, sex-obsessed culture, you find that NBC is spending 13X more coverage on Russian anti-gay legislation than on attacks on Syrian Christians<\/a>. Why? Because the denizens of 30 Rock and their peer group are obsessed with sexual libertinism and could not care less about about a bunch of Syrian Christians getting slaughtered. And they don\u2019t see why you would care either. So the decision is made for us as to what constitutes \u201cnews\u201d. Sex is appetitizing. Death, not so much (unless they can get some cool footage of people being killed). But that would require NBC journos being in harm\u2019s way and about the biggest hardship they want to deal with is a hotel in Russia. It\u2019s the same reason we heard so much more about Bosnia (conveniently located near comfy digs in Rome and other European tourist locales) and not so much about Rwanda or Somalia.<\/p>\n

When our manufacturers of information fake their \u201cconcern\u201d about injustice, they prefer it be something that will not cost them anything. This is another example of our Chattering Class bravely facing the applause of their peers.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"