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NEWS > U.S.A. > NEW YORK PLANE CRASH DISAPPOINTS JOURNALISTS WITH LACK OF DEATH

NEW YORK PLANE CRASH DISAPPOINTS JOURNALISTS WITH LACK OF DEATH

January 15 2009

New York, NY – 150 people are counting their blessings after surviving a disastrous flight to Charlotte, North Carolina ended up in the Hudson River. First reports indicate that US Airways Flight 1549 may have made contact with a bird, destroying the engines, and sending the plane plummeting to Earth. Quick thinking and action from the pilot allowed the plane to glide safely onto the river where all 150 passengers and 6 crew members were able to escape to safety.

Coast Guard officials, NTSB officers, and both the Mayor of New York City and the Governor of the state are lauding the pilot for his quick thinking. Less happy about the preservation of life are the reporters and networks covering the story. Charged with covering the near miraculous event, many outlets are burdened with unenviable task of creating drama where very little exists.

“Speaking from experience it’s always harder to get people excited when no one dies. The human drama is limited in terms of scope. Everyone just says how lucky they are to be alive. You will likely see a some kind of commendation for the pilot and crew which will extend the story, but that’s it,” said Scrape TV Journalism analyst Angelo Carter. “The name of the game in journalism is eyeball views and that applies to web journalism, television, or print and the reality is drama and chaos bring far more eyeball views than happy endings. When people die, journalism thrives. That’s always been the case and always will be because death just has so much more potential.”

Studies have shown that plane crashes with fatalities last up to ten times longer in the news cycle than do those without. In certain rare circumstances, specifically airborne explosions or terrorist attacks, the cycle can last for years through litigation, investigation, and prosecution. The added human drama that death brings has long been a revenue driver for journalistic entities.

“Add to the length of the news cycle the connection people immediately make. Having people crying over lost ones, simple shots of abandoned teddy bears and things of that nature engage the audience on a much deeper level. You are not only getting more attention, but the level at which people are engaged is so much greater and that is fundamentally important,” continued Carter. “The only drawback is fewer commercials and ads are run, but sometimes that doesn’t matter. You may lose in the short term, but if your coverage is solid and engaging you gain audience share which obviously benefits you in the long run. In this tough economic time, as newspapers are, so to speak, folding daily, what we in the industry need is more death and chaos. Businesses don’t thrive on puppy dogs and celebrity gossip, they survive on death.”

In recent months record numbers of newspapers and news websites have shuttered their doors. Many point to the advent of blogging coupled with the downturn in the economy, but more and more analysts are looking atunsubstantial news as the principle reason for the downturn.     

“Everyone did really well with Sarah Palin, and of course Barack Obama. They’ve made the best go they can with the economy but at the end of the day no one is dying and its death that really brings in the dollars,” continued Carter. “What people need to keep in mind is that the average big city newspaper employs a hundred or so people, both in the newsroom and in support fields. Even the largest planes carry only three hundred or so people so if you shut down a handful of newspapers you’re hurting a lot more people than a simple plane crash can do. What the industry really needs is a major terrorist attack. Seven years on everyone is still drawing dollars from 9/11. Something like that would be just about perfect at this stage.”

Scrape TV News conducted a poll of major American and European news agencies and found no evidence of terrorist plots being plotted.

“It’s just a matter of time. Some embattled editor with a serious gambling problem, maybe a mistress on the side and you’ve got a recipe for disaster, literally. The one advantage an internally developed attack would have is exclusivity. If there’s anything a news person wants more than chaos, it’s the scoop.”

Most are predicting a two to three day news cycle on the current plane crash.   

Mike Michaels, American Correspondent

NEWS > U.S.A. > NEW YORK PLANE CRASH DISAPPOINTS JOURNALISTS WITH LACK OF DEATH

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