Numb. Charles R. Chaffin

Numb - Charles R. Chaffin


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of this false news with the increased presence of conspiracy theories and unfounded narratives, each of which impact the country's political and social discourse.

      We are drawn to bad news. Many, if not all of us, say that there is too much bad news in TV and print today, but we are still drawn to it. Researchers at McGill University asked participants to select news stories to read for what they thought was an eye‐tracking study. They were told to select whichever stories they liked, positive or negative, and read them carefully for the purpose of the eye‐tracking study. They found that participants were drawn to the negative news far more than the positive news, even though they said that they preferred positive news. Kalev Leetaru used sentiment mining, a technique that analyzes the nature of text, whether positive or negative, on New York Times articles between 1945 and 2005, as well as a variety of other news sources from 130 countries between 1979 and 2010. Outside of the influence of major news events, the tone of the stories progressively became more negative, beginning in the 1960s. Although there were a few periods, such as the 1980s, where the stories became a bit more positive, the overall trend over the past several decades has been towards events and even tone that highlights threats, suffering, and controversy. As Sundar says, “The saying goes, ‘If it bleeds, it leads.’ This has been a mantra for even traditional newspapers and local TV channels for several decades now.”

      The tiny part of the brain called the amygdala kicks into gear anytime we may sense danger. It is our warning signal when we might see a snake, a fire, or anything else that might be perceived as a threat. When the amygdala senses information that might indicate danger, it can increase heart rate and breathing, essentially activating hormones that prepare you to fight or flee. The amygdala is really important for our survival; think about centuries ago when we saw a wild animal approach us. The amygdala automatically activates our fight or flight response, triggered by emotions such as fear, anxiety, or anger. Regarding the news, the amygdala senses danger when it hears of bad news – even it that danger is far away, it draws our attention towards it. It can be difficult for that part of our brain to distinguish the difference between a real threat and one that is on a screen in front of us. Even though the rest of our body helps us rationalize, nevertheless the amygdala helps direct our attention towards bad news. Media sources take advantage of this by bringing more graphic videos, sensationalism, and breaking news (with that “doomish” music and the serious announcer voice: THIS IS BREAKING NEWS!).

      There is also a natural tendency for us to take on a distorted view of the world via the news due to the availability heuristic. Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky suggested that people estimate the probability of an event based upon how easily an instance of it comes to mind. That has particular implications for sensationalized news because stories that are particularly vivid or gruesome will obviously be remembered longer, making it more available in our minds and thus impacting our perception regarding the likelihood of it occurring again. In the 12 months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, many people opted to drive and not fly, even though statistically we all know that there are far fewer deaths from flying (40,000 a year driving in the U.S. compared to a few hundred on average flying). However, the images of the terrorist attacks or other plane crashes are front of mind for many, creating a bias and altering behavior in a potentially irrational way. Regular exposure to sensationalized, horrific events that are remembered for a long time due to their graphic nature can create this distorted view of the world.


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