Hacker News is great. I had been thinking this exact same thing but then realized I was being ridiculous. However, isn't it a little scary to realize how no one is in control of us? I noticed this when I was riding on Bart. Everyone acts a particular way based on what other people expect them to act like. We all operate with so much order and yet no one is telling us to. Just thought this was cool.
The first concern of most news networks today is ratings/viewer numbers. They pick stories that will attract the average person, and thus you have Missing White Woman Syndrome. It's also well documented that certain networks (i.e. FOX News) have stuck to a schedule of talking points handed to them by various political entities.
They also love "counter-intuitive" stories, so it's easier to sell a story about how a company that seemed to be doing really well is doing something bad instead of a bad thing happening to a mediocre company that nobody likes much anyway.
Really? You really believe that? All I ever see on the news is death, tragedy and drama. If they showed us something we didn't expect we wouldn't watch.
I believe there is a distinction between acting in a way to meet expectations, and acting in some way to gain attention. You seem to be speaking of the latter in your last post, and of the former in the one prior.
