I have a Mass Communications degree and I still don't understand the fear the media puts in Americans. I am getting tired of the non-stop fear the media puts us through.
Unfortunately, this is how most modern media -- be it advertising... news... fiction... politics -- catches the attention of viewers in an over-saturated media market: FEAR
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There was a seminal book on effective advertising back in the '50s? '60s? which basically was the first to authoritatively say, in essence, that bad breath itself didn't sell mouthwash, fear of bad breath sold mouthwash. After that, products became oriented to addressing peoples' perceptions of their problems, not their actual problems.
I read that book in high school for a paper I was writing. It was like reading the modern version of Machiavelli (which I had read a couple of years prior). Everything was directed towards getting the intended result, no matter what the ethics of the actions you had to take.
The news gets their ratings and people like Allan spend infuriating shifts with overcrowded emergency rooms filled with poor suckers that don't have any "real" symptoms, but who were paranoid enough to badger their doctor into "shot-gunning" a few tests to not only shut the patient up, but maybe catch something else that might be going on. Meanwhile, the news-induced hypercondriac takes a hit to the insurance/wallet for a couple hundred dollars in specialized tests as well as the doctor's visit and a $250 trip to the ER after hours.
Next on Live at Five....how hospitals are bilking the sick, poor and stupid. Why you can't get emergency treatment in an emergency room...
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I am just waiting to see how all this will start impacting my work or commute.
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I read that book in high school for a paper I was writing. It was like reading the modern version of Machiavelli (which I had read a couple of years prior). Everything was directed towards getting the intended result, no matter what the ethics of the actions you had to take.
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The news gets their ratings and people like Allan spend infuriating shifts with overcrowded emergency rooms filled with poor suckers that don't have any "real" symptoms, but who were paranoid enough to badger their doctor into "shot-gunning" a few tests to not only shut the patient up, but maybe catch something else that might be going on. Meanwhile, the news-induced hypercondriac takes a hit to the insurance/wallet for a couple hundred dollars in specialized tests as well as the doctor's visit and a $250 trip to the ER after hours.
Next on Live at Five....how hospitals are bilking the sick, poor and stupid. Why you can't get emergency treatment in an emergency room...
PEOPLE! Don't talk to me about People!
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