History Main / IfItBleedsItLeads

* "Dirty Laundry" by {{Don Henley}} is a biting take on this, and still relevant
** Can we film the operation? Is the head dead yet?

-> I need to watch things die from a good, safe distance \\

Another, even darker effect of the news media's obsession with violence — and the one that is often emphasized in fiction — is the kind of message it sends out to impressionable viewers. By glorifying the actions of violent criminals, the media tell viewers, "[[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop Hey, if you go out and fire a machine gun into a crowd of little children, you too can make the national news!]]" Critics of this type of reporting often point out that it's {{hypocritical|Humor}} for the news media to accuse violent movies, music and [[UltraSuperDeathGorefestChainsawer3000 video games]] of [[MurderSimulators making people violent]] when they're indulging in far more grisly and true-to-life stuff every night at 11 — stuff that is being plastered over countless TV screens, implicitly [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing turning the perpetrators into celebrities]]. Additionally, it provides terrorists and other assorted nutjobs a very convenient stage from which to spread fear and their political agendas by way of violence.

* This trope wound up destroying the career of [[SilentAgeOfHollywood silent film]] star FattyArbuckle. When a woman died at a party he was holding, the media jumped onto exaggerated reports that he had raped and killed her. Even after he was declared innocent, he found himself blacklisted from working in Hollywood.

* {{Discussed|Trope}} by CharlieBrooker on ''{{Newswipe}}'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qPtFe2hgOk&feature=related here]].

* At least part of the motive of [[{{Columbine}} Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold]] was to get immortalized by the media for their crimes. It worked well enough that it got them an entire page on this very wiki.

-->-- '''Christine Chubbuck, July 15, 1974, right before commiting suicide on live TV'''

* This occurs quite a bit in Brazil. In this troper's state, there are at least three SeparateButIdentical news programs on different stations exclusively about crimes/murders/road-accidents, competing for the same time slot. [[{{Squick}} Which is at]] ''[[{{Squick}} lunch time]]''.

* In ''Theatre/StreetScene'', Kaplan complains that the newspapers cover "notting but deevorce, skendal, and moiders."

** In ''[[GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'', field reporter Richard Burns [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_YiBbmU52c complains about the lack of casualties]] during a news segment.

* {{Babylon5}}: Forell uses a variation of this trope with Delenn. [[http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/077.html]]

->"In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in [[{{Gorn}} blood and guts]], and in living color, [[FamousLastWords you are going to see another first]] — [[DrivenToSuicide attempted]] [[DeadlineNews suicide]]."
-->-- '''Christine Chubbuck, July 15, 1974, right before commiting suicide on live tv'''

* During the "Hot Fuzz" side missions in [[SaintsRow Saints Row 2]], the cameraman tagging along with you will occasionally quote this trope while you're driving.

* In ''StreetScene'', Kaplan complains that the newspapers cover "notting but deevorce, skendal, and moiders."

* The {{mockumentary}} ''MediumCool'' is about this.

* OlderThanTelevision example: this trope wound up destroying the career of [[SilentAgeOfHollywood silent film]] star FattyArbuckle. When a woman died at a party he was holding, the media jumped onto exaggerated reports that he had raped and killed her. Even after he was declared innocent, he found himself blacklisted from working in Hollywood.

* In an explicit [[InvokedTrope invocation]] of this trope, one Herostratus set on fire the famous temple of Artemis in an Ionian city of Ephesus, known as one of the Seven Wonders of the world for its beauty and riches, exactly for that reason: to become famous, making it OlderThanDirt.

-->-- '''Christine Chubbuck, July 15, 1974'''

[[http://www.fair.org/media-beat/951213.html Some]] have suggested that coverage like this, focusing on negative stories of war, death and destruction rather than the positive things that are happening in society, is responsible for making people cynical about the world around them. People who watch the news start to feel that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and give up on the idea that society's problems can be fixed. In addition, when the media obsess over violent crimes, deeper problems with society (such as [[http://www.savethenews.org/blog/10/03/11/la-if-it-bleeds-it-leads cities running out of money]]) go ignored, leaving the public uninformed.

* {{Discussed|Trope}} by CharlieBrooker on ''{{Screenwipe}}'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qPtFe2hgOk&feature=related here]].

* In ''{{Scream}}'', this trope is personified with Gale Weathers, a tabloid reporter who cashed in on the murder of Sidney's mother by writing a bestselling book detailing her alternative theory of the case. In a subversion, [[spoiler:it turns out that she was right, and that Cotton Weary was innocent]]. Doesn't stop her from coming off as a sleazeball, though [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold she does get better]] in the sequels.

Another, even darker effect of the news media's obsession with violence — and the one that is often emphasized in fiction — is the kind of message it sends out to impressionable viewers. By glorifying the actions of violent criminals, the media tell viewers, "[[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop Hey, if you go out and fire a machine gun into a crowd of little children, you too can make the national news!]]" Critics of this type of reporting often point out that it's {{hypocritical|Humor}} for the news media to accuse violent movies, music and [[UltraSuperDeathGorefestChainsawer3000 video games]] of [[MurderSimulators making people violent]] when they're indulging in far more grisly and true-to-life stuff every night at 11 — stuff that is being plastered over countless TV screens, implicitly [[TruffautWasRight turning the perpetrators into celebrities]]. Additionally, it provides terrorists and other assorted nutjobs a very convenient stage from which to spread fear and their political agendas by way of violence.

* ''NaturalBornKillers'' is a ruthless satire of this trope, focusing on a pair of BonnieAndClyde-esque spree killers who engage in their crimes in order to get media attention.

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