# I'm becoming afraid of the news reporters **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 25, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530 "2015-11-25T11:18:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530/41 "2015-12-01T23:24:53Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > It’s an older essay, but very well written: [How this man lost his dad to FOX’news scare mongering.](http://www.salon.com/2014/02/27/i_lost_my_dad_to_fox_news_how_a_generation_was_captured_by_thrashing_hysteria/) Whew. That writer’s dad could be my dad. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530/42 "2015-12-02T19:14:12Z")
To the OP: “News” is based on entertainment value. They need to make big numbers during Sweeps Week. I know a news producer for a major network. You wouldn’t believe the criteria used when considering featuring “a story”. I recommend turning off your TV, staying in your home and remaining calm. Remember, the number one enemy of progress is questions. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530/43 "2015-12-04T19:01:23Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I can’t stand tv news. My mom watches it religiously and she does indeed live in fear. Despite crime falling for the last 10 years she’s sure it’s worse than it ever was. I feel like tv news is especially targeted at people like the elderly who have a harder time getting out into the world. Reminds me of the time my husband spent the summer in New Hampshire, and his grandmother called him worried because she saw on TV News that a tree fell down in NH after a storm went through. “The tree didn’t fall on me, Grandma. I’m fine.” “Okay, but be careful. They said there’s a new kind of mosquito there.” ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530/44 "2015-12-07T01:52:31Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > In Chicago, the local weather report is one part of the news I try not to miss. > [https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;\_ylt=A0LEV7pnvFVWrEoA8v4nnIlQ?p=cheryl+scott&fr=yhs-mozilla-004&fr2=piv-web&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-004](https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEV7pnvFVWrEoA8v4nnIlQ?p=cheryl+scott&fr=yhs-mozilla-004&fr2=piv-web&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-004) But is she as good as John Coleman? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530/45 "2015-12-07T02:39:01Z")
Ha ha, you old-timer! Credibility-wise, I think she does what all the other meterologists in Chicago do: Whatever Tom Skilling does. [https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;\_ylt=AwrB8pBz8WRWlCcANBgunIlQ;\_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;\_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTY5NARfcgMyBGJjawM3ZTNmY3BsYjY5c2I0JTI2YiUzRDMlMjZzJTNENzcEZnIDeWhzLW1vemlsbGEtMDA0BGdwcmlkAzhWVm1OYm9PVGFlVl9fTDFWdHk2VEEEbXRlc3RpZANudWxsBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgNpbWFnZXMuc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMyOARxdWVyeQN0b20gc2tpbGxpbmcgY2hpY2FnbyB3ZWF0aGVyBHRfc3RtcAMxNDQ5NDU2MDA0BHZ0ZXN0aWQDbnVsbA--?gprid=8VVmNboOTaeV\_\_L1Vty6TA&pvid=s5Kf\_jY5LjF3DezNVmTxZBHeMjAwMQAAAADFOxxT&p=tom+skilling+chicago+weather&fr=yhs-mozilla-004&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt&hsimp=yhs-004&hspart=mozilla](https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrB8pBz8WRWlCcANBgunIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTY5NARfcgMyBGJjawM3ZTNmY3BsYjY5c2I0JTI2YiUzRDMlMjZzJTNENzcEZnIDeWhzLW1vemlsbGEtMDA0BGdwcmlkAzhWVm1OYm9PVGFlVl9fTDFWdHk2VEEEbXRlc3RpZANudWxsBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgNpbWFnZXMuc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMyOARxdWVyeQN0b20gc2tpbGxpbmcgY2hpY2FnbyB3ZWF0aGVyBHRfc3RtcAMxNDQ5NDU2MDA0BHZ0ZXN0aWQDbnVsbA--?gprid=8VVmNboOTaeV__L1Vty6TA&pvid=s5Kf_jY5LjF3DezNVmTxZBHeMjAwMQAAAADFOxxT&p=tom+skilling+chicago+weather&fr=yhs-mozilla-004&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt&hsimp=yhs-004&hspart=mozilla) ---
**Author:** ![NJ22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@NJ22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ22)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530/46 "2015-12-09T01:47:03Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Every time I view the news, the reporters are trying to make me live my life in fear. > > They show segments about the scourge of kids drinking hand sanitizer, “Although there is no problem with this in the Miami Valley, we found a hospital in Indiana. . .” > > They show segment about a man driving past a checkpoint onto the base, “Man gets past base security, gets arrested. We talk to some people to find out if they’re terrified or just scared!” > > On CNN website right now, “Next Global Conflict? WWIII concerns. . .” > > Oddly, I’m not become afraid of the things they’re reporting, I’m becoming afraid of the people that are telling me about it! They’re _trying_ to scare me, they _want_ me to be afraid, they’re fucking terrorists! Why aren’t these people in jail? That’s because the media is the “hype business” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-becoming-afraid-of-the-news-reporters/738530.md?page=2)