TV crisis coverage draws viewers - Your Life - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), May, 2003

Not only will television news channels continue their rise in popularity, but so will the "crisis of the moment" coverage on cable news channels that reached its peak after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and continues during the war in Iraq, predicts Gary Copeland, professor of communication and information sciences at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. "News channel viewership rises dramatically when there's a crisis. So this generates the notion that everything is a crisis. The number of child kidnappings across the United States actually was down [in 2002] from 2001, but you never heard that on the news channels? he points out.

Continually talking about crisis perpetuates the feelings of unease that Americans have. Copeland stresses that when people feel uneasy, they turn to those who will make them feel safe. That's why there has been a shift to the Fox News Channel from CNN. He maintains that the perception of CNN as a liberal station has worked against it concerning terrorism. "Who wants to hear that suspected terrorists have rights, and they shouldn't be held in jail without being charged with a crime? People want to hear that the police only pick up bad guys, and what's the problem with being questioned anyway?"

Copeland adds that, even if today's unrest didn't exist, the media still would manufacture crises. It's all a question of who gets the highest ratings, and higher ratings mean more money for the winning station.