Gregg Easterbrook says in his new book, The Progress Paradox, that mainstream journalists focus on bad news because the elites they serve benefit from fear-mongering. Easterbrook tells Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post that reporters “want their own work to be seen as important, as we all do. If you present something as scandalous or dangerous or frightening, that’s more compelling than a story about something that’s gone well.”
This has important implications for over-reported regions such as Israel – see our entry on this topic.
(Hat tip: Romenesko)
