It can change our view of how the world works. But it's a lot of television, augmented by extended newspaper coverage. We cannot ignore it, cannot miss it. And we need to understand how it may affect us, because a century of research and experience has shown that the sum sometimes can be powerfully greater than the parts. The climate media managers operate in tells part of the story.
Times are desperate.
Fewer people are reading or watching news. All over the country, conglomerates have distanced local newsrooms from their ultimate bosses. Television stations and newspapers compete not only with one another but also with every other information provider in sight. Those kinds of stories always have drawn more consumers than the bloodless, cerebral reports about politics and government. Tragedy is one of the greatest elements of theater.