Thread: media:readers/viewers ~ chicken:egg

So I was checking Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com and couldn't help but notice the block with the "most read stories":

• Teen Decapitated by Batman Ride at Georgia Six Flags
• Uncle of Missing Girl Arrested on Unrelated Sex Charges
• Auction Ends for Australian Man's Life, Disappointed With Final Price
• Police Hunt Man Who Allegedly Killed Wife, Two Grandchildren With Ax
• Police: Man Tortured Girlfriend for 3 Hours Over Infidelity Allegations
• Grizzly Mauls Teen During Alaska Bike Race
• Suicide Model Said to Be Confused About Life, Lonely
• 74-Year-Old Florida Woman Mauled to Death by Her Two Dogs
• Swim Veteran Says Sport Awash in Doping as Olympic Records Fall
• 16 Accidentally Wounded by French Military in Shooting Demo
• Autopsy: Slain North Carolina Student Leader Killed by Shotgun Blast
• Report: U.S. Escalating Covert Operations Against Iran
• Officials: Pregnant Army Servicewoman's Death a Homicide
• Pranksters Reveal Secret of Infamous Student Stunt
• Medical Choppers Collide Over Arizona, Killing 6
• Airlines Thwart Plans of 'Too Sick' Girl, 5, to Travel to China for Stem Cell Treatment

Of course I haven't seen the code that generates this list, but if it's true it certainly speaks more about the readers than about the media, as there are lots of other stories that are 'less read'. I wish other outlets would provide similar lists.

I agree, unless we knew how many newsworthy stories were also available that were NOT related to gore and violence, it's hard to peg the media there rather than the readers. Is the media responding to the public's appetite or is the public's appetite nurtured, groomed and grown by what passes for "news" these days? Chicken or the egg most definitely.

I will say that I think U.S. television news CAN be blamed for reporting the gore and violence factor first and anything else second. That's why unless the TV is on in the background when my wife has it on, I gave up watching the news about 7 years now.

Hearing how an individual on the other end of this country from me brutally murders another person in the most heinous way imaginable is not news. It does not educate me or inform me of something that is beneficial. Really; sit down and watch the evening news for a few nights and just jot down a few keywords about what each "story" is about. Unfortunately so much of it now is total crap IMO. Thankfully I have a choice whether I want to watch it or not.

Chris L

Wasnt it PT Barnum who said that "You'll never go broke underestimating the taste of the American people."?

It doesn't compare directly, but NewYorkTimes has a list of the most emailed of their articles.


HEALTHJune 30, 2008Well: The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

Tara Parker-Pope
An unusual list of foods that probably aren't in your shopping cart.

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2.
HEALTH / RESEARCHJuly 1, 2008Scientist at Work | David Pritchard: The Worms Crawl In

By ELIZABETH SVOBODA
Can hookworms protect against allergies? In a quest to find out, David Pritchard infected himself.


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3.
OPINIONJuly 1, 2008David Brooks: Obama’s Money Class

By DAVID BROOKS
The real core of Barack Obama’s financial support are not just small donors but the rising class of information age analysts.


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4.
TRAVELJune 29, 2008Hidden Gardens of Paris

By ELAINE SCIOLINO
The city has hundreds of gardens, many of them out-of-the-way corners of tranquil beauty. Finding them is half the fun.


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5.
HEALTHJuly 1, 2008Well: Diabetes: Underrated, Insidious and Deadly

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Vision, hearing, sexual function — you name it, diabetes harms it.


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6.
OPINIONJune 29, 2008Thomas L. Friedman: Anxious in America

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
We need nation-building at home, and we cannot wait another year to get started.


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7.
SCIENCEJuly 1, 2008Findings: Deep Down, We Can’t Fool Even Ourselves

By JOHN TIERNEY
A moral hypocrite convinces himself that he is acting virtuously even when he does something he would condemn in others.


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8.
NEW YORK REGIONJune 30, 2008Sandy Hook Journal: Ferrying From Manhattan to Bare It All on the Beach

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
The Wall Street ferry SeaStreak makes a twice-daily run to Gunnison Beach, the busiest clothing-optional recreation area in the nation, devotees say.


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9.
OPINIONJuly 1, 2008Bob Herbert: ‘Oh Happy Day’

By BOB HERBERT
Being a Western oil giant with a no-bid contract in Iraq is a prize, yes. But at what cost?


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10.
BUSINESSJune 30, 2008Solution, or Mess? A Milk Jug for a Green Earth

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
A simple change to the design of the gallon milk jug keeps the milk fresher and holds costs down.


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11.
HEALTH / RESEARCHJuly 1, 2008Mind: Decades Later, Still Asking: Would I Pull That Switch?

By BENEDICT CAREY
New papers illustrate the continuing power of Stanley Milgram’s shock experiments — and the interpretations they still inspire.


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12.
MAGAZINEJune 29, 2008No Babies?

By RUSSELL SHORTO
Birthrates across the Continent are falling at drastic and, to many, alarming rates. Why are Europeans so hesitant to have children, and what does it mean for their future and for ours?


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13.
USJuly 1, 2008Drug Arrests Were Real; the Badge Was Fake

By MONICA DAVEY
A man who pretended to be a federal agent has stirred a legal and political controversy in a small Missouri town.


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14.
BUSINESSJuly 1, 2008On the Road: Bag Helps Laptop Pass Air Security

By JOE SHARKEY
New laptop bags approved by the Transportation Security Administration make it possible to go through X-ray inspection without having to take the laptop out.


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15.
OPINIONJuly 1, 2008The South Will Fall Again

By THOMAS F. SCHALLER
Barack Obama’s strategists are suggesting that he will be able to parlay increased turnout among black voters into a string of victories in the South. They are wrong.


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16.
WEEK IN REVIEWJune 29, 2008Ideas & Trends: The Chief Justice, Dylan and the Disappearing Double Negative

By ADAM LIPTAK
The last chief justice liked light opera. The new one cites Bob Dylan.


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17.
INTERNATIONAL / ASIA PACIFICJuly 1, 2008To Save Olympic Sailing Races, China Fights Algae

By JIM YARDLEY
In the city of Qingdao thousands of people are mobilized to clean up an algal bloom choking the coastline and threatening to impede the competition.


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18.
BUSINESSJune 29, 2008The Evidence Gap: Weighing the Costs of a CT Scan’s Look Inside the Heart

By ALEX BERENSON and REED ABELSON
Driven by financial incentives, many doctors are adopting CT scans, but there is scant evidence they benefit most patients.


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19.
WASHINGTONJuly 1, 2008Evidence Faulted in Detainee Case

By WILLIAM GLABERSON
The text of a decision shows some derision for the Bush administration’s arguments in the case of a detainee held at Guantánamo Bay for more than six years.


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20.
HEALTH / RESEARCHJuly 1, 2008A Quandary on Blood Drops in the Brain

By GINA KOLATA
Improvements in scanning techniques are making it easier to see microbleeds in the brain, but it’s unclear what should be done about them.


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21.
USJuly 1, 2008Deal Is Struck in Montana to Preserve Forest Areas

By KIRK JOHNSON
A huge patchwork of privately owned forest in northwest Montana will be permanently protected from development.


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22.
TECHNOLOGYJuly 1, 2008EBay Ordered to Pay $61 Million in Sale of Counterfeit Goods

By DOREEN CARVAJAL
The luxury giant LVMH for the second time successfully challenged eBay in a French court, arguing that 90 percent of the Louis Vuitton bags and Dior perfumes sold on eBay are fakes.


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23.
BUSINESSJuly 1, 2008Weather Risks Cloud Promise of Biofuel

By JAD MOUAWAD
Recent storms and floods have highlighted the risks of an economy that has grown more dependent on corn for fuel.


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24.
OPINIONJune 30, 2008Paul Krugman: The Obama Agenda

By PAUL KRUGMAN
We could do a lot worse than a rerun of the Clinton years. But Barack Obama’s most fervent supporters expect much more.


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25.
HEALTHJune 5, 2008Well: Summer Flip-Flops May Lead to Foot Pain

Tara Parker-Pope
Flip-flops comfort your feet during short-term use, but can lead to problems after extended wear.

Maybe people are just more interested in reading stories that aren't as likely to be so strongly & politically slanted

It would be interesting to see the top emailed/read stories in the Washington Post too.

Hey! An Aussie story made the top 10!! That's so, like, cool!

James.