It Bleeds, But Doesn’t Always Lead
I don’t normally watch the local news, but had the TV on after a show. Two stories:
1) A massive fire wipes out a city block in a local town, leaving dozens homeless.
2) The star quarterback of the New England Patriots might be slightly injured for the upcoming Super Bowl, seen on camera in a walking cast.
Guess which story leads the news?
Gotta love the media.
Technorati Tags: media
I Heart Economists
Economists Say Movie Violence Might Temper the Real Thing
A paper presented by two researchers over the weekend to the annual meeting of the American Economic Association here challenges the conventional wisdom, concluding that violent films prevent violent crime by attracting would-be assailants and keeping them cloistered in darkened, alcohol-free environs.
“Economics is about choice,” Professor Dahl said. “What would these people have done if they had not chosen to go and see a movie? Whatever they would have done would have had a greater tendency to involve alcohol. If you can incapacitate a large group of potentially violent people, that’s a good thing.”
Professor DellaVigna added, “It’s not as if these people watching violent movies would otherwise be home reading a book.”
Well, in my case….
It’s an interesting argument and a reflection of the fact that sometimes reality can be counter-intuitive.
