Bleakly Topical and Possibly Exploitative Moan

Well, this might come across as a bit "won't they please think of the children", but this is one of my favourite examples of the media consulting a psychologist and then wilfully continuing on as if they were ignorant of such input.

A friend of mine posted this to her Facebook wall in light of the latest mass shooting. I don't know if the media will ever be able to resist the boost to ratings that sensationalist coverage obviously inspires. I think the psychologist interviewed in the section talks sense and there may be a link between the style of reporting and the motive behind such events.

And it gels in with what I was talking about yesterday I suppose, that whilst the media may well like to provide itself with a veneer of respectability by consulting psychologists this does not mean they accurately report, or embody, the advice they are given. And that therefore criticism of the resulting reports needs to be aimed at the right targets - the media and the consumers.