IF IT BLEEDS, IT LEADS: UNDERSTANDING FEAR-BASED MEDIA

Managing depression requires you to mind your media intake.
Posted June 07, 2011 

1. News is a money-making industry that doesn’t always succeed in reporting  facts accurately. Gone are the days of tuning in to be informed  straightforwardly about local and national issues. In truth, watching the news  can be a psychologically risky pursuit, which could undermine your mental  5 and physical health. 
2. Fear-based news stories prey on the anxieties we all have and then hold us  hostage. Being glued to the television, reading the paper or surfing the  Internet increases ratings and market shares – but it also raises the  probability of depression relapse. In previous decades, the journalistic  mission was to report the news as it actually happened, with fairness,  10 balance, and integrity. However, capitalistic motives associated with  journalism have forced much of today's television news to look to the  spectacular, the stirring, and the controversial as news stories. It's no longer  a race to break the story first or get the facts right. Instead, it's to acquire  good ratings in order to get advertisers, so that profits soar. 15 
3. News programming uses a hierarchy: if it bleeds, it leads. Fear-based news  programming has two aims. The first is to grab the viewer's attention. In the  news media, this is called the teaser. The second aim is to persuade the  viewer that the solution for reducing the identified fear will be in the news  story. If a teaser asks, ‘What's in your tap water that YOU need to know  20 about?’ a viewer will likely tune in to get the up-to-date information to ensure  safety. The success of fear-based news relies on presenting dramatic  anecdotes in place of scientific evidence, promoting isolated events as  trends, depicting categories of people as dangerous and  replacing optimism with fatalistic thinking. News conglomerates who want to  25 achieve this use media logic, by tweaking the rhythm, grammar, and  presentation format of news stories to elicit the greatest impact. Did you  know that some news stations work with consultants who offer fear-based  topics that are pre-scripted, outlined with point-of-view shots, and have  experts at-the-ready? This practice is known as stunting or just-add-water  30reporting. Often, these practices present misleading information and  promote anxiety in the viewer. 
4. Another pattern in newscasts is that the breaking news story doesn’t go  beyond a surface level. The drive to get-the-story-to-get-the-ratings often  causes reporters to bypass thorough fact-checking. As the first story  35 develops to a second level in later reports, the reporter corrects the  inaccuracies and missing elements. As the process of fact-finding continually  changes, so does the news story. What journalists first reported with intense  emotion or sensationalism is no longer accurate. What occurs  psychologically for the viewer is a fragmented sense of knowing what’s real,  40 which sets off feelings of hopelessness and helplessness – experiences  known to worsen depression. 
5. An additional practice that heightens anxiety and depression is the news  station's use of the crawl, the scrolling headline ticker that appears at the  bottom of the television, communicating ‘breaking news.’ Individuals who  45 watch news-based programming are likely to see one, two, or even three  crawls scroll across the screen. The multitasking required to read the crawls  and comprehend the actual newscast comes easily to some viewers,  whereas others report feeling over-stimulated. However, crawls are not  relegated to just news channels. Unlike the viewing experience of the past,  50 crawls are now more prominent during entertainment programmes and often  serve as commercials for nightly newscasts or the upcoming weekly news  magazine show. They frequently contain fear-driven material, broad-siding  viewers. 
6. It's been said that fear-based media has become a staple of popular culture.  55 The distressing fall-out from this trend is that children and adults who are  exposed to media are more likely to feel that their neighbourhoods and  communities are unsafe, to believe that crime rates are rising, to  overestimate their odds of becoming a victim, and to perceive the world as a  dangerous place. 60 
7. News media needs to return to a sense of proportion, conscience, and, most  important, truth-telling. Until that happens, help inoculate yourself against  feeling overwhelmed by doing the following: 
8. Consider limiting your exposure to media, allowing yourself time once or  twice a day to check in on local and global happenings. Consider choosing  65 print media for your information gathering, rather than visual media. This can  reduce your exposure to emotionally laden material. Home pages on the  internet and headline news channels that update stories on the hour can give  you an overall sense of what's going on. Remember: you have the power to  turn off the remote, link out of a website, change the radio station. Don't let  70 yourself be passive when media is overwhelming you. People have different  tolerances for media stories. If a news story is too much for your comfort,  walk away or communicate your distress. Also consider having an electronic free day, letting your senses take in the simpler things in life. 

[Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com] 

Disney has taken many hits for their portrayal of women over the years, particularly the  Disney princesses. However, there has been a shift at the Mouse House which shows  Disney writers may have been listening to the critiques all these years.  

While some see 1989’s The Little Mermaid as the pinnacle of all that is wrong with  Disney, it represents a turning point. The film is a marked departure from its  predecessors: Ariel is the first truly rounded princess. She has opinions, flaws, and  interests. While some see her giving up her life with her family for a man, she always  wanted a different life from the one she had. Her encounter with Prince Eric is merely a  call to action for something she might have done anyway. Whatever side of the  argument you agree with, Ariel is a vast improvement over the meek, passive women  who came before her. 

Even with these flaws, Ariel paved the way for a new breed of princess. Not the perfect  embodiment of woman on screen, but a more balanced, active protagonist. Belle is a  well-read, intelligent character who resists societal expectations. However misguided,  she sacrifices herself to save her father. The film has its issues, but Belle is a strong  character. Princess Jasmine in Aladdin is given more to do than faint and be a victim.  She impresses with her intellect and wit. In fact, Aladdin is almost a swap of the gender  norms seen in the early films, with the boy transforming in pursuit of love. 

Although none of these films are perfect in their portrayal of women, Disney clearly  began thinking of how women were viewed as they progressed with their princess  brand. How else can we explain their next two “princesses” after Jasmine being  Pocahontas and Mulan? While not perfect, these women mark the greatest  improvement in the character of the princess. Pocahontas is probably the only Disney  princess never to question her worth as a person; rather, her insecurities stem from  how to protect her people. Mulan subverts all societal expectations to pursue her own  course (becoming a feminist). 

[Adapted from Passive Damsels to Active Heroes by Melissa Hugel, November 12, 2013] 

HONEST CHOCOLATE CAFÉ 

1. Honest Chocolate is a small artisanal Bean to Bar chocolate company based in  Cape Town, South Africa. We believe in keeping things handcrafted, using old  school methods, using quality organically produced ingredients, and making a  pure chocolate that has a deliciously distinct feel and taste.  
2. Owners Michael and Anthony produce their chocolate with ‘The Chain of  5 Positivity’ in mind at all times – right through the supply chain. Our goal is to  have ethical consideration for people and the environment by sourcing  products local and fair. 
3. We practice personal accountability in the thoughtful and selective making of  our chocolate products, which leads to their fantastic taste. 10 
4. We want to showcase the uniqueness and origin of every batch of cacao  beans, and not compromise it by over-flavouring or over-sugaring. 
5. We’re inspired by the change in people’s faces as they taste our chocolate for  the first time, and the fun, creativity and collaboration put into everything we  produce. 15 
6. It all started from a bit of experimentation with raw cacao. Anthony made a few  simple chocolates from raw cacao powder as a healthy treat for himself and  friends. When they were polished off in seconds, with demands for more, he  knew he was on to something. Over the next few months he taught himself  more about the art and science of chocolate making, an endeavour that  20 eventually developed into Honest Chocolate. 
7. Meanwhile Michael was also experimenting with raw chocolate in London, with  similar results. Returning to Cape Town, the opportunity came to join Anthony  on his chocolate adventure. It was not a difficult decision to make.  
8. The attraction was the diversity of making chocolate and being involved in  25 something that continually change, something both fun and rewarding.

[Adapted from http://honestchocolate.co.za]