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The news over and over again on the television is basically the same: Look at what horrible things are happening.

Is it a scare tactic? Yes.
Is it to keep people informed? Not really.
Is it like watching a car crash and you can't tear yourself away to notice the good things going on in the world too? Sometimes.

Well, here's the deal: The news agencies online only want the mass amounts of hits so a good majority of people will click their advertisements and make them a buck; the television channels that are devoted, 24-7, to news and sappy stories get paid tons of money to have those long commercial breaks so you watch them to catch the top news story; pick up any newspaper nowadays and there are as many ads as there are words in an article. The world hasn't become cynical or worse by any means-it's actually gotten better over the years-but if the news is all good, what's the fun of picking up the paper, turning on the television, or going to your top news website?

It's a human instinct to want to see the worst at times, just so we can stop and think, "Well, at least they've got it worse than me." That's what sells and that's why they show it. While it's one little white lie away from utter fiction at times, as long as they can get by and people read it, they will be raking in the dough and to them, it doesn't matter what kind of news will do it. It just so happens that in today's world of jaded teenagers and adults that remember or fought in war, that using some gripping headline to catch their attention and half-truths to keep them interested throughout the day is sometimes their [news agencies] best bet.

So what if your children can't watch the news anymore? Children don't buy things like the rest of us do, and that's all that matters anymore.

Learn more about this author, Alex Hatcher.
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