Pretty much everyone in the world catches bits and pieces of the news every now and then, whether they mean to or not. We see the news as an easy way to gain access and knowledge of what is going on in the world as well as what is going on in our own cities. So why not watch the news? They give us information that we want to know and it takes practically no effort on our part. But does anyone ever think about how much news we are getting and if we are getting accurate information about what is going on? They answer is no. People do not watch the news as critically as they should. After reading a book entitled If It Bleeds, It Leads. My opinion of newscasts has changed, even more so than when we completed our dissection of the news project/paper. I would like to share with you what this book is about, how it relates to Americas social history, and what my personal opinions and feelings are on this book. When we began this project I went to the library and picked out a book. The reason I choose the book entitled If It Bleeds, It Leads. because the title of the book caught my eye. So I decided to use it for this project, little did I know I would learn so much about news casting. The author of this book Matthew R. Kerbel has previously worked in a news station, but he can also identify with the view of an average day citizen who turns to the news to be informed. This book is a strong criticism of the news. The authors main point is to show us the news is not what we think. And he does this trough many examples. He uses real newscasts that aired in Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Dallas to show what the news is really like. He breaks down each newscast and critiques what they have done, he explains how any news writer can turn a high school fist fight into a riot that needed police assistance, and when it comes time to follow the story up they spend all of four seconds explaining what really happened. He also emphasizes that news pres...
