Clay Shirky begins Here Comes Everybody with the story of Ivanna, a New Yorker who lost her phone in a cab only to have it taken by the next passenger. Long story short, her story ended up on the news after gaining mass attention from the internet.
This proves Postman's argument that irrelevant junk winds up as daily news that people just seem to digest over and over. Nothing about Ivanna losing her phone made an important and relative social impact that our lives today were changed from that day. How does a lady losing her phone in a cab make me change my schedule to revolve around it? Why do I care about something as common as losing your phone? The news only cares about stories that will bring in ratings and that don't require any comprehensive thinking. The publicity was already there it was just up to the journalists to find the scoop.
This proves Postman's argument that irrelevant junk winds up as daily news that people just seem to digest over and over. Nothing about Ivanna losing her phone made an important and relative social impact that our lives today were changed from that day. How does a lady losing her phone in a cab make me change my schedule to revolve around it? Why do I care about something as common as losing your phone? The news only cares about stories that will bring in ratings and that don't require any comprehensive thinking. The publicity was already there it was just up to the journalists to find the scoop.
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