The System that Fuels Media Negativity

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Writing by Sam Denby and Tristan Purdy
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation led by Josh Sherrington
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster
References
[1] blogs.worldbank.org/developme...
[2] works.swarthmore.edu/cgi/view...
[3] www.mcgill.ca/mpcl/files/mpcl...
[4] www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073...
[5] bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.d...
[6] blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpo...
[7] www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...
[8] www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/...

[@adamdapatsfan]

"Negativity bias is in the media is rampant, and it's getting worse." Now _this_ is the kind of news that draws me in!

[@zabi_aka]

Kek

[@erich.5326]

"Your brain is designed to keep you alive, not keep you happy" is one of the most poignant phrases I've ever been told

[@USMCHolo]

It might be better to state that, "Your brain is optimized to keep you alive, not keep you happy." It may be that there's reproductive value in being happy and content, but if that value exists it is very likely dwarfed by any kind of immediate danger an individual might face.

[@geekzombie8795]

@@USMCHolo Actually true! Until evolution has experienced our current state of living, the brain will optimized for threats.

[@Transportationspotting]

Who looked at the OP’s profile picture and think they were google!

[@thealiusjones]

Ah yes however perhaps

[@jcbrowne16]

@@geekzombie8795 but once you reach our current state of living, evolution doesn't happen based off natural selection anymore (or as much as least) and can happen in whichever way it likes. Like everyone who would have died off/not had children due to natural selection now are and no set basis of genes is favourable. Of course some natural selection will still take place but with societally determined factors like if you work hard for long hours you're less likely to have kids.

[@LeZylox]

Sam made a positive year news video and asked himself why it didn't gain that much traction, so he started to question human evolution 😂 (very good video)

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

❤

[@AB-ib8dm]

I watched that video when it first came out. I just re-watched it. I recommend that everybody watches it and/or re-watches it. Help fight the negativity bias. Support Sam's efforts to help us feel good about ourselves.

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

The problem with negative news is that it rarely informs the people on what they can do to help

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

It's not as simple as negative and positive news

[@LeaveDavidAlone]

Well the crux of the issue is that you can’t do anything to help. You can make an informed decision when you vote. That’s about it.

[@AdamZovits]

Thoughts and prayers are the universal solution to be applied in any case where one wants to help but can't (be bothered to do anything else).

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

@@LeaveDavidAlone lol what? You can't help about anything in the news ever???

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

@@AdamZovits and the gov is doing it's best to turn voting into the physical form of thoughts and prayers

[@AviationAustin]

This is such an important philosophy in the age of information. It's so important to be aware of to avoid getting caught in the cycle of negativity so prevalent in our culture.

[@pleasedontwatchthese9593]

lol kind of like this video

[@benjaminwatt2436]

That's why i believe highly in respecting others even if we disagree. No mater their thoughts on politics, sexuality or whatever other hot topic. people should be willing to listen and disagree with curtesy

[@thomaswburkhart]

which is why i don’t want the news anymore

[@dianapennepacker6854]

I was just talking with someone about negativity bias in a fictional universe. There is a sci-fi book/game called 40k. By all means it is a horrible place to live in. Yet even in that universe as apeshit insane as it is many people live happy lives and some fans forget that. No one picks up 40k to read about Bobus and his wife. Why would the writers put out a book about that? People would be furious. So people think the government destroys their own planets without thought which isn't true. Anyway thought it was interesting that it can carry over to fictional universes too. Wish I had a better example as that setting is really F'ed up.

[@onemoreguyonline7878]

I highly recommend you watch the Ted Talk about Filter Bubbles

[@sebastiank2568]

In terms of writing you guys really outdid yourselves. What a beauty of an essay

[@lookingforsomething]

It's also wonderful how much research they put into these. Not only is the writing good, but it also tends towards a healthy caution and leans on scientific research papers.

[@theenzoferrari458]

Bro. My scrambled brain thought you said pussy at the end. I was like what and had to re read it otherwise I'd be so confused. Lmao

[@pepguardiola5951]

Chat gpt probably wrote it

[@MathGPT]

They even dodged a bullet by saying "certain humans are male and female" lol

[@siraaron4462]

The media focuses on problems and not solutions so let me tell you why that's a problem with no solution

[@TiVS.ThisisVerySerious]

I've never felt better since I stopped passively consuming the news! Most people don't realize what a toll the negativity and fear have on you mentally. Nice video

[@stevencooper4422]

So... you're saying we should...touch grass?

[@SurfbyShootin]

I reject the News, they are always trying to subvert the public. The News likes to curate what the public sees by trying to affect our base responses against us in the most perverse ways. The News is owned by the News.

[@adriank8792]

But here you are, passively consuming the news

[@chaosPneumatic]

@@adriank8792 I guess this is an example of having different definitions for "news". I see this channel as educational content, not a news channel.

[@adavila78]

So true! I experienced the same since about a year ago!

[@NamelessMoreOne]

I honestly believe this is the most important issue of this era. Mostly, on social networks, but even in our relationships, in the way we communicate, this constant chase for equilibrium against negativity is extremely tiring.

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

❤

[@catdogmousecheese]

I don't agree with you about that; me and my friends vent our frustrations about our jobs, our families, and just life in general all the time. Haven't you ever asked someone "how was work?" then they proceed to rant about their coworkers and their boss while you pretend to listen without actually caring?

[@avacadomangobanana2588]

The bias comes from the simple adage- reacting is easy, thinking is hard. Anger is a reaction. Thinking leads to compassion.

[@benjaminwatt2436]

Social Darwinism was carefully thought out by scientist and lead to massive slavery, forced surgeries on minorities and the metally handicapped. Thinking that leads to compassion only comes from the compassionate.

[@ctg4818]

"Thinking leads to compassion"? Tell that to Nietzsche lol

[@entropy8634]

@@ctg4818 Dw he just didn't think enough :)

[@nathanlevesque7812]

@@ctg4818 He had a neurodegenerative disease.

[@catdogmousecheese]

I think the problem is so many people want to only see the world in black and white, good guys vs. bad guys. For example, people hear that a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black person, but they think "the police are the good guys therefore that must've been a bad guy they killed." Or people hear the government has a secret prison where they're torturing suspected terrorists and they think "America is always the good guy and those are bad guys they're torturing so that makes it okay".

[@300-blkout]

I've literally cut off so many news sources to help my mental health. It's becoming so bad that it feels almost impossible to get real news without feeling like the world is going down the drain. A note to my friends also struggling with anxiety, don't listen to the news, focus on yourself, breath, you got this. ❤

[@madattaktube]

I started having full on anxiety attacks from the seemingly inevitable global collapse just round the corner thanks to the constant news influx, and when you start looking for it you realise just how pervasive it is. It's built into all the social media, it's built into my phones home screen, it's built into my search engine, it's built into the windows start menu, it's built into the homescreen of my browers... cutting it all out made me feel *much* better, and rather hilariously, I'm still generally considered 'the well-informed one' when it comes to world events among my friends.

[@nerd2814]

This. With all the mainstream news only ever reporting on stuff going down the shitter across the globe, is it any wonder everyone's a doomer all of a sudden?

[@squirtlel]

I feel this, I haven't watched the news in years, it's been months since I've looked at a news feed that wasn't specifically curated for entertainment. Just hearing from everyone else that has an opinion on the news like an opinion on the latest show all the time is too much. I'd recommend SirSwag's "this month's news without the b*******" it is text-to-speech with no broadcaster but I feel that's what makes it perfect, they try to write with no bias and no bias comes through in the audio or video, a month of news at a time for a 30-45 minute video means you get your news after the story has been developed and you can sit down and properly intake the information instead of being berated at every corner. Stay well.

[@subnormality5854]

The world IS going down the drain, but that's besides the point. What I did, is find two or three reliable news sources, check them once daily (at most), ignore all the rest. And rotate those sources now and again, so you don't accidentally get too inured by one source

[@thealexanderbond]

@@subnormality5854 What do you consider reliable news sources? It seems like everyone has an agenda of some kind that they spin the news with, or even just in the stories they choose to show and which to ignore.

[@Tmb1112]

I’ll admit, a few days ago when I was visiting my mom and stepdad, I burst out laughing for half a minute straight when a program he was watching on Fox News started up. Within 30 seconds I heard: “explosive,” “turmoil,” “crisis,” “devastating,” “crisis” again! 😂 I was laughing so hard.

[@eges72]

CNN, NBC, CBS, FOX, they are all the same. They all use adjectives like "Catastrophic" or "Deadly" or "Murderous" or "Devastating" every. single. time. It even makes us ordinary people suspicious sometimes.

[@TheFalseShepphard]

@@eges72 People still follow mainstream media ?

[@xellent]

@@TheFalseShepphard did you watch the video?

[@TheFalseShepphard]

@@xellent The video was lamenting about how shitty mainstream media is. Doesn't exactly touch up on much it's being followed in the first place

[@MJ-uk6lu]

You know what's explosive, crisis and devastating? Diarrhea.

[@TheLordDracula]

I quit news and Reddit about half way through the pandemic. It was like that scene where Ron takes off the Horcrux. It's helped so much. I still hear by word of mouth if anything important is happening.

[@realpainediaz7473]

Good tip.

[@mdaaaa1211]

The real issue is that people don't have the time or don't care enough to research the issues in depth. It's not always easy to do so either. There is a lot of misinformation. Take the case of SVB collapse. It took me almost a week to completely understand what really happened and all the nuances.

[@kaitlyn__L]

It’s crazy this comment has one upvote and is at the bottom of the comments, while the bot who stole your comment has 40 upvotes and is visible near the top

[@Poverty_Welder]

Research

[@GordonWrigley]

I don't know if I'd describe that as an issue so much as a fact of reality. If you are suggesting everyone should have spent a week researching SVB on their own then like ROFL no, some of us got bills to pay. We need to find a system that works with the limitation that most people do not have the time to research most things.

[@ramboturkey1926]

last time i did my own research i got called a nazi

[@spacebassist]

@@ramboturkey1926 that insult was bound to happen regardless if you did your research. Welcome to Internet discourse

[@POLARTTYRTM]

This is why I stopped watching the news years ago. It was NOTHING but extreme negativity, it was utterly despairing, depressing, and anxiety-inducing. I cut everything off. Unfortunately it didn't work too well and the effects are long-lasting. I can't remember a single day I tuned in and saw positive or good things. Living in one of the most violent and dangerous countries in the world, it really hits you with how bad things are, because you don't need to watch the news to know the awful things that happen just a few kilometers away from us or just where we live. Every day it comes to our knowledge that someone got killed and cut up in 20 pieces recorded on video and shared on messaging apps and social media, muggings everywhere, influx of new cartel members into the cities/towns creating endless fear and violence, confrontation between enemy cartels, the police... you just can't escape the bad things even if you just cut everything off. It doesn't matter what you do or where you go, everywhere is just the same thing and these things simply haunt everyone, everywhere, always.

[@Draconzis]

Which country do you live in?

[@a.a.1245]

​@@Draconzis probably mexico

[@a.a.1245]

Stoicism is helping me with it. I recomend the youtube channel Einzelgänger.

[@AbdulGoodLooks]

Are you in Mexico, Venezuela, Haiti or Colombia?

[@deus_ex_machina_]

@@AbdulGoodLooks Should add Brazil and El Salvador to that list.

[@dolphingirl12885]

Modern society puts us in a near constant high stress state between demanding work loads, super busy schedules, negative media, dependency on the system for our needs of food water etc

[@AbrahamPalmer-wj5cb]

Sad but true

[@tristanhoppe8866]

Wendover: "The media focuses on bad news alot more than good news. This is bad news" All of us: "oh no, oh heck" Love your videos, thanks for keeping us informed!

[@squirtlel]

The funhouse mirror was such a good analogy, being one who decided to avoid the mirror mostly since I know I can't trust it but processing all the "news" properly would consume the entirety of my life.

[@ecoideazventures6417]

Sadly as Wendover states people who have been brought up only seeing that mirror, their reality is exactly what the media portrays!

[@FinnMacCuhl]

I was a news editor on 2 major international newspaper titles and there was one simple principle guaranteed to get an item on the top of the morning news list for editorial conference - if it bleeds, it leads.

[@marcusf7249]

this is the kind of content that needs more attention, i love how you somehow manage to make a serious subject somewhat lighthearted with the analysis you include

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

❤

[@Mio248]

New Hope?

[@ValeOfMuses]

I never really thought about whether negativity bias was in any way a physical response or not; I always assumed it was pure socialization, the tendency to react to the dramatic. It's so much easier to make negativity wildly dramatic without lying than positivity; I always thought that was all it was. A lot of amazing stuff got discussed in this video, but I think that's the part that's likely to stick in my head the longest - in an ironically sensible way, because it implies that this is a fundamentally unchangeable part of human nature, which I despise. Thank you for making content like this all the time, Wendover. I generally watch all these on Nebula, but there's no way to comment or share over there, so I come back here anyways to pass it around.

[@maoman4855]

A comment system is sorely missed over on Nebula. People shit on KZbin comments a lot, but honestly, there's a lot of very good discussion happening underneath videos like this one. And I can only imagine that discussion would be even more refined on Nebula, thanks to the quality of individual who will naturally be drawn to such a site.

[@cricket12ish]

That R.E.M song was such a brilliant song describing the fear people carry today. "It's the end of the world as we know it" "and I feel fine"

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

❤

[@mjc0961]

LEONARD BERNSTEIN

[@Wolfiyeethegranddukecerberus17]

This video is a godsend as someone who tries their best to avoid negativity and being too jaded, especially online

[@kosmique]

there is no true escape from it. sorry for being negative.

[@ZaneIsHere]

As a student just getting into college pursuing a Mass Communications degree, I completely agree with everything that is said in this video. I may not live in the US, but here in the Philippines we have a really similar problem with the news published by TV networks in which they skew more toward the negative than the positive. And it really really hurts because in here, the primetime newscasts from our big 3 (ABS-CBN, GMA, TV5) typically get air time for 1 and a half hour, that's 3 times more than the average newscast in the US! Another problem is that the style in which these newscasts provide is tabloid and sensational news so there's little to no in-depth reporting actually being done to real issues except for the networks' other public affairs programs which don't even have the same amount of ratings that the newscasts do! (As an example, the newscast of GMA "24 Oras" gets average ratings of 15-17% and its always placed at either the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd most watched show every day) This is the reason why I've been steering away from *news that TV networks make* but instead focused on *news that the local newspapers* make since I can actually read more info about a report than a more congested version shown on TV.

[@1.4142]

These news stories rarely have any direct influence on our lives, and there is little we can do about them. It feels important because of the need to keep up with the most current events and be the first to talk about it. But learning about things from a slower, more thorough way is much better in my experience. It is impossible to be on top of it all the time, and missing out is actually good for you.

[@adamhale6672]

This is the first real in depth dive that I've seen on this topic. It is very interesting because it's something that we all recognize and hate, but then also completely subscribe to it when it comes to developing our opinions or gossiping with others. Great video, Sam + writers!

[@pleasedontwatchthese9593]

Not really a first time, there is a comedy movie made about in the 70s call "The Network". News hasn't really changed since then.

[@adamhale6672]

@@pleasedontwatchthese9593 I was more referencing that this is my first time watching one.

[@nathancortes3722]

You might also want to check out Manufacturing Consent.

[@baronvonjo1929]

I glad this video was made. I am so sick of all the negativity everywhere these days. Life ain't perfect. But dang. Our brains are hardwired to look at the negatives and think more negative than anything positive. I realize I have so many positive interactions all the time and find them completely forgettable. All the negatives and conflicts with folks are etched into my brain. I think this how we got to the extreme of saying certain groups of people are such and such. Because the people who promote this just see that and forgot all the harmless other interactions with others of a group they hate.

[@AllenLantz]

Isn't this video in of itself negative? Just talking about another problem. Although it is the root of the problem so maybe we can let is slide? lol

[@spacebassist]

@@AllenLantz it's bringing the issue to light, making us aware of the extent of it and it is unpleasant to think about yeah, but discussing problems tends to have a bit of a crap side. It's clearly aiming to be more educational rather than employ the same tactics to get you annoyed at some person or country or whatever, so it's not really the same

[@cykkm]

So... was it a positive video?

[@cykkm]

@@spacebassist “it's bringing the issue to light” - that's what the negative news rolls do. Where is the life-saving vaccine from this media disease? Did you hear any word about it?

[@MattDunney]

Media has lost it's credits since the age of trump and populism. That's what they get

[@MC_aigorithm]

Can it be argued that this may be changing finally due to the sheer amount of media out there? I stopped watching cable news mid-2020, and in the time since, I've selected my news based on the things that interest me but not at the expense of what's current or relevant, at least, I try my best. My thinking is that there is so much news on so many different topics that I cannot possibly consume it all, so I will choose to delve in on what's important or relevant to me. That has shaped my own personal negativity bias in the sense that I seek a balance of positive and negative information, such that I worry less than I used to and also seemingly less than the average person. Is this the trend of the future?

[@AbrahamPalmer-wj5cb]

Fair enough

[@fyang1429]

The funhouse mirror analogy works very well with maps. The Mercator projection is useful but is very inaccurate in some ways, yet it affects people's perception of geography very strongly. If you look at a real-proportioned Africa or Mexico, which are quite a bit stretched out than they look on a Mercator map, you would instinctively think that they don't look real.

[@Chris-lh7wj]

One thing I've learned as i get older is that life always seems to go on despite how grave the news can be. Think about the uncertainty of the world from 1915-1945: WWI, the spanish flu, the great depression, the dust bowl, and WWII, which led to hundreds of millions of losing their lives. I'm sure people during this time thought it was the apocalypse, but ultimately life prevailed. We tend to think we're on the precipice, that it's never been like this before, but chances are it has. Yes there's always threat of a world wide nuclear war or massive power grid failure that could wipe out 90% of all living species, but chances are somewhere at some point life will go on for some.

[@easy4242]

Can you share more

[@digitalfootballer9032]

I remember the news from when I was a kid in the 1980s always going on about impending nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Of course we all believed it but it obviously never happened. They are going on about it again now but with Russia/China and I don't believe it will happen this time either. The news always tends to paint adversaries as completely irrational and illogical, but the truth is that leaders in Russia and China, though we in the West may have completely different world views, still understand just as we do that nuclear conflict would result in mutually assured disaster.

[@VelocityZap]

It would appear that the notion of a Nuclear War that wipes out Humankind is basically low. It will destabilize the global powers and perhaps even bring forth a near global climatic anomalies due to the radiations and explosions that will subsequently bring up smoke, ash, and such into the air if most of the missiles were sent out. -but surprisingly, a good 57% to 63% of the human population will still survive. Depending on the nations involved in that hypothetical total nuclear war. Plenty of people in Africa and South America and other remote areas where there aren't much nuclear "targets" will still continue living on. Even Central Asia will be spared along with perhaps South-East Asia to some extent. Even the ones in zones of "target" like NATO countries, North America, and East Asia will still have plenty of pockets of surviving populations. It's the aftermath that will kill more people though.

[@brandonarmstrong2053]

Life will go on but we won’t be part of it. So enjoy what’s here now and when the bombs drop smile in the sun.

[@me0101001000]

A lot of my white American friends keep talking about how race relations in the US have deteriorated. I constantly end up assuring them that things have, in fact, improved. It just so happens that they know about it now. I'm a queer Asian American man, one with darker skin at that. I grew up facing colorism and homophobia in my cultural heartland as well as in the US, but things have consistently been improving. That's not to say that there is a lot to be done, there absolutely is. But we have made several steps forward. Two steps forward, one step back, and two more steps forward. It's always that negativity bias that makes the step back seem so much worse than any step forward. And as far as the negativity goes, if you're okay with doing some slightly heavier reading, skip the news cycle and read some academic papers. The information is deep, thoroughly analyzed, and very detailed in higher impact journals. It just risks being a little bit dry. Personally, I'm okay with the data and analysis without the emotion, because sensationalism gets exhausting.

[@zea_64]

The coverage of bigotry specifically is really interesting. I've heard (and my experience suggests) that as things get better bigots lash out more, and of course the news covers those reactions.

[@me0101001000]

@@zea_64 oh, absolutely. I think it's because it's a spectacle. With the way our culture is progressing, bigotry of any kind becomes more and more ridiculous to look at. And of course, with attention driving the cultural zeitgeist in most countries, what catches more attention than the ridiculous?

[@mrluigi1337]

Which sources would you say you read that are good for seeing the data without too much emotion in them?

[@me0101001000]

@@mrluigi1337 what are you interested in reading? I'm a scientist by training, so most of what I read is tied to physics, chemistry, engineering, and sometimes biology/medicine. So for that reason, most of what I read is from Nature, American Physical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, things like that. For psychology, the American Journal of Psychology is pretty good. Econometria is good for, well, econ. Or if you want to go to politics and all of its controversy, consider European Political Science (EPS). You have lots of options. What you want to look for is what the scrutiny process is like for publishing, what the impact factor is, how quickly the review process is carried out, and the comparison of the author's length of career with the number of citations and the topic of discussion. I understand that it's way more work than reading or listening to legacy mainstream news sources, who honestly do get more hate than is often justified, but this is what I do if I'm interested in some deep, thorough, brute force analysis.

[@mrluigi1337]

@aku Thanks for taking the time to reply! And personally, I'm the most interested in econ and politics, so I'll definitely give your suggestions a look

[@lucchesi87]

In my perspective, technology had a deep effect on the escalation of media negativity. With the popularization of internet, many people thought regular newspapers and news channels would go belly up and die. They first reacted with online subscription, but that simply wouldn't do it. Once social media got in the game, things changed, the regular media decided their supposedly-high-standards for ads would get them skinned, so they started getting any ads they could, but that still didn't make the cut, until they realized how engagement works. It takes a 5 minute glimpse for a competent data-scientist to realize people are much more likely to engage themselves (like, comment, share) news which are fear-inducing, horrendous and generally negative than positive, and that is by a a HUMONGOUS margin. That's how traditional media evolved to survive. Except now the tables have turned on it again. With the big independent-small-media-boom in the last decade, traditional media have lost a lot of visibility to these small parasites which pretty much copy-pastes any traditional media content faster than light, then proceeds to post it on their own ad-covered websites, which in turn, are better at navigating google's and pretty much every social media algorythm, pretty much stealing all their ad-rich-juice.

[@EddieOWright]

There has so much negativity around and it has been steadily increasing. I often found myself drawn into it and hated it. I stopped watching TV and news 10 years ago, deleted all social media a few years ago, and I am so much happier since then and it had a positive impact on my mental health. First I was worried if I would miss out but it was one of the best decision ever. Thanks for this great piece of explanation, brilliant video!

[@MrManafon]

I was very surprised about how Danish national DR news were generally positive or silverlined. I've never before moving here imagined that someone can watch news for fun in the morning and hear about relevant stories.

[@scottanos9981]

Due to Denmark's geographical small size, their national news is more similar to our local news, which does have more "feel good" stories than our national news. I'm surprised Wendover productions didn't mention the difference between local and national news broadcasting though!

[@RockinBobXYZ]

@@scottanos9981 Actually, they did touch on it when they said the most popular U.S. news outlets (which presumably have national audiences) are significantly more negative than news outlets in general.

[@MrManafon]

Makes sense, he also stated that in countries with Publicly funded Networks generally have less pressure in pursuing audience. I have lived in one such country, where the network has, unfortunately became a tool of the government. In Denmark, somehow, this doesn’t seem to be a problem, and imho DR is quite transparent and objective.

[@lifevest1]

As a nervous flyer, I like to watch Wendover Productions' videos while flying. Anyone else think he needs to partner with Southwest, Delta, or United and make his own in-flight channel app people can watch??

[@theme7363]

if it helps, you’re more likely to drop a dragon in the toilet than you are to be hurt because of an airplane. it’s just trippy flying box

[@Erin-Thor]

There’s a REASON why they don’t show plane crash movies on flights. 🤣 Snakes on a plane has never been aired on a plane.

[@JoshuaC923]

​@@Erin-Thor with onboard internet and on demand entertainment, I'm sure you could watch Air crash investigation whilst flying😂

[@adriannaconnor6471]

A great aviation KZbin channel is "Mentour Pilot" (yes, that's how it's spelled). He does discuss many aviation incidents, but many people in his comments section talk about how it makes them feel better about flying, because now they know what the aviation industry does to prevent accidents from happening, and they know exactly why aviation is actually incredibly safe. He also addresses many of the fears that your average person has with flying, such as turbulence, or why it isn't a problem if lightning strikes the plane.

[@Aresenal1739]

@@JoshuaC923 just be sure you have headphones the last thing you want to hear on a plane is “mayday, mayday”

[@davidhazit]

Sam, I love these philosophical videos of yours. They discuss topics a lot of us would like to think and talk more and deeper about, but the daily rush a lot of us are in just doesn't leave enough time to do that. Well done!

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

❤

[@stevek6636]

I hope this hits trending. Everyone needs to see this.

[@ScouseJazmin]

I'm from the UK, and I noticed that what positive news gets reported on tends to be a much smaller scale than the negative news. A general news day is the "big story" that every news channel covers, then international (war, natural disasters, negative politics) then national (government failures, interviews with people whose lives were ruined by those failures) then one short positive story about an individual or small group (usually a sports win, or something about animals or technology). Does anyone have an idea of why the postive focus tends to be on the small things? Or why the general news layout is so similar?

[@rednammoc]

The positive things aren't necessarily small, but they do tend to be local in scope. Perhaps the local news is more relatable than bad stuff happening far away, in which case "smaller" doesn't necessarily mean "less impact".

[@ScouseJazmin]

@@rednammoc I think they do trend local, but even international positive stories I see tend to focus on a single individual or small organisation, generally doing something to help their community. Which I guess is still more relatable, but when there were so many more large-scale positive things happening it seemed kind of incongrous. Like, there was once a story I saw about a teenager in Gambia who made and sold biofuel, and when I googled it I found out that Gambia actually had a huge infrastructure and funding push towards reducing carbon emissions and were the only country on track with the paris agreement. Thats a story on the same theme, in the same place, with the same positivity. The only major difference was the scale, and I always wondered why.

[@TwistedJustice]

@@ScouseJazmin I suppose it is because people like to see other people doing good things rather than an institution being good. People would tune into see the kid innovating but not as interested in a governmental R&D plan. Maybe it feels more relatable or human to see some other person doing the good work ?

[@112313]

Does people remember last week when iran and saudi signed their normalising of diplomatic ties? Does bbc say who brokered the deal?

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

@@112313 China. Everyone acknowledges that, it's kinda hard not to since it literally happened there, not behind the scenes.

[@moneysins]

I honestly don’t understand the rationale behind the news executives “Let’s destroy our society to make that money, money will protect us once everything goes to sh*t.” You can’t survive the apocalypse with your $3M house and $10M 401K you geniuses…

[@theme7363]

ah but it will. the world ends with PMCs

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Capitalism man also if they show someone like Bernie Sanders more he'll show with trying how terrible they been like covering politics like a horse race and they don't want you to know that so they want him to get the lease coverage

[@lmpeters]

Lots of executives really don't know what makes their businesses successful.

[@jaketaylor3901]

As an American, i get all of my news from DW News and France24. France24 has a global news talk show with a changing panel of experts called “The Debate” streamed on YT 11am weekdays West coast time. I high recommend both channels (here on YT) in general, but really cannot speak highly enough about The Debate. Great show, the guests are always great, the host is fantastic. If anyone from France or Germany is reading this, thank you!

[@iralangdon]

The flow of ideas in this essay is not predictable, and yet it is straightforward. Not dramatic, and yet engaging. Kudos to the writers, this is masterful work.

[@brandonstolz6283]

It's funny because in Canada, I would say CBC is the one main broadcaster who criticizes government validly, while private companies are more focused on keeping the status quo.

[@YilmazArdaSingh]

Maybe this is why celebration is so important, we have to draw ourselves to the positivity to compensate for the bias. Maybe celebration is more important than we realize.

[@ytterbius2900]

Well said! 👏

[@kamaleon204]

I used to work at a local TV broadcasting group... and one thing I heard repeated by people in the newsrooms everywhere.... "if it bleeds... it leads". This is why you dont hear about the puppy of the week of the local animal shelter and only see maybe 2 minutes or 5sec at the end of the news before they go to the next program. (btw.. this is the time that most news directors figure ppl are going to the bathroom or are making something to eat in the kitchen)

[@NDMAyy]

We can’t expect to curate a better future without focusing our attention toward what those better improvements are. We must remember this when seeing negativity, it isn’t that is wasn’t there, but that it should reorient our attention in the opposite direction in order to make positive progress. Even when it doesn’t feel like it at the time, when examined after some time we can often realise that hasty hostility or exclusivity are less beneficial than seeking to understand and accept things as they are, and worry about what positive action can help enable better outcomes in the future, without the hatred giving our lives any additional friction.

[@bomono3973]

This is an extremely important concept for people to understand. I am constantly astounded by how negative peoples view of everything seems to be despite how much good happens.

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

❤

[@tf_9047]

Did I just watch an 18 minute ad for Nebula? 😂 Thanks, Sam & team. Your content, platform and tone gives me hope that there's still room for positive, well-researched content in the US media landscape.

[@cooltop101]

A couple months ago I was on Facebook. I've followed some news pages, including former local news pages, but I realized so many of them we're sharing stories simply because it made people comment more. Local news sharing a small story 1,000+ miles away simply because it was a little controversial, which made people comment, react, and share the post. After that I unfollowed every news station. I rarely get on Facebook anymore, and I'm not nearly as stressed as I was

[@mjc0961]

I remember years ago, I was looking at whatever news feed Google had built into Android when I was bored. More and more I was noticing it was showing me local stories from places that weren't local to me. I'm not sure what their end goal in doing that was since it was just links to other websites in a feed, not someplace where I could comment and share directly, but the end result for me was disabling that feed and not looking back.

[@bipolar7853]

I think social media is the worst thing that happened to news, especially for online written news.

[@jaketaylor3901]

They literally do the prioritization of sadness in The Morning Show. (No spoilers i promise) s2 ep1, it’s Dec 2019, the Morning Show producer is rushing thru the backstage area and a assistant comes up and pitches a shooting, huge protests, and a “weird pneumonia in China”. The ranking went just as you would have predicted. And they only had time for two. The insinuation is they didn’t even cover COVID’s origin bc it was seen as no big deal, while ironically we now know the “weird pneumonia in China” they’re eluding to is Covid 19.

[@Extravidrigt]

I rarely comment on your videos, but I have to commend you on the format. The bear analogy was clear and entertaining, and this video felt different from your other “THIS…is a thing”-type videos.

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

❤

[@abhilashvaidyanathan5552]

This was one of the most unexpected, but most well made and reflecting videos by wendover, kudos!

[@pirana6]

I got rid of news and social media (outside of KZbin and LinkedIn) a few years ago, and my mental health and overall feelings of life got way better.

[@xandercruz900]

KZbin you have to filter hard because the clickbaiters and fearmongers.

[@pirana6]

@@xandercruz900 I only watch what I'm subscribed to and those are only educational (wendover being the closest to the line)

[@Graffititude]

What a great topic and video overall. I’m very grateful someone covered this and made the info accessible so that people can understand

[@grosscha]

Thank you so much for making this. All your content is really good, but this is really helpful in a time like this.

[@robertall33]

I didn’t even know there was a pandemic until 2 days before the first lockdown, at the time I disregarded all media due to bias, and I was in a big shock just a few days later, the last news I saw was at that point was in December 2019.

[@Afraaz]

that was the most insane VPN sponsorship placement i've ever seen. crazy

[@kristoffersweden8000]

I think the book called "Factfullness" by Hans Roslings and that it was partly a counterreaction to this phenomenon. Please make a video in the factfullness style and remind us of all the positive growth and development the world is going through!

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I'm a big fan of Hans Rosling. He always did a good job of presenting the world through a generally positive lens, in spite of everything.

[@kershaad]

Y'all really delivered something special with this one. Absolutely brilliant writing.

[@andreicrisan8145]

I can't help but praise the author of this video. From the beginning to the end the whole story is building nicely and the conclusions are more than interesting. Thank you!

[@pratikharani7607]

The thumbnail, the funhouse mirror analogy, the general writing of it, everything was so good in this one!!

[@JohnSmith-dg9gg]

Australia's ABC worked previously, but is now at the mercy of political loading and we're debating whether it should lose its funding. More than government funding is required, the news needs an active incentive to be impartial in both content and tone.

[@piyushsharma9486]

Good job guys. This was a pretty well written video.

[@HumbleAshe]

Really great watch. I absolutely hate having to deal with negativity a lot in more recent years. It just feels inescapable nowadays wherever I go. It’s basically a bulwark in any major current news, where the focus always seems to be doom and gloom and pointing towards our own demise (it was the absolute worst last year with everyone being like “oh, with the war in Ukraine, we might just die in a nuclear war soon”). Even outside of regular news, a lot of discourse in communities for hobbies I indulge in to ESCAPE regular news are affected so much by negativity and rage that borders into toxicity at times. I’ve seen it so much for Star Wars to the point where it feels like everything is going to shit and nobody feels happy about things anymore to a point where sometimes I don’t feel motivated about being invested in that fictional world as a hobby anymore. It gets to a point where game/movie/TV discourse can be just as bad with negativity as regular news. That’s why I’ve had to start filtering or blocking out certain channels or outlets from my feed or my personal routine, just so all of it wouldn’t affect my motivation and overall mental health.

[@blueline15]

Been a viewer for awhile but had to say this was incredibly well done. The topic is monstrously complex but I think you broke the parts down into something bit sizable while keeping any personal bias in reasonable check. Well done, this is a video I’ll be sharing.

[@JoeSchmoer]

Great video. Pleasantly surprised it wasn't one big ad for ground news.

[@MrKristian]

Love your content! Always gives me something to watch and learn and question

[@womensrights]

I've learned over my years in the military that over a long enough time I forget the bullshit and the pain, but I never forget the relationships and friendships. Not decades later.

[@rcmaniac25]

Fantastic summary of the situation and the issue with any of the fixes to it.

[@semicognitive]

Love this new style of animation and essay and tone - 10/10 ⭐️

[@Blizzarus]

Really good topic, well broken-down and edited. Great video. I gotta say, I think this channel is one of the only educational KZbin channels I can still handle. They're all getting so full of repetitive, biased, meaningless blather that they have no meaning anymore. If I'm being honest, even some HAI videos feel that way, but these ones have been much better, so I appreciate them a lot.

[@cameronlukewilson281]

WOP is still biased though. haha

[@wilderfourbees9941]

Thanks for making such a great video! Keep it up!

[@enzopalmer4745]

Love how at 3:26 the firefighter has Cyrillic on their outfit. As somebody who is learning Russian (and has been for the last two years) its just kind of neat.

[@justsomeguy5470]

That was one of the most exceptional intros that I've ever seen. Well done!

[@john80944]

It's natural and cultural influences combined. Like how people telling a story: you always need a conflict, the combination of objectives and obstacles. But conflict isn't the only part of storytelling, so we just need to put more effort into other parts too.

[@Kyle899]

The media tells you want you want to hear, not what you may need to hear.

[@klonkimo]

So true. My parents tuned to Channel 2 for the news, but the news has been driven from profits since the street paperboy days. Read all about it!

[@JDBass36]

Facts We are systematically controlled on everything weather it's TV, Movies Music, Books etc.. Everything we see and hear is particularly controlled

[@abdirahmanmahdi9458]

cant totally put the blame on the media, it reflects a flawd in us. Thats why even when people are left to their own devices online, they still look for what reinforces their biases. Social media platforms algorithms are designed to show you what you want to hear not what you need to hear

[@than217]

" *BEAR* There's a bear!!!!" I experienced that response for the first time last year while hiking in the wilderness, it was only two baby bears though and they were terrified of me.

[@Yumixfan]

I stopped bothering with the news years ago. But I still get the news via what people are talking about online a lot so I don't miss anything actually important. I've noticed over the last few years, that doing that method where others who pay attention to the news go on social media to talk about the parts they personally consider important, is a much better metric for what you should actually pay attention to. It helps with conversation and because it's coming from a person online, not a company, you know not to trust the information without looking it up first. So usually when I speak to my friends now, I'm a lot more knowledgeable about whatever the important news of the week is because I only see the news that a lot of people care about, and then I go and research just that filtered news

[@wotintarnation8388]

I was shocked that this wasn't sponsored by Ground News. If there was a Wendover video that could be sponsored by them, this would be it.

[@fbbfjjj]

You know the days gonna be good when Wendover drops a new video😂❤

[@GameTesterBootCamp]

5:30 "There's nothing we can do about it because it's written into our DNA." There's a lot of things that are rooted in our DNA that we fight against for the betterment of society. Men not impregnating every woman they want. Not violently assaulting those who irritate us. Going to sleep shortly after sundown instead of watching Wendover videos well into the night. We can, and should, fight against many of our natural instincts for the betterment of those around us. Except that last one. I'll watch Wendover videos on repeat until my eyes bleed!

[@aescubed]

The quality of the narration has gone UP in the past few videos I have watched. Good work, mate :)

[@dgoddard]

If more people would listen and understand what you've written here, this world would be a better place. I've all but completely disengaged from mainstream media, due to it's bias in whatever direction. I've never been much on being told what to do or think. So it works for me. But so many people allow themselves to become a marionette for whatever media they consume. Such a tragedy.

[@lukehorton4373]

Watching this was so validating, lowered my anxiety

[@RemnantCult]

I wish this video could be shown to everyone. Great stuff.

[@jhamby8773]

Probably my favorite video of yours to date. Great job!

[@digitalfootballer9032]

I have to disagree with remembering awkward and/or negative experiences from school days more than positive, but maybe that's just me. I have a tendency to be nostalgic and remember the fun we had in the "good ol days" and forget about all the boring stuff. Nostalgia can be overpowering and make us look to the past with rose coloured glasses. I am certainly guilty of it, and you hear it a lot from people around my age "the 80s/90s were SO much better than today". I say it too. But were they? Or do we just remember the good parts and black out the bad parts? Like my grandfather always said, "times change, but people don't", and while yes certain eras are more positive than others there are always similar players throughout history, and I think humans tend to sensationalize whatever era they were young in.

[@nisargthakur]

Love this video. I think the negativity bias gets worse when news organizations make up bad news just to gain views and ratings to keep their audience engaged and enraged. Should media organizations be required to report truth? Should that even be a debate? If we just report facts instead of spinning the narrative to please the target audience things will be so much better. I liked that there’s more good happening in the world than bad, it’s just sad that the bad is getting more coverage!

[@bipolar7853]

I think a reason not mentioned in the video is that now, most of online articles are being accessed from social media. Therefore, medias have to get creative in their titles to attract clicks, and that often translate into overly sensationalist and scary titles, sometimes even in opposition with the content of the article itself.

[@elliot9634]

this is a new bar for yall. seriously great stuff.

[@Saschajay]

So, the problem is the presence of women in key positions that are more subject to the negativity bias. The more women in media the more negativity? This could be a good topic for studies.

[@piranha031091]

This is an excellent and very important video. I wish schools spent more time (or any at all!) teaching us about the biases of our medias.

[@jonathangreenlee9805]

And basic rhetoric and logic. The Classical Method, Trivium Quadrivium. What we have is horrible mid-tier content designed to fill the day, no practical applications, and further distorted via design by committee, along Union Leadership using all (students AND teachers) as pawns in their own careerist game of clout chasing.

[@nighthawk244]

Our schools and media are aligned in their biased it will never happen

[@MrMarkOlson]

It is no wonder today we have politicians with a growing desire to control what can and cannot be taught in schools.

[@grapesw8]

this is one of the greatest videos ive ever seen, period. Such an important topic that hasn't been articulated well until now. Thank you!

[@Steamrick]

This is why, in some countries, public broadcast funding is *not* controlled by politicians.

[@mboiko]

"If it bleeds...it leads"

[@Crabslammer]

Awesome and thorough explanation of how news media works! My favorite is "it's not good or bad, it's just a thing."

[@DumbSkippy]

Kudos Sam... you nailed it. I'm a former Journo from Perth, Western Australia.

[@mossm717]

Amazing video. I’d love to see more social/psychological content on this channel!

[@brandonsmith8166]

Thank you for talking about this. I’m over nothing but negative news stories dotting my timeline everyday. You’d think we’re experiencing Armageddon every single day

[@chefnyc]

Fear and shame also sell products and are used a lot in ads.

[@NDAGR-]

Boy you giving them the game😳😳👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾. Give them a bunch of lies and teach them that’s real. It’s very rare that someone tells you the truth and this man is doing just that. I really appreciate that.

[@charlesistheman]

The problem is most types of Media is still a business at the end of the day.... If nobody watches, they don't have money to run their company.