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| The Daily Template Page 1 and 3 |
Dustin: LIGHTNING STRIKE KILLS PET FINCH! Why can’t we have a good news story on Page 1?
Editing Instructor: Economics and psychology.
Dustin: Economics?
Editing Instructor: Shocking news items attract readers. Adrenalin sells more papers.
Dustin: And psychology?
Editing Instructor: Schadenfreude. Readers like stories reporting bad news happening to other people.
Dustin: Like gossip.
Editing Instructor: News is gossip, writ large.
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Voice-over
Good news can make it to the front page. Usually a report of a conflict overcome.
Perhaps the bad news > good news model is not just economic and psychological. It may even follow the storytelling arc. Clash to closure.
Which page in a newspaper do you turn to first? Page 1 or Page 3? Like when someone tells you, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”
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