Don't Please Anyone.

"Not needing to please everybody" is the most important concept as far as sensationalism in journalism goes. In the midst of the whimsy of the "Life of a Newspaper", there is a very important factor of the want of sensationalistic journalism as portrayed by The Sun. Readers not being pleased is the way to keep them reading. The worst, most vulgar, embarrassing, heartbreaking, disgusting, moral wrong stories, are read the most by the majority of the public. Stories that are warm, fuzzy, and light hearted are dull to the average reader. Why? What is the reason for this? Don't people want to read things that will increase their minds scholarly? Not really.

"There, again, I became an object of interest, went the rounds of the neighborhood, and was a nine day's wonder. I am now quietly hanging up in a farmer's kitchen, from which I have written this brief memoir. I have seen much of the world, and have learned that mankind are unreasonable and ungrateful, and that in a world of great variety of taste and wises, it is impossible to please all," ("The Life of a Newspaper" 1834).

Is it true that mankind is unreasonable and ungrateful, that is why sensationalism news is most interesting to the vast majority of the population? Let's look at the facts. It's not uncommon for people these days to say, "I don't watch the world news because it is boring," or "I like news about celebrities." It looks like the same solution of 1824 still works in 2008. Interesting.