Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

What is the point of news? Is it to inform us or educate us? I don't believe it's either although most people watch it for these reasons.

News is a business and what do businesses need to do? Make money. If they don't make money they will go out of business.

How does news make money? Through advertising.

How does advertising make money? The more people who see it, the more likely somebody will act on it.

What does all this mean? It means that the news needs to get your attention so that you watch it or read it. When you watch it or read it, you will see the ads from the companies who have paid the news company. When you see the ads, you may act on the ads that you see. The more people that act on the ads, the more likely that company will pay the news company to run their ad again. And so the cycle continues.

"Extra! Extra! Read All About It!" was used from the 1890s through the 1940s to denote breaking news and to get our attention. The only thing that has changed is how to get our attention. There's more competition for our attention than ever before.