Is the News Industry the New WWE?
Is the News Industry the New WWE?
I have always had at the very least a passive fascination with the world of professional wrestling. The dramatic story telling is as old as time. There is always the heel (bad guy) and the face (good guy). Storylines bringing the top heel and top face together are masterly crafted over weeks or months. I remember as a young boy watching Saturday morning wrestling matches on TV with my grandfather. Occasionally there was the opportunity to attend live shows at the local arena. You knew all the characters, booed the heel, and cheered for the face. Each match left as many questions as answers. At the end of the show, you couldn’t wait to see how the story unfolded the following week.
I recently had the opportunity to view a documentary on the current WWE. As a side note it is a documentary series I would recommend. You do not have to be a fan to appreciate the enormous resources and talent that is behind every event. The staff of writers are obviously talented and know how to read the room. Storylines can change midstream based on an unexpected audience reaction to a specific wrestler. The creative team’s ability to pivot the storyline to tap into an unexpected audience reaction is remarkable. Hollywood could probably takes notes on how to develop compelling storylines.
All this brings us to the current state of the News Industry. I use the generic term News Industry deliberately. It doesn’t matter the source, be it television networks, the internet, podcasts, radio, print, or social media. All these forms of communication functioning under the pretense of delivering the News have amateurishly adopted the WWE template. Storylines dividing the world into “heels and faces” are elaborately designed to captivate an audience. The news industry makes sure the audience knows who the heels and faces are in the story. The heels hate America and want to destroy our way of life. The faces love America and are the only ones to save the country. The storylines always revolve around good vs. evil. There is no middle ground between the good guys and bad guys. The middle ground is boring eliciting little anger or anxiety. The trick is to always play to the crowd. Build stories around unresolved conflicts, paybacks, retribution, backstabbing, fear, and anger. You have to get a visceral reaction from the audience. If you want to hold your audience and keep them coming back they have to experience an emotional connection. The most powerful reactions guarantying a captive audience are anger and anxiety. Pump the audience up with these two gems and you will keep them coming back. Make everyday a doomsday with constant breaking news. Creating a sense of urgency is one of the oldest sales tactics. The audience has to feel a sense of urgency.
As the manufactured storylines develop and emotions are raised the first casualty is truth. The truth has no place in storylines designed to stir up an audience and create a sense of panic. The storylines created by the current news industry are not constrained by facts. Lies and distortions told by any particular news outlet disappear as quickly as a puff of smoke in the 24/7 news cycle. If the storyline is compelling each day is a new day. When anger and anxiety is manufactured the result is a kind of addiction. The audience has to keep coming back to see how the story ends. There is a natural human need to fill in the unknowing blanks of a story.
There are two inherent dangers with the News Industry template versus the WWE template. Unlike the WWE, the News Industry has no season, so the storylines never end. Unlike the WWE, the roles of heel and face rarely switch. It is not unusual for a professional wrestler to switch from heel to face and back again during a career. I say rarely due to the current oligarchy class ruling America. A single oligarch or small group may decide to pull a WWE and switch the heel and face roles. For example, a single oligarch could buy an entire news organization and change the roles of heel and face.
Some people watch the WWE for entertainment realizing the need to suspend reality for the length of the performance. For these folks the storylines are entertaining escapes from reality. Others immerse themselves in the characters and become part of the storyline. For these folks the storyline is reality. As you take in the storylines of your trusted news provider what kind of viewer are you?