EmpiricalRequires evidence

The attention industry has the same structure as the food industry, and Part I measures the output rather than asserting it. Media companies compete for attention as food companies compete for the food budget, and because alarmist reporting holds viewers better than sedate accurate reporting, the product drifts negative: Leetaru's analysis shows a steady trend towards negativity in both New York Times and Summary of World Broadcasts reporting over several decades. The reach is near total, with 95 percent of Americans saying they follow the news and 85 percent checking at least daily. And perception detaches from fact. In 2017 more Americans than ever believed life was worse than fifty years earlier, though 1967 was the heart of the Vietnam War, and crime fell from the 1990s into the 2000s while many believed it had risen. One study found fifteen minutes of news exposure enough to raise anxiety symptoms in students.

Capital mechanisms