Outrage Industry: A Summary

In The Outrage Industry, Berry and Sobieraj argue that the topic of media outrage is very multidimensional. Outrage is defined as avstrong reaction with anger, shock, or rage. In the political context, this could be how citizens react to a speech a politician has made, commentary between politicians aired on television, and or commentary between political journalists. America loves sensationalism. When the media broadcasts negatively charged reactions between political journalists or politicians, their ratings go up. Within the media industry, more ratings equal a higher profit. The research methods that Sobieraj and Berry use within their argument are quantitative and qulalitative.
In chapter two, titled « Mapping Outrage in Blogs, Talk Radio,

This gradual transformation started in the early 1980’s when President Reagan was in office. A process began where media outlets were owned and controlled under five mega corporations. Television news was and still is seen as sucessful business for profit. To maintain profit, news outlets depend on drama for ratings. Once the The Fairness Doctrine of was eliminated in 1987, conservative outrage news segments dominated. The political outrage media is cultivated and maintained in a strategic manner. The industry appeals to those who have similar political ideologies,and hand pick commercial advertisements which keep the people drawn in.The viewers strong feelings towards the news segment is what keeps them drawn in to the program during commercial breaks. Also, with inexpensive operationg costs of the program, supplying content for radio and television shows to cover, and the access to creating formats on the internet, this creates a new form within the media industry that makes a significant

The authors discuss branding and why it is important for news netrworks and political outrage personalities. Branding is important because it creates a trust based relationship with the « average » viewer. This idea of the « average viewer » is critical because it represents the majority of white male correspondants who dominate the industry. There is an underlying belief that these white males represent the majority and speak on issues that matter the most to those chosen group of people. These men, speak on issues that most people of this group are afraid to talk about in public, due to the fear of being labeled as ultra-conservative, racist, sexist,etc. This sort of outrage or contoversial speech, purposely draws attention to himself in order to create « quality » content for the target audience. Again, contoversy and/or outrage can produce high ratings and more money for the news