And this is why people die from very preventable diseases. News have a social duty to inform the public, when that part is removed all that is left is sensationalist and partisan pieces. And the pubic takes bad decision in their lives based on anecdotal data.
> Everyone of us will die one day
To have so many overweight 40-somethings with sedentary lives is treating live as having no value. People will die some day, but they should be able to enjoy the time that they are alive. Asking people to give up a healthy live because "they will die some time" is just helping big corporations that milk people out of their lives with fatty food, stressful working environments, polluted air, etc.
Do not give up, live is worth living and getting people the information to live good lives is very important.
Yes we all die. Yes a lot of those deaths could be delayed.
However I'd argue that it's not as simple as "blaming the news". Health education starts as children, and continues throughout life.
Secondly, focusing on just the 2 primary causes for a moment (heart disease and cancer), its not like there's a shortage of education.
People (for the most part) completely understand the issues around these. Smoking is bad. Drinking is bad. Exercise is good. Eat less sugar. Eating home prepared (real) food is better than industrial food.
In other words the outcomes of bad choices are well understood and very well passed on via education. And information today has never been more accessible.
I don't think the news adding a running count of cancer deaths would make the slightest difference.
As evidence I introduce Covid, where we did literally have a death count every day. And not some "20 years from now" result, but the "got sick on Monday, dead today" count.
Population responses in different countries was diverse. In the US the partisan resistance was notable. The death count there also notable.
Culturally (some) US citizens are distrustful of education. Most are in the "my personal freedom" camp. Telling someone that smoking kills triggers the "I'm free to do what I want" response.
I agree people could improve their own lives easily. They already known how. They (mostly) choose not to do so.
Despite all the failings of the press, I am now wondering: is it the least bad we could have?
(I do recognise I'm pattern matching to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of_all_possible_worlds, but I don't say this is the best that could ever be if an all-knowing all-powerful being did it, just the best that could be done in practice by the first primates to cross over the threshold of inventing movable type).
And this is why people die from very preventable diseases. News have a social duty to inform the public, when that part is removed all that is left is sensationalist and partisan pieces. And the pubic takes bad decision in their lives based on anecdotal data.
> Everyone of us will die one day
To have so many overweight 40-somethings with sedentary lives is treating live as having no value. People will die some day, but they should be able to enjoy the time that they are alive. Asking people to give up a healthy live because "they will die some time" is just helping big corporations that milk people out of their lives with fatty food, stressful working environments, polluted air, etc.
Do not give up, live is worth living and getting people the information to live good lives is very important.