Fridays: America’s Dumping Ground for Bad News, Nachos

Before you head off into your weekend, do you pull loved ones aside and tell them you've accidentally polluted a rainforest, or defrauded retirees, or contributed to a massacre? If so, you might be a popular corporation or politician!

In this episode, we're talking about a venerable American institution: the news dump. If you absolutely have to tell the whole nation that you screwed up, why not do it right before everyone's off for the weekend? We're Americans! We love to grill out and forget! By Monday, we're totally refreshed and entirely ignorant of whatever bad thing you did. It's a rebirth for us, and a second chance for you.

To keep you vigilant, even on Saturdays, we look at why the news dump became a thing and how news media on the right and left like to point out when politicians on the other side try to dump their news.

We also ask a big question: how has the news dump changed in the internet age, when the news isn't limited by the publishing cycle anymore and everyone's Very Online?

To get us going, Brandon and Stephen consider the strange case of the man who drove his family off a California cliff, and why everyone was obsessed with pointing out he was driving a Tesla.

Listen in as we explain why TGIF really means "That Goof Is Forgotten."

And: Dammit, don't forget we've launched Journos-as-a-Service! Reach out with your mysteries and questions: [email protected].

 

NOTES

Some takes on the "Tesla driver" story from NBC News, Newsweek, FOX News, and the LA Times
The California Highway Patrol's press release on the incident and another one for comparison
An example of how the headline doesn't usually contain the make/model of the vehicle
The twist! The Tesla may have saved their lives!
Want some walk-n-talks? Here's The West Wing on news dumps, AKA "Take Out the Trash Day."
How Meta tries to bury its news amid other news
A subreddit on Friday news dumps
The Associated Press on a Saudi mass execution
And, the heartwarming story of how a volcano was only trying to create more of Los Angeles