Crisis Fatigue
Many inveterate readers I know have stopped reading their usual news. The cause seems to be crisis fatigue. Readers are going fetal.
This points to an interesting instability in psychology: up to a point, media gets more attention and credibility with vivid negative stories; beyond that point, readers and viewer simply disengage. The transition is abrupt, so it surprises industry experts when it happens.
Same thing seems to have happened in politics in the past year. Negative, divisive campaigns, and fear of terrorism, nearly always work. Except this time.
