The aphorism about how a dog biting a man is not news while a man biting a dog is news dates back to the middle 1800s when newspapers were the king of media.
Today, people are so bombarded with news that a man chomping down on a canine will probably not even rank as a good TikTok video.
The truth remains, however, that people are more interested in odd or unusual events than some ordinary event that happens every day. This forces journalists to seek out unusual events and might be a big cause of fake news stories that spread disinformation. Journalists or reporters for trade magazines and ezines have a much harder job than those who work for traditional news outlets. Other than job promotions, news about mergers, and perhaps a technical innovation, the news pickings are slim with almost no chance of a big story akin to a rocket launch to Mars or a similar report. This is especially true for the HVAC industry where a Google search for the biggest news story in HVAC will likely yield stories about a website launch or news about some convention. I think the HVAC news needs to be spiced up a bit with a gossip column of sorts that reports on celebrities’ HVAC activities. Headline stories could be “Kim Kardashian greets HVAC technician at door dressed in tiny bikini” or “Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck turn HVAC thermostat down as their relationship heats up”. Think of the interest generated with the news that Beyoncé and Jay Z must replace the HVAC filters in their recently purchased historic 1925 mansion in New Orleans. I’m sure these stories would increase the number of viewers more than a report about a relatively unknown keynote speaker at an HVAC convention.