How to get away with almost anything: How evildoers benefit from the world's ADD

Today these limits, called “bounded rationality,” are more relevant than ever. We have virtually infinite options for things like investments, clothing, music, books, and games, all available through the Internet. But we don’t weigh every single option before we buy; we take shortcuts. This means we don’t always make the best choice, but we make choices that we consider good enough.

How is this relevant to the news? Well, it would be impossible to follow every single event happening around the world. Even the best news organizations can’t, because they have finite resources. But the rest of us can’t either, because we have other things to do besides sitting in front of our various screens. Instead, we delegate to the media the decision of what to pay attention to and give them a small part of our days.

There are only a few global media organizations, and they tend to prioritize a few stories each day. Stories that gain more viewers and readers get more time because they bring in advertising dollars. When the audience loses interest, the stories disappear in favor of something more popular — or at least something with the potential to be more popular.