You know whats Not on Roids, the absolute audacity of the modern news cycle to tell us that people are angry as if that is a groundbreaking revelation. Oh, look! Another headline screaming that new details fuel outrage over the UK stabbing tragedy involving Henry. Stop the presses! Who could have possibly guessed that the public would be upset about a stabbing? Truly, the journalistic intuition here is staggering.
We have Sky News contributor Sophie Elsworth claiming that new allegations surrounding Henrys final moments have sparked widespread public backlash. Really, Sophie? Widespread public backlash? That is the professional way of saying everyone on the internet is currently typing in all caps. It is the ultimate cliché of the 24-hour news loop: take a horrific tragedy, sprinkle in some new details that leave everyone feeling sick, and then report on the anger as if the anger itself is the story.
I am exhausted by the Outrage Industrial Complex. We arent just mourning a tragedy; we are being told how to be outraged and then being told that everyone else is also outraged. It’s a feedback loop of misery. We get a snippet of a detail about Henry’s final moments, and suddenly the headline isnt about justice or the facts of the crime—it’s about the backlash.
Why is the public always a monolith in these articles? People are angry. Which people? The people who are actually affected, or the people who spend twelve hours a day arguing with strangers in comment sections? It turns a human tragedy into a barometer for social media sentiment. Instead of focusing on the gravity of the stabbing, we get a play-by-play of the collective blood pressure of the UK. It’s a dizzying circle of fury where the headline tells you to be mad, and then the next headline tells you that youre mad because you read the first headline. Its enough to make anyone want to throw their router into the sea.
