Either Way, The Media Reaps the Profits

With the passage and signing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, two things were predictable. One, a firestorm would develop, and Two, very few people would be able to explain what the law purports to do or what the law states. 

There is a reason for this. Media is counting on the firestorm in order to gain listeners, viewers, readers, and reap profits from advertising dollars generated by the increased audience. 

Media does this by putting their primary emphasis on the reaction to the law, and very little emphasis on the mechanics of the law, its contents, and/or intent. 

In other words, media see's their audience as a giant mass of ignorant individuals that they can easily manipulate into a revenue stream by targeting their news stories to provoke and inflame. Media has no interest in using their platform and power for education, nor for a forum to bring diverse opinion forward and seek solutions. If this were the case, this legislation, like this, might not be necessary. 

In this example, is not clear if WANE TV was trying to exacerbate and confuse audience emotions and feed the firestorm intentionally, but this story rather speaks for itself.  

As users, sometimes reluctantly, of the media, we must remember that they have a large stake in labeling people/groups, sensationalizing the information about them, and pitting them against each other. It generates revenue, increases profits, and adds to the corporate bottom line. And all of this is done on the emotions for the audience the pretend to serve.