>"I got so upset that I wanted to bust the TV set"
I always found that reaction to be bizarre too. I wonder if some people see journalists and know that if they play up a character then their chances of being on the news goes way up. I think that explains a lot of the 'man on the street' perspectives we see in TV news. It becomes a game of one-upmanship to entertain the watcher and "get famous."
I'm no psychologist, but I can well imagine that someone could feel considerable cognitive dissonance if an institution that they had considerable trust in was unexpectedly and obviously subverted like this.
I always found that reaction to be bizarre too. I wonder if some people see journalists and know that if they play up a character then their chances of being on the news goes way up. I think that explains a lot of the 'man on the street' perspectives we see in TV news. It becomes a game of one-upmanship to entertain the watcher and "get famous."