Man bites dog: Difference between revisions
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In the *[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)|1987–1996 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode]] ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series, season 3)|The Ninja Sword of Nowere]]'', Burne Thompson tells Vernon Fenwick that dog bites man is nothing, but man bites dog is news, and tells him to go out biting a dog. Vernon Fenwick takes this literally, and later enters the Channel 6 studio with a dog, telling Irma to in turn tell [[April O'Neil]] to arrive with the camera.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cowabloga.wordpress.com/2017/07/13/cowabloga-part-26-the-ninja-sword-of-nowhere/|title=The Ninja Sword of Nowhere|publisher=Cowabloga|language=English|author=Cowabloga|date=13 July 2017|accessdate=18 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-1987&episode=s03e13|title=The Ninja Sword of Nowhere|publisher=Springfield, Springfield|language=English|date=1989|accessdate=18 January 2020}}</ref> |
In the *[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)|1987–1996 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode]] ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series, season 3)|The Ninja Sword of Nowere]]'', Burne Thompson tells Vernon Fenwick that dog bites man is nothing, but man bites dog is news, and tells him to go out biting a dog. Vernon Fenwick takes this literally, and later enters the Channel 6 studio with a dog, telling Irma to in turn tell [[April O'Neil]] to arrive with the camera.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cowabloga.wordpress.com/2017/07/13/cowabloga-part-26-the-ninja-sword-of-nowhere/|title=The Ninja Sword of Nowhere|publisher=Cowabloga|language=English|author=Cowabloga|date=13 July 2017|accessdate=18 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-1987&episode=s03e13|title=The Ninja Sword of Nowhere|publisher=Springfield, Springfield|language=English|date=1989|accessdate=18 January 2020}}</ref> |
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==Dog shoots man== |
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There have also been a number of "dog shoots man" news stories.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7068549.stm "Dog Shoots Iowa Man During Hunt"], BBC News, October 30, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2014.</ref><ref>Hough, Andrew (December 1, 2011). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/8927325/Dog-shoots-man-in-buttocks-US-police-reveal.html "Dog Shoots Man in Buttocks, U.S. Police Reveal"], ''The Telegraph''. Retrieved December 19, 2104.</ref><ref>Newcomb, Alissa (December 12, 2011). [http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/sit-stay-aim-fire-dog-shoots-another-hunter/ "Sit, Stay, Aim, Fire. Dog Shoots Another Hunter"], ABC News. Retrieved December 19, 2014.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-19630411 "No Hard Feelings After Dog Shoots Huntsman in France"], BBC News, September 17, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2014.</ref><ref>Meisel, Jay (February 25, 2013). [http://highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/dog-shoots-man-accidentally-police-say-643226 "Dog Shoots Man Accidentally, Police Say"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218174517/http://highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/dog-shoots-man-accidentally-police-say-643226 |date=2014-12-18 }}, ''Highlands Today''. Retrieved December 19, 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/12/19/dog-shoots-man-pet-owner-recovering-after-freak-gun-accident/ "Dog Shoots Man: Pet Owner Recovering After Freak Gun Accident"], Fox News, December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.</ref><ref>Buckley, Madeline (October 27, 2015). [http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/10/26/dog-named-trigger-shoots-indiana-owner-foot/74626450/ "Dog Named Trigger Shoots Indiana Hunter in Foot"], ''Indianapolis Star''. Retrieved November 5, 2015.</ref> |
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As an example of a related phrase, a story titled "Deer Shoots Hunter" appeared in a 1947 issue of the [[Pittsburgh Press]], mentioning a hunter that was shot by his own gun due to a reflex kick by the deer he had killed.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19471018&id=jS8bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gk0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4459,1002920 "Deer Shoots Hunter"], ''Pittsburgh Press'', October 18, 1947, via Google News. Retrieved November 5, 2015.</ref> And in 2005, in Michigan, there was a case of "cat shoots man".<ref>{{cite news |author=Associated Press |date=March 10, 2005 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/03/10/cat-shoots-owner-with-mm-handgun.html |title=Cat Shoots Owner With 9mm Handgun |work=Fox News |access-date=January 26, 2018}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 00:27, 14 February 2020
The phrase man bites dog is a shortened version of an aphorism in journalism that describes how an unusual, infrequent event (such as a man biting a dog) is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar consequences, such as a dog biting a man. An event is usually considered more newsworthy if there is something unusual about it; a commonplace event is less likely to be seen as newsworthy, even if the consequences of both events have objectively similar outcomes. The result is that rarer events more often appear as news stories, while more common events appear less often, thus distorting the perceptions of news consumers of what constitutes normal rates of occurrence.
The phenomenon is also described in the journalistic saying, "You never read about a plane that did not crash".[1]
The phrase was coined by Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865–1922), a British newspaper magnate, but is also attributed to New York Sun editor John B. Bogart (1848–1921): "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."[2][3] The quote is also attributed to Charles Anderson Dana (1819–1897).[4][5]
Some consider it a principle of yellow journalism.[6]
Examples in literature
In Terry Pratchett's novel The Truth, protagonist and newspaper editor William DeWorde uncovers a plot against the ruler of the city by interviewing the sole witness, a dog, via an interpreter. DeWorde's resulting story is headlined "Dog Bites Man", and he notes with some amusement that he was able to make the phrase news-worthy.[7]
In the *1987–1996 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode The Ninja Sword of Nowere, Burne Thompson tells Vernon Fenwick that dog bites man is nothing, but man bites dog is news, and tells him to go out biting a dog. Vernon Fenwick takes this literally, and later enters the Channel 6 studio with a dog, telling Irma to in turn tell April O'Neil to arrive with the camera.[8][9]
References
- ^ "There's news in planes that don't crash". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 14, 2006.
- ^ Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 16th edition, ed. Justin Kaplan (Boston, London, and Toronto: Little, Brown, 1992), p. 554.
- ^ Frank Luther Mott (1941) American Journalism. A History of Newspapers in the United States through 250 Years, 1690 to 1940
- ^ Recollections of the Civil War By Charles Anderson Dana, Charles E. Rankin pp. xvi, xix
- ^ (in Russian) Dushenko, K. Great Dictionary of quotes and flying phrases (Большой словарь цитат и крылатых выражений). "Litres". 2017
- ^ (in Russian) Serov, V. Encyclopedic dictionary of flying words and phrases (Энциклопедический словарь крылатых слов и выражений). Bibliotekar.ru.
- ^ Andrew Rayment, "Fantasy, Politics, Postmodernity: Pratchett, Pullman, Miéville and Stories", p 42., Rodopi, Jun 15, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ Cowabloga (13 July 2017). "The Ninja Sword of Nowhere". Cowabloga. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
- ^ "The Ninja Sword of Nowhere". Springfield, Springfield. 1989. Retrieved 18 January 2020.