Into the third week of hosting his fresh prime-time program ‘All In’ on MSNBC, Chris Hayes had to face a devastating incident – the Boston marathon bombing. The incident not only rocked the city of Boston but also took over the headlines nationwide for about an entire month. The disturbing scenario and the associated manhunt turned into a ‘TV spectacle’ of sorts. Interestingly, he juxtaposes it with another event where a man waving an ISIS flag launched a truck attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people, but this news was swiftly overshadowed.
In a surprising twist, Hayes points out the discrepancy in how these violent news items gain traction. Contrasting the enduring coverage of the Boston bombing with the quickly vanishing report of the New Orleans attack, he believes it’s due to societal habituation to acts of mass violence. He notes how the collective social consciousness has recalibrated and now requires increasingly shocking events to hold our attention.
Furthermore, Hayes perceives a pervading sense that stories aren’t sticking around as long as they used to. He connects this phenomenon to Donald Trump’s presidency and how Trump’s actions both influenced and capitalized on the lightning-fast pace of current news cycles. Trump’s approach to news management turned him into a fixture on screens across the country.
Over breakfast, Hayes mentions two influential figures, President 47 and Elon Musk, who form the central narrative of his most recent book on ‘attention’. He suggests that these individuals have an inherent understanding, almost cellular, of the critical role attention plays in our society. They have grasped what he considers the most prominent truth of our age – attention is the golden currency of our times, and it should be hunted down by all means.
This theme of acquiring and maintaining attention is the main focus in his forthcoming book. Hayes takes a journey into our distracted present times but starts the narrative with an ancient reference to the ‘Odyssey’. He revives the vivid scene where Odysseus is lashed to his ship’s mast to prevent the entrancing song of the Sirens from leading him to his doom.
He draws a parallel between the captivating power of the mythological Sirens and the irresistible pull of digital sirens in today’s world. He argues that both have the ability to seize our attention against our wishes. The experience of our consciousness being captured by these compelling forces has, Hayes writes, become a constant state in our lives.
Throughout his book, Hayes explores philosophical and modern viewpoints on attention, covering philosophers including Plato, Pascal, and Marx, as well as contemporary media theorists like Neil Postman. He discusses visions of early internet pioneers, presenting a broad perspective on how our age of abundant information evolved into the ‘Attention Age’.
His insightful narrative hones in on how attention has become a sought-after commodity in the digital market of today. Our era, dominated by behemoths like Amazon and Apple, witnesses attention being commercialized, brokered, purchased, and even traded in complex, high-speed algorithmic exchanges.
Hayes doesn’t shy away from personal anecdotes either, delving into his own struggle to regulate screen time for himself and his children. He also reflects on various facets of his professional pursuit, acknowledging that his career hinges largely on his capacity to capture and maintain the attention of viewers.
Finally, authoring this book led him to ponder over potential changes to his on-air presentation style. Hayes expresses his inclination towards more radical experimentation. He believes there exists a palpable demand for this kind of innovation in broadcasting, indicating possible future transformations in his television segments.