Twenty-first century TV viewers expect news coverage to be dramatic and powerful, irrespective of the day’s actual events. News producers are generally more than happy to oblige.
After all it doesn’t take much to transform a story. Some bombastic music here, a few ominous lines there and even the most banal piece has the potential to enthrall.
Exaggeration is the name of the game. So it should come as no surprise that news coverage of Egypt’s pig slaughter was positively apocalyptic.