Before the Fall

The media’s relentless pursuit of Scott Burroughs—camping outside his house, following him to Layla Mueller’s and later, to Eleanor’s homes—reflects the real-world demands of what has come to be known as the 24-hour (or 24/7) news cycle. The rise of cable news networks in the 1980s and ’90s, followed by the expansion of online news sources placed a premium on fast reporting and content generation, often at the apparent expense of truth and objectivity. Critics of The 24-hour news cycle point out that the constant barrage of “news” encourages the dissemination of salacious details that may or may not be accurate, frequently without context or analysis. Moreover, when no new information is available, the 24-hour news cycle dictates that the same content is covered repetitively in ways that risk trivializing real issues and the lives of real people who, like the fictional Scott Burroughs, become caught up in a story.

Although the first 24-hour cable news channel was CNN, founded in 1980 by Ted Turner, Fox News—launched by billionaire Rupert Murdoch in 1996—arguably emblematizes the polarizing power of cable news. In Before the Fall, Hawley satirizes the channel in the fictional ALC network, established by