Feeding the Beast

From the video, my understanding of "the beast" was directed toward the public. The video talked about "feeding the beast" and creating new and exciting stories to "feed the beast." For the public appetite to be fed means to come up with the most important, most exciting, and most creative journalism so the public is satisfied. News stations each day have to come up with the best material so the public will choose to read/watch their news papers/stations. I think different material or stories in the news may compromise in trying to "feed the beast." I think this is the case because in the end, no matter what stories may be on the front page of a newspaper or a breaking story, the public (the beast) are making individual choices as to what news they're adhering to. The public choice may effect the news papers/stations because of their lack of interest in their news, or on the other end of the spectrum, the public interest in one's paper/station may have a positive effect. Another aspect that may effect the 24-hour news cycle would be behind the scenes at news papers/stations and the roadblocks they might come to in reporting their news. For example, if a news station can not get a hold of a potential news source, then that effects their story and perhaps they won't be able to publish that story, and therefore wont be able to "feed the beast."