(Found) Psychic Two Minutes Hate

[TomMazanec]

c1970s short story.
Public executions by having tens of millions of people channel their hatred of the condemned (coordinated by television) to psychokinetically kill him.

 

[J-Sun]

Steve Allen wrote a story called "The Public Hating" which fits this except that it's not exactly "coordinated by television" (though television figures in it) and it was written in 1955. There may have been a more recent update (more likely several of them) but I can't think of another specific title.

 

[Danny McG]

I think you've got it @J-Sun - good catch!
(It seems to fit very well with the question)

The Public Hating

Originally published in 1955 in by Steve Allen as part of The Public Hating: A Collection of Short Stories. Reprinted here as a commentary on the tone and rhetoric of our national conversation, God have mercy on us all.

paperbackdesign.com

 

[Ravensquawk]

Yep. I'd have answered it too.
I will never, ever, ever, never, not ever forget that story.

Sometimes I wish I could.
It's one of my "favorite" stories.

To the extent that you can have a favorite story that's so horrifying and depressing.
Meaning: People need to read it.
SHOULD be REQUIRED to read it in school!

It is one of the stories that fits in Asimov's category of "If this goes on...."

By the Steve Allen. Yes. That Steve Allen.

But damm, it would be hard to read again.

Imagine all the petty gossips and haters and bigots you know having that power.

Yikes. I guess it's too much like real life to be entertaining or easy to read.

 

[TomMazanec]

That’s it.
Gee, it’s older than I thought.
Found

 

[Rodders]

Sounds like the sort of story that Black Mirror could tell.