Media Sensationalism in Todays News Coverage

Media Sensationalism in Todays News CoverageMedia Sensationalism in Todays News CoverageMedia outlets are often blamed for sensationalism in todays nachrichtensendung coverage. Reporters are criticized for exaggerating the facts in the name of getting higher Nielsen ratings or more newspaper subscriptions. Are the Criticisms Valid? Violence breaks out in the county jail, leaving some inmates injured. The sheriff holds a news conference, saying that his deputies are investigating an incident at the jail. As a reporter, you know theres a better way to describe the scene. The sheriff insists on only calling it an incident in order to downplay the violence so that it looks minor. You have a choice of sticking with his word or calling it something else- a scuffle, an uprising, even a riot. Theres no rule on which word to use. Unfortunately, no matter what choice you make, its likely the sheriff will accuse you of sensationalism. While hes trying to use language to protect himself, you need to accurately describe the situation. One solution is to say, While the sheriff calls this an incident, the families of the inmates hurt say it was an all-out brawl. You let others label the fighting. A common misconception is that large font or bright colors make the story sensational. Its the content that matters more than the presentation. Fair Reporting Every news reporter wants to see her story on the front page or at the top of the 6 oclock news. That may lead to the temptation to make a story sound bigger than it is. Let achecklist of fair reporting be your guide. Theres nothing wrong with using words like chaos or shocking if you can back it up with facts. Avoid using behauptung words every day, or else your audience will grow bored. Assignments Leading to Criticism Sometimes its the news story assignment itself that leads to charges of sensationalism. At no time was that truer than during the Monica Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton. It became one of the 12 events that changed news coverage because every news outlet was forced to decide how to cover taboo sexual topics. Sure, it sounded like sensationalism on the surface. Except that the Clinton presidency was at stake. Reporters had to merge the titillating details with the mundane mechanics of federal government because President Clinton faced impeachment. Valid Criticisms There are cases where the critics are right, that a news report is sensationalized. That usually happens when promises of coverage arent kept. The culprit is usually media advertising, which is typically produced by someone other than a news reporter, likely someone not even in the news department. That person will create a topical ad saying something like, landsee the worst fire in the citys history Viewers that tune into the 6 oclock news see the fire and think its not all that bad. Once that happens, viewers become skeptical toward your advertising claims. Make sure that the person creating dai ly advertising for your news product has accurate information. While its his job to sell the product, remind him not to oversell. For him, it would be no different than if he created an ad for a restaurant promising that it has the worlds best chili when it doesnt. Reporters and newsroom managers need to develop a gut instinct on setting limits in promoting coverage. If you have a legitimate, exclusive news story that no one else has, theres no harm in advertising that fact. But words like exclusive can become so overused on mundane, daily news stories that they lose their value. As you can see, sensationalism is difficult to pin down. Thats why its easy for so many people to label the news media as being driven by sensationalism because it means different things. For any journalist, if you deliver factual, accurate stories every time, you can defend your work against these claims.