Sensationalism: Who’s to Blame?

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A sprinkle of sensationalism and a dusting of fact, a formula some journalists like to use when their story just doesn’t hold enough wow factor, creating what we call yellow journalism.

Of course this is no new phenomena, yellow journalism and sensationalism has been a part of the journalism world since the printing presses. However it’s continuing and heightened use in todays news is cause for concern.

While the aim of a journalist is to seek out and report the truth to the public, John Daly tell us that “the more exotic journalists can make the story, the better it is for readership and ratings,” with the example of the hundreds of conspiracy theories in the media surrounding the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

The competition between media sources, for example newspapers, is a defining factor in sensationalism. Along with the decline in print media the competition to sell the most and to raise profits is as high as ever. Lulu Brenda Harris tell us that to raise these profits newspapers often create sensationalised headlines that can stray from the stores contents in order to entice the reader. “Very few people can afford to buy more than one newspaper, thats why newspapers create these screaming headlines to entice a reader to but their copy foregoing the rest,” said Innocent Kurwa, a former editor of The Daily News.

This sensationalism and blurring of the truth may be a problem but where does the problem lie? What do we find more interesting, a man saved from drowning, a cancer patient surviving or the workings of a serial killer? While the thought that our news outlets using sensationalism and hype outrages us, we as consumers should consider what we find interesting enough to consume and to pay for.

“Sensation sells, and more people are more interested in the latest crime than they are in the development of a new form of energy,” says George Taber, past business editor at Time magazine.