Sensationalism

Try looking at the front page of a newspaper or magazine. It greets us with the major headline “It’s Official: THEY HAVE SEPARATED” talking about a celebrity couple breaking up, and followed by another piece of news that reads “PM announces 3% GDP growth in third quarter of 2008”. Which of these two headlines would you read first?

Human beings have long since been attracted to sensational stories, which lead the media into finding more and more of these sorts of “chicken soup for the soul” realizing that it sells like hot cakes. There could also be a psychological and biological reason behind these, as proven by a 2003 research, which shows that stories about death, injury, robberies and murder have always dominated the headlines of the media even since the printing press first debuted in the 18^th century.

The tale of sensationalism is very well encapsulated in an article entitled “Sensational and full of thugs – what Germans think of UK press” that was published on 28 January 2007.

The report reveals a study by leading German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, which slams their British counterpart for writing emotionally with dramatic language accompanied by many first-son accounts of the situation. ). It goes on to say that, on many instances, relatives of the victims of a particular tragedy, take the place of professionals or intellectuals in the field by supposedly making sense and explaining in-depth about what happened.

In America, which most probably echo the thoughts of the rest of the open-minded world, people have started voicing out their concerns about such news reports and want the media to be revamped as sensationalism have gone on far too long, with parents especially worried at the possibility that the extensive coverage of court cases such as those involving O.J. Simpson and Bill Clinton be done discreetly, especially in the interest of the young.

Reference

Why Does Sensationalism Sell?. Available: http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/080918-llm-sensationalism.html. Last accessed 12 November 2008.

(2007). Sensational and full of 'thugs' - what Germans think of UK press. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/28/pressandpublishing.business2. Last accessed 12 November 2008.

(2008). Freedom from Sensationalism. Available: http://tvsurveys.com/billofrites/sensationalism.htm. Last accessed 12 November 2008.