Media Literacy Skills
The sensational nature of today’s news reporting is frequently attributed to news organizations. Reporters often face criticism for inflating the truth to boost their Nielsen ratings or increase newspaper subscribers. Online journalists have been charged with creating “clickbait” titles to increase advertising sales. Media outlets are occasionally held accountable for disseminating sensationalized information considered incorrect and deceptive. People strongly connected to an occasion whose news enters the public space mainly experience emotions when hearing this news. The US government has put strict regulations in place to prohibit media organizations from disseminating false material that prevents instilling fear in public audiences. In rare instances, news organizations have faced legal action for communicating sensationalized reports about incidents perceived to have never occurred. In certain situations, the media is held liable for giving erroneous public data that makes them assume a particular incidence is accurate and may pose a potential risk to their lives with a gravies fatality rate than anticipated by the related experts.
One of the UK-based media outlets that spread fear among the audience with the ongoing Covid-19 virus was the Telegraph Newspaper with its dreadful title, “Killer Virus,” which sent a chill down the reader’s spine. One of the messages portrayed in the newspaper states, “Mask-wearing patients fainting in the street. Hundreds of fearful citizens lining cheek by jowl, at risk of infecting each other, in narrow hospital corridors as they wait to be treated by doctors in forbidding white hazmat suits.” (Telegraph, 2020), Such a message not only presents fear but also questions the safety of people who may want to attend the hospital.
Likewise, many stories used local perspectives by describing the anxieties felt in the outbreak-affected communities. This prompted special attention to Brighton within the UK, where many instances have been documented. A case of sensational news published by the “Time” media company states, “Conversations about miniature bottles of antibacterial hand sanitiser are normally far from a mainstay of lunchtime pub chitchat. However, such is the anxiety over the coronavirus that locals in The Grenadier in Hove readily admitted to changing their hand-washing routines yesterday.” (Ducharme, 2020).
A simple investigation reveals that fear has been crucial in the mainstream press’s coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic. One may trace reportage in significant English-language publications worldwide that stoked public concern ever since stories regarding the new mystery ailment first surfaced in 2020. This means that with the emergency of the virus, everyone in the media industry was racing to capture the world’s attention. The emergency of the virus provided the media with identical news to be reported. In order to capture the attention of the multitude had to spice it up a little bit and, in turn, established fear among the people. The finding shows that news involved approximately one hundred internationally renowned newspapers with large circulations, which released thousands of articles concerning the outbreak. Among these, 1,066 publications use “fear” or a synonym like “afraid.”
When sensational news is geared to establish fear among the general population, it can be considered a lousy approach to presenting news. Such news creates anxiety and anticipation feelings that may inflict potential psychological and physical health conditions on members of the public. The decisions made by the public may be affected by the false message presented by the media. For instance, some public members were reported to evade hospital premises for fear of being infected by the surrounding. The so-called killer virus shook the confidence and deprived people the hope for seeing the future.
Media Use and Effect
By encouraging the dissemination of knowledge to audiences with lower literacy levels and bolstering the fabric of society, sensationalism serves a purpose. Sensational news sources occasionally succeed in performing several crucial sociological and cultural tasks, such as establishing or challenging norms and limits. The negativity bias, an established psychological anomaly whereby we pay more significant consideration to the awful events occurring in our surroundings, is one possible explanation for why the news substantially impacts us (Hase et al., 2020). For instance, believing that future outcomes will always be worse is incorrect. It might also be harmful. Individuals will only make investments if they believe they will likely have employment or savings in five years, which could be better for the country’s finances. If the public’s negativity is taken too far, it could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and there seems to be an indication that the media may be somewhat to blame.
The news unintentionally distorts our sense of actuality, though not always in a positive way, which is another influence of the media. It may affect how we perceive risk. Consider international tourism as an example. As one might anticipate, most individuals do not like to travel to areas likely of political unrest, armed conflict, or a significant risk of terrorist activity. In other circumstances, the news serves as an initial source of reminder on these issues, relaying government directives to alert the public to the hazards by framing them in the context of the media’s dramatic strategies. We can suffer substantial psychological harm as a result of media coverage. Since most media coverage does not impact us, its psychological effects are somewhat mysterious. When that happens, the publicity may be more detrimental to our psychological well-being than the actual situation.
Media use can also have a good influence on people and society. One of the promising effects of media use is that it can increase public awareness of the current news events surrounding us with essential subjects tied to our lives. Presenting and reporting the most pressing issues can call for attention from the relevant stakeholders to help solve a particular issue that may threaten the general population (Ng & Zhao, 2018). For instance, when a more demanding issue in society has yet to be noticed by relevant sectors to address it, the media can create sensational news coverage that will draw those agencies’ attention to action. The best example is when New York Times highlighted the potential threats with Moderna boosters, which caught the attention of the FDA to perform additional internal reviews for the company.
In a nutshell, media use has both positive and negative impacts on individuals and society at large. When sensational news coverage can draw attention to the public’s safety, the impact can be worthwhile. However, when the media’s primary goal for releasing sensational media coverage is to establish addicting behavior in their audience without the care of potential impact, the general public will be plunged into the deception of misinformation, mental health difficulties, and anxiety. Some people may make bad decisions based on the news they consume.
References
Duncharme, J. (2020). How News Coverage of Coronavirus in 2020 Compares to Ebola in 2018. Retrieved from Time website: https://time.com/5779872/coronavirus-ebola-news-coverage/
Hase, V., Engelke, K. M., & Kieslich, K. (2020). The Things We Fear. Combining Automated and Manual Content Analysis to Uncover Themes, Topics, and Threats in Fear-Related News. Journalism Studies, 21(10), 1384–1402. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2020.1753092
Ng, Y.-L., & Zhao, X. (2018). The Human Alarm System for Sensational News, Online News Headlines, and Associated Generic Digital Footprints: A Uses and Gratifications Approach. Communication Research, 009365021879373. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650218793739
Telegraph.co.uk. (2020, January 26). Coronavirus: Fears rise of Chinese cover-up as 56 million in lockdown and hospitals overwhelmed. Retrieved from The Telegraph website: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/24/coronavirus-fears-rise-chinese-cover-up-40-million-lockdown/
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