Essay on How Sensationalism Affects Eve - 1135 Words

How Sensationalism Affects Everyone Involved In today ¡Ã‚ ¦s society journalism is under close scrutiny and is losing its credibility. Sensationalism effects both those who receive it in addition to those who report it. This essay will review the history of sensationalism in the media, clearly demonstrate how sensationalism effects ours views on journalism, and confront the ethical dilemmas that journalists must face between reporting objectively and reporting what sells. This will be accomplished by investigating various sources, including articles published on the Internet as well as those published in newspapers and magazines. Throughout history sensationalism has been represented in all shapes and sizes. Celebrity journalism is amongst†¦show more content†¦In addition CNN ran a story on Vietnam that was proven inaccurate. The radio waves and television sets are flooded with sensationalized shows featuring beautiful young women and handsome men. The news watched today is sensationalized with one catastrophe after another. Is excitement what the market wants, or is the excitement expected because of a precedent set by the corporate owned media? Even in the reporting of sports, sensationalism rules. Channels like ESPN, owned by Disney , report homeruns, slam-dunks, and touchdowns with a dramatic twist. What effect does sensationalism have on the media ¡Ã‚ ¦s market? A survey done by the American Society of Newspaper Editors reports that  ¡Ã‚ §spelling errors, bias, and sensationalism are corroding the credibility of newspapers. ¡Ã‚ ¨ The survey shows: „h 23% say they find factual errors in the news stories at least once a week. „h 50% believe there are particular groups or people that get a  ¡Ã‚ §special break ¡Ã‚ ¨ in news coverage, while 45% feel that others  ¡Ã‚ §don ¡Ã‚ ¦t get a fair shake. ¡Ã‚ ¨ „h 78% agree with the assessment that there is bias in the news media. „h 80% believe that sensational stories get lots of news coverage because they are exciting, not because they are important. Furthermore, George Gerbner has studied the effects of television violence (sensationalism) for more than thirty years. Through his studies, George Gerbner has found that violence seen on television does not promote violent behavior. It does much worse;