View source for Sensationalism

{{short description|Type of editorial tactic used in mass media}}
[[File:Causes-of-death-in-USA-vs.-media-coverage.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Causes of death in the US vs media coverage. The percentage of media attention for terrorism, homicide or suicide is much greater than the percentage of deaths caused by it. There is a null in numerical data concerning deaths per day on various bars in media charts.{{Synthesis inline|date=March 2024|reason=Needs sourcing discussing this chart specifically as evidence of sensationalism}} ]]
{{journalism sidebar}}In [[journalism]] and [[mass media]], '''sensationalism''' is a type of [[editorial]] tactic. Events and topics in [[news]] stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages [[Media bias|biased]] or emotionally loaded impressions of events rather than [[Journalistic objectivity|neutrality]], and may cause a [[Media manipulation|manipulation]] to the truth of a story.<ref name="fair">{{cite web |url=http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=7&issue_area_id=49 |title=Issue Area: Sensationalism |website=[[Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting]] |access-date=21 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205021104/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=7&issue_area_id=49 |archive-date=5 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} Sensationalism may rely on reports about generally insignificant matters and portray them as a major influence on society, or biased presentations of [[News#Newsworthiness|newsworthy]] topics, in a trivial, or [[Tabloid journalism|tabloid]] manner, contrary to general assumptions of professional [[Journalism ethics and standards|journalistic standards]].<ref name="stephens">{{cite book |last=Stephens |first=Mitchell |author-link=Mitchell Stephens (academic) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsUaAQAAIAAJ |title=A History of News |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-518991-9 |edition=3 |location=New York |pages=55–57}}</ref><ref name="thompson" />

Some tactics include being deliberately obtuse,<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sensationalism "Sensationalism."] [[Webster's Dictionary]]. Accessed June 2011.</ref> [[appeal to emotion|appealing to emotions]],<ref name="freedictionary">[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sensationalism "Sensationalism."] [[The Free Dictionary]]. Accessed June 2011.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} being [[controversy|controversial]], intentionally [[omission bias|omitting facts]],<ref name="narrowrange">[http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=7&issue_area_id=56 "Issue Area: Narrow Range of Debate."] [[Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting|Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting]]. Accessed June 2011.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} being loud and [[egocentrism|self-centered]], and acting to obtain attention.<ref name="freedictionary"/>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} Trivial information and events are sometimes misrepresented and exaggerated as important or significant, and often include stories about the actions of individuals and small groups of people,<ref name="fair"/>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} the [[content (media)|content]] of which is often insignificant and irrelevant to the macro-level day-to-day events occurring globally.

== History ==
{{See also|Jazz journalism|Yellow journalism|Pulp magazine}}
In ''A History of News'', [[Mitchell Stephens (academic)|Mitchell Stephens]] notes sensationalism can be found in the [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] gazette ''[[Acta Diurna]]'', where official notices and announcements were presented daily on public message boards, the perceived content of which spread with enthusiasm in [[literacy|illiterate]] societies.<ref name="stephens"/> Sensationalism was used in books of the 16th and 17th century, to teach [[morality|moral]] [[lessons]]. According to Stephens, sensationalism brought the news to a new audience when it became aimed at the [[working class|lower class]], who had less of a need to accurately understand [[politics]] and the [[economy]], to occupy them in other matters. Through sensationalism, he claims, the audience was further educated and encouraged to take more interest in the news.<ref name="stephens"/> 

The more modern forms of sensationalism developed in the course of the nineteenth century in parallel with the expansion of print culture in industrialized nations. A genre of British literature, "sensation novels," became in the 1860s an example of how the publishing industry could capitalize on surprising narrative to market serialized fiction in periodicals.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The attention-grasping rhetorical techniques found in sensation fiction were also employed in articles on science, modern technology, finance, and in historical accounts of contemporary events.<ref>Alberto Gabriele, [https://archive.org/details/readingpopularcu0000gabr/mode/2up?view=theater Reading Popular Culture in Victorian Print: Belgravia and Sensationalism], New York and London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-230-61521-2}}</ref> Sensationalism in nineteenth century could be found in popular culture, literature, performance, art history, theory, pre-cinema, and early cinema.<ref>Alberto Gabriele, ed. Sensationalism and the Genealogy of Modernity: a Global Nineteenth Century Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 {{ISBN|978-1-137-60128-5}}</ref> 

In the Soviet Union, strong censorship resulted in only "positive occurrences" being reported on, with the news looking significantly different than in the West.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nordenstreng |first1=Kaarle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3D-CgAAQBAJ |title=A History of the International Movement of Journalists: Professionalism Versus Politics |last2=Björk |first2=Ulf Jonas |last3=Beyersdorf |first3=Frank |last4=Høyer |first4=Svennik |last5=Lauk |first5=Epp |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2015 |isbn=9781137530554 |pages=28 |quote=no dramatic or sensationalism news: no accidents, no murder, adulteries or corruptions |access-date=April 19, 2024 |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{Additional source needed|date=April 2024|reason=the source does not appear to be focused on sensationalism - could use additional context and perspectives on the Soviet case as seen through the lens of a work focused on studying sensationalism itself}} 

In the United States, modern sensationalism in the news increased after the repeal of the [[Fairness doctrine|Fairness Doctrine]] in 1987 by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] which required broadcasters when showing one partisan view to show another<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Brian S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4lfEAAAQBAJ |title=The Art of Editing: In the Age of Convergence |last2=Pinson |first2=James L. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2022 |edition=12th |chapter=Journalisms Credibility Problems |isbn=978-1-000-52998-2 |type=Ebook |quote=Today, we're living through a second Party Press Era combined with a second Yellow Journalism Era-blatant partisanship combined with sensationalism. This is probably most evident in the coverage of cable television's 24-hour news channels. It started with the 1987 repeal by President Ronald Reagan's Federal Communications Commission of the 1949 so-called "Fairness Doctrine" which had required broadcasters to counter any partisan view with the opposite side |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{pn|date=March 2024}} and in order to be a broadcaster one needed a license.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ruane |first=Kathleen Ann |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R40009.pdf |title=Fairness Doctrine: History and Constitutional Issues |date=July 13, 2011 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 19, 2024}}</ref> In Western Europe sensationalism in the news also increased after the liberalization of television networks in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Arbaoui |first1=Bouchra |last2=Swert |first2=Knut De |last3=Brug |first3=Wouter van der |date=2020 |title=Sensationalism in news coverage: A comparative study in 14 television systems |url=https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/59740632/0093650216663364.pdf |journal=Communication Research |publisher=University of Amsterdam |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=299–300 |doi=10.1177/0093650216663364 |hdl=11245.1/1660da89-6b97-44fe-a18a-baef4e7f1a35 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |quote=The liberalization of West European television systems in the late 1980s and early 1990s is often linked to an increase of infotainment and sensationalism in television news coverage |via=UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository)}}</ref> 

== Underlying causes ==
{{See also|Tabloid journalism||}}

=== The role of profit ===
{{See also|Succès de scandale|}}[[File:Remember the Maine! And Don't Forget the Starving Cubans! - Victor Gillam (cropped).jpg|thumb|American cartoon published in 1898, ''Remember the [[USS Maine (1889)|Maine]]! And Don't Forget the Starving Cubans!'' Such sensationalist cartoons were used to support American intervention in the [[Cuban War of Independence]].]]
In the late 1800s, falling costs in paper production and rising revenues in advertising in the U.S. led to a drastic rise in newspaper's circulation,<ref>{{Citation|last=Kaplan|first=Richard L.|title=Yellow Journalism|date=2008-06-05|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecy001|encyclopedia=The International Encyclopedia of Communication|place=Chichester, UK|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|doi=10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecy001|isbn=978-1-4051-8640-7|access-date=2021-03-31|url-access=subscription}}</ref> which attracted the growing audiences that advertisers desired. One presumed goal of sensational reporting is to increase or sustain [[Nielsen ratings|viewership]] or readership, from which media outlets can price their [[advertising]] higher to increase their [[Profit (accounting)|profits]] based on higher numbers of viewers and/or readers.<ref name="whatswrong">[http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=101 "What's Wrong With The News?"] [[Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting|Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting]]. Accessed June 2011.</ref><ref name="advertiserinfluence">[http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=7&issue_area_id=60 "Issue Area: Advertiser Influence."] [[Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting|Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting]]. Accessed June 2011.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} Sometimes this can lead to a lesser focus on [[objective journalism]] in favor of a [[profit motive]],<ref name=watersen /> in which editorial choices are based upon sensational stories and presentations to increase advertising [[revenue]].<ref name="watersen">{{Cite journal |last=McChesney |first=Fred S. |date=1987 |title=Sensationalism, Newspaper Profits and the Marginal Value of Watergate |url=https://econpapers.repec.org/article/oupecinqu/v_3a25_3ay_3a1987_3ai_3a1_3ap_3a135-44.htm |journal=[[Economic Inquiry]] |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=135–44|doi=10.1111/j.1465-7295.1987.tb00728.x |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Additionally, advertisers tend to have a preference for their products or services to be reported positively in mass media, which can contribute to bias in news reporting in favor of media outlets protecting their profits and revenues, rather than reporting [[Journalistic objectivity|objectively]] about stated products and services.<ref name="advertiserinfluence"/><ref name="censorship">[http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=7&issue_area_id=31 "Issue Area: Censorship."] [[Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting|Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting]]. Accessed June 2011.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} The more dependent news organizations are on advertising revenue a greater number of sensationalist news stories are produced is argued by Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Mariska Kleemans in ''Proving the Obvious? What Sensationalism Contributes to the Time Spent on News Video''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vettehen |first1=Paul Hendriks |last2=Kleemans |first2=Mariska |date=2017 |title=Proving the Obvious? What Sensationalism Contributes to the Time Spent on News Video |journal=Electronic News |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=114 |doi=10.1177/1931243117739947 |quote=In addition, the more news organizations are dependent on advertising revenues (commercial vs. public service stations), the more sensationalist news stories they produce |doi-access=free|hdl=2066/191971 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The [[Watergate scandal]] has been credited by some with creating distrust in government and opening the door for a new business tactic for the media that resulted in the spread of negative, dishonest and misleading news coverage of American politics;<ref name="watersen" /><ref name="waterzzv">{{Cite news |last=Finney |first=Daniel P. |date=16 June 2012 |title=Watergate scandal changed the political landscape forever |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-16/watergate-scandal-changed-political-landscape/55639974/1/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108103034/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-16/watergate-scandal-changed-political-landscape/55639974/1 |archive-date=8 November 2019 |work=USA Today}}</ref> such examples include the labeling of a large number of political scandals, regardless of their importance, with the [[List of scandals with "-gate" suffix|suffix "-gate"]].<ref name="waterzzv" /> 

Sensationalism has also been blamed for the [[infotainment]] style of many news programs on radio and television.<ref name="stephens" /> According to [[John Thompson (sociologist)|sociologist John Thompson]], the debate of sensationalism used in the mass medium of broadcasting is based on a misunderstanding of its audience, especially the television audience. Thompson explains that the term 'mass' (which is connected to broadcasting) suggests a 'vast audience of many thousands, even millions of passive individuals'.<ref name="thompson">{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=John |author1-link=John Thompson (sociologist) |editor1-first=Hugh |editor1-last=Mackay |editor2-first=Tim| editor2-last=O'Sullivan |title=The Media Reader: Continuity and Transformation |publisher=Sage Publications Ltd |date=June 22, 1999 |chapter=The Media and Modernity |isbn=978-0-7619-6250-2}}</ref> Television news is restricted to showing the scenes of crimes rather than the crime itself because of the [[Predictability|unpredictability]] of events, whereas newspaper writers can always recall what they did not witness.<ref name="stephens" />{{Verification needed|date=March 2024}}

On web-based platforms such as [[Facebook]], [[Google]] and [[YouTube]] their respective algorithms are used to maximize advertising revenue by attracting and keeping the attention of users. This business model results in sensationalist content often being prioritized as algorithms often predict that it will get the highest amount of engagement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Deborah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RiXWDwAAQBAJ |title=Counting: How We Use Numbers to Decide What Matters |publisher=Liveright |year=2020 |isbn=9781631495939 |access-date=April 10, 2024 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
=== Novelty and unusualness ===
{{See also|Man bites dog (journalism)}}
When trying to cater to younger audiences, news stories that are more sensational and unusual will often drown out stories that may be considered less exciting but more significant. In ''Mass Media and American Politics'', [[Doris Graber|Doris A. Graber]] and Johanna Dunaway give the example of how the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times|Chicago Sun Times]]'' will give 20 times more space to sports in comparison to the state government. Covering singular news stories that are considered dramatic can lead to other stories being obscured.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Graber |first1=Doris A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4BZDwAAQBAJ |title=Mass Media and American Politics |last2=Dunaway |first2=Johanna |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2017 |isbn=9781506340241 |quote=When the goal is to attract young viewers, sensational and novel occurrences often drown out news of more significant that lacks excitement. For instance, a fairly typical newspaper such as the Chicago Sun Times devotes nearly twenty times more space to sports than to news about the state's government. Dramatic events, such as airline hijackings or serial murders, preempt more far-reaching consequential happenings. Preoccupation with a single striking event, such as the 2009 impeachment of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, can shortchange coverage of other news |access-date=March 8, 2024 |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{pn|date=March 2024}}

=== Time constraints ===
{{See also|CNN effect}}
In a [[24-hour news cycle]], there will be instances where there is little news happening along with no developments in stories that are considered important and because of this they will need to fill the time by sharing a story that is less so about actual news and more intended to keep the audience's attention.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thiel |first=Kristin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CPOCDwAAQBAJ |title=Television News and the 24-Hour News Cycle |publisher=[[Cavendish Square]] |year=2018 |isbn=9781502634931 |pages=30 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

=== Competition ===
In news markets where there is more competition, the more likely a certain news outlet will be to produce sensationalist stories as a way to compete with other outlets, creating a [[snowball effect]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vettehen |first1=Paul Hendriks |last2=Kleemans |first2=Mariska |date=2017 |title=Proving the Obvious? What Sensationalism Contributes to the Time Spent on News Video |journal= Electronic News|volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=114 |doi=10.1177/1931243117739947 |doi-access=free|hdl=2066/191971 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

== Features  ==
{{See also|Viral phenomenon||}}

=== Language ===
{{See also|Loaded language|Spin (propaganda)|Dumbing down}}
One feature of sensationalistic news is the intensification of language used in the article.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burgers |first1=Christian |last2=de Graaf |first2=Anneke |date=2013-01-29 |title=Language intensity as a sensationalistic news feature: The influence of style on sensationalism perceptions and effects |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2013-0010/html |journal=[[Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research]] |volume=38 |issue=2 |doi=10.1515/commun-2013-0010 |issn=1613-4087|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The most common use of sensationalist language is in the headlines of news articles.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Vanacore |first=Ryan |date=November 12, 2021 |title=Sensationalism in Media |url=https://reporter.rit.edu/news/sensationalism-media |website=[[Reporter Magazine]]}}</ref>

"Slam Journalism" is a term describing the rise of intense, emotionally charged language in headlines, notably the use of the word ''slam'' to mean ''criticize.''<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Corbin |date=October 4, 2019 |title=Blog: The Rise of "Slam" Journalism |url=https://textio.com/blog/the-rise-of-slam-journalism/17517342693 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=[[Textio]]}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} The [[Data science|data scientist]] Cory Booker suggests that news agencies simply "[speak] the language that resonates with their audience best."<ref name=":2" />{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}}

Below are examples of such headlines, with the intense language highlighted in bold.<ref name=":2" />{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}}

* “Trump '''Slams''' Russia Investigation And Green New Deal At CPAC," [[NPR]] on March 2, 2019
* “Democrats '''Blast''' Biden For Recalling ‘Civil’ Relationship With Segregationists” NPR on June 19, 2019
* "Ocasio-Cortez '''slams''' Jerry Falwell Jr. in debate over CPAC comments" Fox News on March 5, 2019

=== The teaser ===
{{See also|Clickbait|Betteridge's law of headlines|}}

[[David M. Berube|David Berube]] considers the use of headlines to be the primary way sensationalism manifests in media, by creating teasers that use emotion to try and capture the attention of an audience even if the headline exaggerates or is otherwise misleading.<ref name=":3" /> In YouTube videos, the thumbnail image of a video can similarly mislead audiences.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banning |first=Stephen A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ub_9DwAAQBAJ |title=Journalism Standards of Work Today: Using History to Create a New Code of Journalism Ethics |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publisher |year=2020 |isbn=9781527559028 |pages=120 |access-date=April 10, 2024 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

=== Fearmongering ===
{{See also|Missing white woman syndrome|Culture of fear|Outrage porn}}

The use of [[fearmongering]] is sometimes used by media outlets as well to gain attention to their content.<ref name=":3" />

== Impacts ==
{{See also|Fake news|Moral panic}}

Zeynep Tufecki argues that it's easier to shift the "[[Overton window]]" online thanks to algorithms replacing traditional gatekeepers of journalism.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Tufekci |first=Zeynep |author-link=Zeynep Tufekci |date=2016-03-31 |title=Opinion {{!}} Adventures in the Trump Twittersphere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/opinion/campaign-stops/adventures-in-the-trump-twittersphere.html |access-date=2021-04-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

C.P. Chandrasekhar argues that news outlets are at a higher risk of releasing content that is false because of how quickly news is circulated through the internet in order to capitalize on those views and clicks for profit.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chandrasekhar |first=C.P. |date=2013 |title=The Business of News in the Age of the Internet |journal=[[Social Scientist]] |volume=41 |issue=5/6 |pages=25–39 |issn=0970-0293 |jstor=23611116}}</ref>{{Verification needed|date=March 2024}}{{Better source needed|reason=The journal is defunct and may be insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2024}} 

Joe Sommerlad criticized algorithms used by Google News for not promoting more trustworthy sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Sommerlad |first=Joe |date=2018-06-18 |title=This is how Google News decides what to show you |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-news-headlines-stories-ranking-algorithm-editors-publishers-journalism-a8404811.html |access-date=2020-03-11 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

=== Distortion of events ===

==== Overrepresentation of crime ====
{{See also|Fear of crime|Mean world syndrome|United States incarceration rate#Editorial policies of major media}}
One of the most prominent and most covered news topics is crime being represented disproportionately to other social problems.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://dl.uncw.edu/Etd/2010-1/chagnonn/nicholaschagnon.pdf |title=NEWS COVERAGE AND CRIME: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF AGENTS INVOLVED IN NEWS PRODUCTION |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Wilmington]] |year=2010 |pages=1 |quote=One of the most prevalent subjects of media discourse is crime. Crime is represented in many different media categories from entertainment to news and intermediate forms such as infotainment. While entertainment media doubtlessly have a significant socializing effect, they generally do not claim to be a true representation of reality. However, news media do make this claim (Mason, 2006; Surette, 2003). Despite this, studies show that when it comes to crime, media representations do not accurately reflect reality (Surette, 2003).. Additionally, crime news is one of the most prominent categories in news media; it is covered disproportionately more than other social problems (Leishman & Mason, 2003; Gans, 2004).}}</ref> Most often what is covered is the "accounts of the commission of crime and law-enforcement activities." A lesser amount but still significant level is given to court proceedings and the least related to corrections giving the public a limited understand of the criminal justice system and the social contexts of crime.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chagnon |first=Nicholas J. |url=https://dl.uncw.edu/Etd/2010-1/chagnonn/nicholaschagnon.pdf |title=NEWS COVERAGE AND CRIME: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF AGENTS INVOLVED IN NEWS PRODUCTION |publisher=University of North Carolina Wilmington |year=2010 |pages=10 |access-date=March 10, 2024}}</ref>

==== Exaggeration of science news ====
{{See also|Science by press conference}}
With science news, the press release may be relied upon heavily, which can exaggerate or spin the findings. One theory for this practice, in addition to time constraints, is that journalists do not access academic articles as much since many are behind paywalls.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Dempster |first1=Georgia |last2=Sutherland |first2=Georgina |last3=Keogh |first3=Louise |date=March 7, 2022 |title=Scientific research in news media: a case study of misrepresentation, sensationalism and harmful recommendations |url=https://jcom.sissa.it/article/pubid/JCOM_2101_2022_A06/ |journal=Journal of Science Communication |volume=21 |issue=1|pages=A06 |doi=10.22323/2.21010206 |doi-access=free }}</ref> One example of sensationalism in science news was in 1998 when [[Andrew Wakefield]] published a study in ''[[The Lancet]]'' showing a [[Lancet MMR autism fraud|link between MMR vaccines and autism]]<ref name=":4" /> with it reaching the news media via press releases and a news conference<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Andrew |date=December 2006 |title=Bad science in the headlines. Who takes responsibility when science is distorted in the mass media? |journal=EMBO Reports |volume=7 |issue=12 |pages=1193–1196 |doi=10.1038/sj.embor.7400862 |pmid=17139292 |pmc=1794697 }}</ref> getting widespread coverage despite the publication being flawed and the article later being debunked and retracted.<ref name=":4" />

=== Political polarization and democratic backsliding ===
{{See also|Trial by media||}}

[[Political polarization]] and [[democratic backsliding]] can be exacerbated by the media environment and its incentives towards sensationalism.<ref name=":52">{{Cite web |last=Ovadya |first=Aviv |date=May 17, 2022 |title=Bridging-Based Ranking |url=https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/bridging-based-ranking |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Belfer Center at [[Harvard University]] |pages=21 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Beauchamp |first=Zack |date=2019-01-22 |title=Social media is rotting democracy from within |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/22/18177076/social-media-facebook-far-right-authoritarian-populism |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref> Algorithms that elevate sensational and inflammatory content across a range of platforms including [[Social media#Political polarization|social media]], [[Criticism of Google#Algorithms|Google]], and others have received criticism as fueling division in society.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 1, 2021 |title=Facebook Disputes Claims It Fuels Political Polarization And Extremism |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/04/01/983155583/facebook-disputes-claims-it-fuels-political-polarization-and-extremism |work=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 27, 2023 |title=New study shows just how Facebook's algorithm shapes conservative and liberal bubbles |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/07/27/1190383104/new-study-shows-just-how-facebooks-algorithm-shapes-conservative-and-liberal-bub |work=NPR |quote=Still, the research sheds light on how Facebook's algorithm works. The studies found liberals and conservatives live in their own political news bubbles more so than elsewhere online. They also show that changing the platform's algorithm substantially changes what people see and how they behave on the site — even if it didn't affect their beliefs during the three-month period researchers studied...'This is interesting, strong evidence that when it comes to politics, the algorithm is biased towards the extremes,' Edelson said. 'This is genuinely new.'}}</ref> This extends beyond sorting people into [[Echo chamber (media)|echo chambers]] and [[Filter bubble|filter bubbles]] to include radicalization by showing more extreme content in order to boost engagement.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Molla |first=Rani |date=2020-11-10 |title=Social media is making a bad political situation worse |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/21534345/polarization-election-social-media-filter-bubble |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Responses to sensationalism ==
{{See also|Nonprofit journalism|List of journalism awards|}}

[[Fact-checking]] websites, [[media literacy]], better [[content moderation]] on social media, and legislation have been pursued to reduce the negative impacts of algorithms and sensational media.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Vasu |first1=Norman |title=Fake News: National Security in the Post-Truth Era |last2=Ang |first2=Benjamin |last3=Teo |first3=Terri-Anne |last4=Jayakumar |first4=Shashi |last5=Faizal |first5=Muhammad |last6=Ahuja |first6=Juhi |date=2018 |journal=<!-- --> |publisher=[[S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies]] |pages=18–25 |chapter=International Responses to Fake News |jstor=resrep17648.8 |chapter-url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17648.8}}</ref><ref name="Mihailidis-2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Mihailidis |first1=Paul |last2=Viotty |first2=Samantha |date=March 27, 2017 |title=Spreadable Spectacle in Digital Culture: Civic Expression, Fake News, and the Role of Media Literacies in "Post-Fact" Society |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |volume=61 |issue=4 |pages=441–454 |doi=10.1177/0002764217701217 |issn=0002-7642 |s2cid=151950124}}</ref> When American public television news came about in the mid-20th century it came about in part in response to the commercial news stations having sensationalized news prioritized above that of "serious reporting".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sterling |first=Christopher H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQhDq8fPj2IC |title=Encyclopedia of Journalism |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2009 |volume=6 |pages=1155 |isbn=978-0-7619-2957-4 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Some have argued that [[Recommender system#Decision-making|different algorithms]] and platform incentives are needed to reduce modern sensationalism both online and among politicians reacting to those online incentives.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Ovadya |first=Aviv |date=May 17, 2022 |title=Bridging-Based Ranking |url=https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/bridging-based-ranking |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Belfer Center at [[Harvard University]] |pages=1, 14–28 |language=en}}</ref> [[Andrew Leonard]] describes [[Pol.is]] as one possible solution to the sensationalism of traditional discourse on social media that has damaged democracies, citing the use of its algorithm to instead prioritize finding consensus.<ref name=":22">{{Cite magazine |last=Leonard |first=Andrew |date=July 30, 2020 |title=How Taiwan's Unlikely Digital Minister Hacked the Pandemic |url=https://www.wired.com/story/how-taiwans-unlikely-digital-minister-hacked-the-pandemic/ |access-date=2024-05-04 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Miller (author) |date=2020-09-27 |title=How Taiwan's 'civic hackers' helped find a new way to run the country |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/27/taiwan-civic-hackers-polis-consensus-social-media-platform |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

== See also ==
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*[[Agnotology]], the study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt
*[[Clickbait]]
*[[Exploitation film]]
*[[Infotainment]]
*[[Junk food news]]
*[[Media circus]]
*[[Media manipulation]]
*[[Protest paradigm]]
*[[Propaganda model]], in mass media
*[[Salience (neuroscience)]]
*[[Sound bite]]
*[[Spreadability]]
*[[Barbara W. Tuchman#Tuchman's Law|Tuchman's Law]]

{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}{{wiktionary}}
*

{{portal|Journalism}}

{{Media culture}}
{{Media manipulation}}
{{Media and human factors}}

[[Category:Criticism of journalism]]
[[Category:Influence of mass media]]
[[Category:Mass media issues]]
[[Category:News media manipulation]]
[[Category:Public opinion]]
[[Category:Popularity]]
[[Category:Popular psychology]]
[[Category:Social influence]]