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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 biased or emotionally loaded impressions of events rather than neutrality, and may cause a manipulation to the truth of a story.[1][better source needed] Sensationalism may rely on reports about generally insignificant matters and portray them as a major influence on society, or biased presentations of newsworthy topics, in a trivial, or tabloid manner, contrary to general assumptions of professional journalistic standards.[2][3]
Some tactics include being deliberately obtuse,[4] appealing to emotions,[5][better source needed] being controversial, intentionally omitting facts and information,[6][better source needed] being loud and self-centered, and acting to obtain attention.[5][better source needed] 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,[1][better source needed] the content of which is often insignificant and irrelevant to the macro-level day-to-day events occurring globally.
- ^ a b "Issue Area: Sensationalism". Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
- ^ Stephens, Mitchell (2007). A History of News (3 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 55–57. ISBN 978-0-19-518991-9.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
thompsonwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Sensationalism." Webster's Dictionary. Accessed June 2011.
- ^ a b "Sensationalism." The Free Dictionary. Accessed June 2011.
- ^ "Issue Area: Narrow Range of Debate." Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting. Accessed June 2011.