News sensationalism definitely harms the reputation of any given media source. I believe news sensationalism is part of the reason the general attitude towards news media is increasingly negative. It’s so commonplace for a story to be over-emphasized and ‘sexed’ up that it losses its effectiveness… therefore encouraging the news media to sensationalize even further in order to grab viewers and readers attention.
My definition of news sensationalism is making a story appear to be more of an influential and pressing matter than the facts actually warrant. Often times this will include manipulating a story to seem life-threatening or life-changing.
My favorite examples of news sensationalism are usually from the local evening news. I will be minding my own business, watching Oprah, when a commercial for the 5 o’clock news comes on with a lead like ‘the cure for cancer is found!’ or ‘are deadly toxins in you kitchen cabinets’ and suddenly wanting to know what the real story is. However, the real story is always far less catchy than the commercial hook makes it appear. The cure for cancer is only in the trial stages for rare forms of cancer only found in albino mice and the toxins in my cabinets are only lethal when drank in large quantities… it never ends up being what you hope for.
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