Sensationalist Media - What's The Big Deal?

Sensationalist media is a style of journalism or media coverage that exaggerates dramatic content to attract attention in hopes of increasing audience engagement. The primary goal of sensationalist media is to provoke strong reactions through the use of shocking headlines, graphic images, or sensational language. This often means the media tends to prioritise entertainment value over accuracy and factual reporting. Sensationalist media focuses on the sensational aspects of a story, such as scandal, conflict, violence, or  gossip, rather than providing a balanced representation of events. 

Although criticised heavily, sensationalist media does serve some advantageous aspects to whoever uses it. This is why it is still seen and in constant use in modern media. 

The media use sensationalist media as it can be an easy way to gain increased audience engagement. This is because a headline can easily attract peoples attention by twisting the truth about it. The more people it attracts, the more viewership or readership the media outlet gains. Another reason it's used is simply for a better competitive edge in the media industry. An outlet using a sensationalist headline can stand out from competitors, potentially even going viral in the process and make the outlet more visible regarding stories it publishes. Finally, some people just see sensationalist media as humorous or exiting. Many may argue making the stories more dramatic keeps them coming back as the public love an engaging narrative.

The negatives however, highly outweigh the positives in this case. Sensationalist media as a whole can do more harm that good and is always frowned upon by those either in the media or the public.

Sensationalist media spreads vast misinformation and inaccuracies. In a sense it sacrifices the story's accuracy for a attention grabbing headline. A big outlet publishing something wrong can spread to lots of misinformation that circulates the internet, harming an individual or those involved. Sensationalist media, if spread too often by an outlet, can lead to a fall in the public's trust for that outlet or many others. The public may look at media outlets differently if outlets continue to spread misinformation, giving the media a loss in credibility as a whole. The quality of journalism may also be affected by sensationalist media as the use of clickbait primarily to gain clicks and views can diminish the quality of stories being produced. As soon as there has been an interaction on the post some outlets don't care what you think as long as you interacted with them in some way they have what they wanted.

The drawbacks of sensationalist media, outweigh any short-term advantages such as increased attention and revenue. The focus on entertainment over accurate reporting contributes to a decline in journalistic integrity and public understanding. Journalism should prioritise accuracy and balance to foster an informed and critically engaged public. By implementing measures to stop sensationalism, authorities can help care for the media that keeps journalistic standards and contributes to a more reliable information environment for the public.