Difference Between Sensationalism and Journalism
Added on 2023-05-29
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Running head: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATIONALISM AND JOURNALISM
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATIONALISM AND JOURNALISM
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATIONALISM AND JOURNALISM
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note
1
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATIONALISM AND JOURNALISM
In 1998, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) aired the assisted suicide of Thomas
Youk by Dr. Jack Kevorkian and made headlines, mostly negative. The airing received backlash
from all around the globe and from all professional spheres as well.
Journalism is a profession that requires extreme adherence to ethics and moral code of
conduct. It requires the reporter or journalist to maintain an extremely professional and unbiased
outlook while reporting on various issues. However, many journalists engage in the malpractice
of reporting and broadcasting news that are of least interest to the public. These are broadcast
simply to raise the rating points for the channel and garner as much attention and profit as
possible. This tendency has been termed as ‘sensationalism’ (Ge, 2016). When news channels
broadcast any story that they know is controversial, attention grabbing, with least informative
value and shocking, it is called sensationalism.
The airing of the assisted suicide in a national news channel like CBS is clearly
sensationalism. The channel and the producers knew that airing the video tape of Dr. Kevorkian
would attract vast viewer attention and criticism as well but in either case, it would give them
huge publicity. The channel could easily have avoided showing the entire tape and could have
broadcast the story without it. However, James (2018) states that without airing the tape, Dr.
Kevorkian would have gone unnoticed from public eye. The broadcast helped expose the doctor.
It is but also true that the channel had no intention to expose the doctor but to garner cheap
publicity.
Correctional stories refer to the stories that feature stories of people who undergo
corrections either with death or through correctional facilities. When it comes to the popularity
of correctional stories, it cannot be said that it has more news value than crime and justice issues
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATIONALISM AND JOURNALISM
In 1998, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) aired the assisted suicide of Thomas
Youk by Dr. Jack Kevorkian and made headlines, mostly negative. The airing received backlash
from all around the globe and from all professional spheres as well.
Journalism is a profession that requires extreme adherence to ethics and moral code of
conduct. It requires the reporter or journalist to maintain an extremely professional and unbiased
outlook while reporting on various issues. However, many journalists engage in the malpractice
of reporting and broadcasting news that are of least interest to the public. These are broadcast
simply to raise the rating points for the channel and garner as much attention and profit as
possible. This tendency has been termed as ‘sensationalism’ (Ge, 2016). When news channels
broadcast any story that they know is controversial, attention grabbing, with least informative
value and shocking, it is called sensationalism.
The airing of the assisted suicide in a national news channel like CBS is clearly
sensationalism. The channel and the producers knew that airing the video tape of Dr. Kevorkian
would attract vast viewer attention and criticism as well but in either case, it would give them
huge publicity. The channel could easily have avoided showing the entire tape and could have
broadcast the story without it. However, James (2018) states that without airing the tape, Dr.
Kevorkian would have gone unnoticed from public eye. The broadcast helped expose the doctor.
It is but also true that the channel had no intention to expose the doctor but to garner cheap
publicity.
Correctional stories refer to the stories that feature stories of people who undergo
corrections either with death or through correctional facilities. When it comes to the popularity
of correctional stories, it cannot be said that it has more news value than crime and justice issues
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