Sensationalism robs America of trustworthy journalism, misleads us all

Colin Hannifin
Columnist

America’s news media has two distinct, defining characteristics: It is crisis driven, and it’s on a perpetual 24-hour cycle.

While many take this for granted, as CNN has been around for decades, it’s only within the past 10 years that the media has morphed into a fully 24/7 machine. As the Internet has become a leading source for news, everyone from big news organizations to independently owned and operated blogs strives to churn out a maximum amount of content to satisfy consumers. As the major news media organizations fight to keep viewers and profits, journalistic integrity slips away and does a significant disservice to the American people.

America’s news media is unquestionably crisis driven. News, whether it is domestic or foreign, only gets reported through the major news media outlets if a crisis has taken place. This makes sense on one level, as an earthquake in Chile, social unrest in Britain, political upheaval in the Middle East and a hurricane that sends New Yorkers scrambling are major news stories that should be reported. The American people should know these things, and the media outlets reporting them bring in viewers, advertisers and profits for the news stations – everyone wins.

But what happens when there is no crisis? Simply enough, the news media creates a crisis through sensationalist reporting over non-stories. For instance, Steve Jobs was reported dead late last week by several blogs, despite the fact that the false “news” came from an unconfirmed tweet that was later removed. Or the press surrounding the Casey Anthony trial, the infamous murder trial of a mother after the death of her daughter, which we’ll hear about for the next several weeks, months and years as interviews are conducted, books written and specials produced. Even sports coverage creates non-stories: See Brett Favre over the past three summers.

This sensationalism is a direct result of the for-profit news industry’s reliance on advertisers to fund stations. To make money on advertisements, these outlets – television, print and online – need viewers and readers, and it’s hyped-up, sensational news coverage that draws them in. The endless quest for profit and the increased use of sensationalism has led the to stripping of journalistic integrity.

Remember when you felt comfortable believing the news you read, or when you felt confident that it was not heavily biased by the political leanings of the authors (opinion sections notwithstanding)? Me neither. While the half-hour nightly news still draws in viewers and delivers trustworthy local news, all the major national news programs leave me doubtful of the “facts” they report. Stories are rushed to the front pages of websites and to the top of the hour of broadcasts, often before all the facts are confirmed. Something that I learned at 9 a.m. is defunct by noon. While I understand that we live in an incredibly dynamic world, the news should be the place we can turn to for objective truth.

I may seem like just another outspoken person complaining about the news. We hear complaints like this all the time. Of course the news is biased and untrustworthy. Fox News famously leans right, CNN and MSNBC slant left, etc. But this isn’t how it should be.

While I never condemn wariness and hold a “trust but verify” approach, we have become so skeptical that what gets reported is assumed to be untrustworthy. Furthermore, all this sensationalism make us immune to real news stories. Reports of deadly flooding and sweeping social change fall on deaf ears, worn out by reports on what Ashton Kutcher’s latest tweet really means.

As for this article, and everything I said? You know you can trust it – after all, if you can’t trust us news people, who can you trust?