Negativity of the News

Television news is no longer upholding the criticalness it has in previous years, only reporting on significant need-to-know information. Today the news is a twenty-four hour constant broadcast dwelling on negative news. The number of viewers watching the daily news is slowly declining, and this is due to the negative bias of news stations, what is being reported on, and the psychological affects this type of information is having on viewers. 

Ninety percent of television media is owned by 6 corporations; Time Warner, Disney, Viacom, News Corporation, CBS, and Comcast. With a limited variety of news stations to pick from that are controlled by an even smaller amount of companies there is obviously going to be a present bias on what is being reported on. This consolidation of the media has a detrimental affect on the type of information we receive. Yes, our right to freedom of speech is protected by the first amendment, but television news stations use this right to evidently express their opinions to sway the general public. One channel that has a clear political bias is Fox News, an extremely conservative news channel. When watching Fox one might notice an overwhelming support for the Republican Party. There are many attributes that can make a station bias, such as racial, social class, or religion. When a bias station is reporting, the news is presented strategically to get a specific outcome. In Bias Media and Public Opinion Janita Thomie explains, “Certain issues are made to look a certain way to benefit a certain group and influence public opinion.” (Thomie, 2015). So knowing the information we are receiving is being tailored and reported to make us think a particular way, can we trust the facts we once accepted?

Aside from the abundance of politics featured on the news during election months, news stations provide an overwhelming broadcast of negative news, such as disasters. It is not uncommon for news stations to create a mountain out of a molehill so to speak, and dwell on negativity. When turning on your news station of choice you will fall into a barrage of news on crime, shootings, death, war, protests, and occasional terrorism. In The Washington Post Shana Gadarian writes “Media competition means journalists and editors have incentives to use emotionally powerful visuals and story lines to gain and maintain ever-shrinking news audiences.” (Gregorie, 2015). It may seem as though the world is always in a constant frenzy, but the negativity is a ploy to attract an audience. In a poll taken on debate.org people were asked the question “Does Fox News have a negative effect on America?” seventy-eight percent voted yes, and twenty-two percent voted no. The majority vote of yes proves that many people are able to decipher through facts and reality versus the fabricated story fragments that are used purposefully for audience.

So how does all this constant negativity and manipulation affect you psychologically? In a 1997 study that was conducted three people were set to watch three separate fourteen minute news clips, a negative, positive, and neutral reel. The outcome was that the person who watched the negative newsreel was very anxious and upset, while the others were not phased as much. Although this test was conducted nearly eighteen years ago today Davey writes in Psychology Today “there is good reason to believe that the negative sensationalism in news has been gradually increasing over the past 20-30 years” (Davey, 2012). This is due to stories being emotionalized to get viewers ready for the negative outcomes that are most likely not close to happening at all. When most people see the phrase “breaking news” come over their television they are expecting the next disaster, making them scared or nervous. It is said that even the journalists reporting on the stories have a higher PTSD index, because of the graphic uncensored videos and pictures they are exposed to regularly. Journalists are also more likely to abuse alcohol and develop depression over time. The anxiousness is not just reserved for viewers, but also the ones reporting the news.

Overall, the news is desperate to gain viewers back which results in scaring people into watching the news. They are trying to make people feel like they have to watch the news so they are ready for whatever disaster might happen next. News stations manipulate viewers into believing what they want you to believe, exaggerate the actuality of stories, and all this has a poor affect on people’s minds.

Work Cited

Davey, Graham. "The Psychological Effects of TV News." Psychology Today. N.p., 19 June 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-we-worry/201206/the-psychological-effects-tv-news>.

Gregoire, Carolyn. "What Constant Exposure To Negative News Is Doing To Our Mental Health." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Feb. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/19/violent-media-anxiety_n_6671732.html>.

Evans, Janis. "Breaking News TV | Negative Effects of Watching Too Much TV News." HubPages. N.p., 17 Sept. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://janshares.hubpages.com/hub/BREAKING-NEWS-How-Weve-Been-Impacted-By-The-Top-Stories>.

Thomie, Janita. "Bias Media and Public Opinion - Media Criticism." Bias Media and Public Opinion - Media Criticism. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://media.litmuse.net/bias-news-and-public-opinion>.

"Does Fox News Have a Negative Effect on America?" Does Fox News Have a Negative Effect on America? N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://www.debate.org/opinions/does-fox-news-have-a-negative-effect-on-america>.