"It might be very interesting to find out if widespread fears in the nation about crime are fanned by TV people who deliberately tug viewer emotions night after night."
~Greg Byron's "TV stations are completely ratings driven"
That's the problem with sensationalizing everything. As we've discussed in class and read in various sections of Greg Byron's essay, broadcast journalism is all about drawing viewers. It's much more interested in entertainment value than in the straight facts. As a result, many news stories are made out to be bigger than they actually are. It does make one wonder how much panic and fear is produced naturally versus how much is produced by the news stations.
Comments (1)
You're right, I think a lot of stress and worry is caused by news stations and they definitely do it to get higher ratings. The question is do they realize the effects they are having on their viewers (especially the older ones) or do they simply not care? Also, I think it's interesting that while they do want to play on our emotions, news stations do have to find a balance. If they are too extreme and scare their viewers too much, they won't want to watch anymore and won't be happy. So where do news stations decide to draw the line?
Posted by Greta Carroll | August 31, 2009 10:10 AM
Posted on August 31, 2009 10:10