Journalistic integrity is a widely discussed subject, yet it is not always understood. In some ways, ethics in journalism become more refined and sensitive as time passes, but in other ways, a desire for views stands in the way of journalists' righteousness.
Press freedom is a key aspect of any democracy. Of course, the media is subject to certain rules or regulations, but the onus of socially responsible news mostly rests on media organisations.
This self-regulatory nature leaves room for potentially unethical practices like sensationalism in the news. It's challenging to combat because it doesn't just suddenly appear but rather seeps into the industry over time. The first step to reducing and preventing sensationalism is to have an understanding of the concept itself.
media update's Joreke Kleynhans explains sensationalism in news media.
Sensationalism Defined
Sensationalism means misrepresenting information by dramatising or overhyping it at the expense of truthfulness. It is often done by writing clickbait headlines, including misleading imagery, or emphasising irrelevant information to manipulate a story.
In other words, sensationalism is a way of packaging news so that attention is drawn to entertainment and away from information. The reaction of an audience is prioritised over the accuracy and contextualisation of reports.
Why Sensationalism Is Increasing
Despite the consensus that sensationalism negatively impacts the media and society, it constantly increases. This can be ascribed to growing competition in the media space and social media news.
News outlets' profits directly depend upon their number of readers and due to decreasing readership, they get more eager for clicks and start to sacrifice ethics and accuracy to support their readership.
How to Avoid Sensationalism
The simplest way to avoid sensationalism as a journalist is to constantly draw your work back to the purpose of journalism. The purpose of journalism is to collect and share facts with the public.
When a journalist always aims to share facts, it becomes natural to report accurately and informatively. Journalists should always seek facts first and report on those rather than their or others' interpretation of said facts.
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