Sensationalism in the media

What the hell is it with the media these days that stops them from reporting the truth, or reporting the story without trying to make it sound worse than it already is.

The most recent incident of this I saw on this morning's 9am news on channel 10. Yesterday/Sunday Night a home in Melbourne was attacked by several people brandishing weapons, there is reports it was racial but that's neither here not there given that many attacks at the moment are being called racial. The initial reports yesterday were that the intruders entered with steel rods and a handgun, this was backed up by very similar words spoken by the policeman in the report.

Today despite having the same policeman saying the same thing in their news story the presenter on the news says the home invasion was carried out by several men brandishing long bladed swords and shotguns. Apart from making themselves look like idiots when the report is played in full sensationalising the matter serves no purpose other than to try and convince the viewers the crime is worse than it possible was. (not that steel rods is a walk in the park either)

I used to think C7 were bad at sensationalising news reports but its seems that these days be it print, radio or television the journos are so slack or so incapable of making stories viable they have to spice it up with words guaranteed to get a reaction from the general public or they aren't doing their job properly.

Report the bloody news as it should be don't review it like it's the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

Maybe I should stop watching the news.

Sensationalism sells. People don't want to know that "several people entered a house (for dinner) armed with stainless steel forks and one was carrying a cigarette lighter".

It's much better to say that "dozens of heavily armed migrants battered down the door wielding large steel implements and carrying flamethrowers".

Reporters will no doubt be able to justify their exaggerations as "journalistic license".

For the record, I agree with you, but don't see them selling their news product without scaring the dickens out of people. It also helps in sales of Sorbent.

Yeah I'm not overly worried about sales figures, I'd rather they report the truth but it seems to be almost impossible these days. I know people love bang for their buck and some people even believe the crap the media sprout but for me it's more proof of why the media is full of hacks that can't be trusted.

Although one must wonder just how much different ads would be if we all took a similar stance and advertised with the possibly could instead of the likely wont.

Savage Computer sale on this weekend.
All computers sold come complete with exposed solder joint's strategically placed to ensure maximum damage when the owner sticks his hand inside the case.
CPU's include large cooling fans perfect for sticking ones tongue into and drawing blood.
Cases all come with razor sharp edges, hospital visits are a certainty
Power cables can even be modified to include the highly sort after bare wire component allowing all owners to feel the satisfaction of 240volts surging through their body at no extra cost.

A little exaggerated I know but I'm still not sure I'd get too many takers if I advertised like that.

Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story. And good stories sell papers.

I know it's not just papers, but good stories get viewers and viewers draw the advertising dollars.

It's a shame, actually shameful. Almost EVERY news/current affairs program has a hidden agenda. It's also shameful watching the tit for tat crap that C7 and C9 play against each other, especially ACA and TT. I watch the odd story on these shows but take 0% of their information as gospel.

Upon further pondering (sorry there was nothing to watch on tv during lunch)...

In many ways journalistic licence is only one small step away from straight out lying but you're right those two words seem to justify everything they do. If you were you or I and we sprouting what at times is nothing short of straight out lies like the media seem to do so often we'd be in court before the sentence was finished, but journalistic licence allows those pricks to get away with it in most cases. There has been some cases where journos have been made accountable but not many.

As far as ACA and TT go I always treated those shows as comedies, I'm not sure when beauty tips of the rich and famous and diets of the stars became "current affairs" but the stories they report that actually have a new worthy element to them seem to be nothing short of dribble presented in such a way as to bias the viewers opinions in the way the station wants.

The constant tit for tat of these shows is even funnier when they actually think the public are fooled by the facade they put up. I really love the way they can take the moral high ground by bagging the total crap out of one channel for leaking a story to the press today yet do exactly the same thing tomorrow on another story and claim it was justified.