A number of studies have indicated that negative stories tend to be more “attention-grabbing,” as well as evoke stronger emotional responses, therefore driving more interest by the readership or viewing audiences.
Think about the placement of some of the grocery store tabloids found at the checkout counters in your favorite retail or grocery stores. You won’t find them in the normal magazine sections. Instead, you’ll find them in high-visibility areas with some of the most scandalous headlines meant to catch your attention.
A recent example of this was a local news story regarding how a councilman was arrested for suspicion of operating under the influence. It seems that the individual was found to be asleep in his vehicle in his carport while listening to music after returning from playing tennis and having lunch before dozing off after parking his vehicle at his condominium.
Unable to initially awaken the individual, a member of the public summoned assistance, a relatively common-sense thing to do. This would result in one thing leading to another and the individual was charged, even though those charges were eventually dropped by the State Attorney’s Office.
Media outlets reported the initial story with bold headlines, however, the dismissal of charges either became MIA or never reported. Does that give credence to the argument that negative reporting drives the consumption of those types of stories?
By not following up and reporting the entire story, does media have a tendency to reinforce what has become a phenomenon known as “negativity bias,” which demonstrates a predisposition to believe the worst in others?
Can the media have a tendency to rush stories due to the competitive nature of their business; of course they can! The all-important 24-hour news cycle may be part of this problem when evaluating how the media does its job and whether it is producing a product worthy of your trust and continued loyalty.
The fact that you let the media into your homes on a regular basis means you should demand a higher standard of professionalism from the outlets where you spend time absorbing your news. You deserve to know that the entire story will be continued, regardless of where it goes, reporting the news to you without preconceived biases.
Keywords
primate behavior,
social psychology,
human communication,
cognition,
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psychological concepts,
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behavioural sciences,
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cross-cultural psychology,
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mass media issues,
popular psychology,
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animal communication,
retail,
media analysis,
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deception,
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personality,
influence of mass media,
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