A Discussion on the A Jury Of Her Peers Sensationalism in the Media Being a Blessing in Disguise

American news media only focused on broad global issues and important international news, the news would be boring, and ratings would plummet. To the dismay of news purists, TV news media often report on human interest stories or more exciting and shocking news in order to keep ratings up. But critics of news media should not be so upset when ratings are put before pure news because so-called “sensationalism” in media is a blessing in disguise, Stories that boost ratings entice people into watching the news, entertain them, and can still even foster intelligent discussions People watch more news when the news is exciting For example, on Tuesday, October 3, 1995, at 1:30 pm, the verdict in 0.

]. Simpson’s trial for murder was read. Simpson, a former college and pro football star, was charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

TV news channels covered the trial extensively, and, according to CBS, 150 million people watched the trial verdict, breaking American TV records News purists may say that O.

J,’s trial wasn’t real news and was sensationalistic journalism, but the ratings speak for themselves This news was so riveting, so exciting that 150 million people (more than 4 times the population of Canada) watched TV in the middle of a work day, Furthermore, even after mega- stories like the OJ. Simpson trial and, more recently, the Casey Anthony trial end, news channels still retain a high viewership, This means that people still continue to watch the news for the less exciting stories after being drawn in with the mega-stories.

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The purpose of these exciting stories is to get people in the habit of watching the news Sensational stories are a good thing because they get people excited about the news. In addition, sensational stories entertain people. Why should news media force feed people boring news when it can be packaged in a way that is entertaining and appealing? And while people are entertained, news media have a greater ability to also educate people with less exciting, albeit more important, news. As Julie Andrews says in Mary Poppins, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” In the same way, news media can deliver the more important news more easily in the midst of the more exciting news. Airing more entertaining news is a compromise that TV news channels make in order to get the American public to watch more news and take their medicine.

Moreover, sensational stories aren‘t just valuable because they get people to watch the news; they also bring tip important discussions all by themselves For example, the widely held attitude during the Casey Anthony trial — an attitude pushed heavily by Nancy Grace on HLN — was that Casey Anthony was definitely guilty of killing her young daughterr Anthony was presumed guilty by the public and hated for her crime before a jury of her peers had even convicted herr When the jury acquitted Anthony, the millions who watched her trial were left to ponder why they had judged Anthony so quickly, disregarding the idea of innocence until proven guilty. Sensational stories make us evaluate our response to sensational stories. During the late 2014 Ebola scare, the American public was forced to confront their irrational fear of Ebola.

According to CNN, a woman on a flight from Dallas to Chicago threw up in the bathroom of the airplane and subsequently got locked in the bathroom by flight attendants, who believed she had Ebola. It was not the fault of the media for reporting extensively on Ebola when things like this happened. The problem was the public’s response The Ebola scare serves as a lesson about overreaction, a lesson that needed to have been learned and would never have been taught without sensationalismi. From highly publicized murder trials to disease scares, sensational news stories can be a good thing. They‘re enticing, they‘re entertaining, and they’re thought-provoking. News purists should stop criticizing the media over sensationalism because it can actually be a good thing.