The effects of sensationalism are damaging the public and the integrity of journalism.
There is a clear dilemma for all good journalists. Although sensationalism sells, and we are within an era now where there is more sensationalism than previous as journalists are breaking the ethical values that their profession was founded on. A responsible journalist is less partisan, less attached, and more accurate. They value
the difference between opinion and the truth. If this defines a responsible journalist,
why is an irresponsible journalist irresponsible? Is it because they are more concerned with promoting themselves rather than the story? Have they sold out for the all mighty dollar? Is it the audience s fault because they expect less? Maybe journalism students are being taught in college to get the sensationalized story because it sells you will make it big. Whether labeled ethics, values, or morals, they are declining rapidly in the United States. What would make anyone believe that journalism is exempt from this infectious downfall in American society? Objectivity, although hardly perfect, seems to be the less of two evils. Winston Churchill once said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other forms. The same can be said about objective journalism. As long as journalists are willing to work hard and be honest about its limitations, it will remain our least bad source of information.
It amazes me how sensationalism literally has such an impact on society and yet there
are good reporting and I feel that if one wishes to speak to and have the power to speak to the media at large facts coupled within unbiased reporting surpasses sensationalized certainly sells, but credibility is lost as one has to decipher between facts and fictions and what the reports ambitions are. In conclusion, it is evident that sensationalism has become deeply entrenched in the media, leaving the public paying a high price through their loss of credible sources of information.
In turn, journalists are also paying a high price by sacrificing their ethical standards and succumbing to the temptations of sensationalism for the sake of profit and or other reasons, which would include politics now. It’s a blatantly disregard to the very standards of objectivity and credibility.
It’s a no brainer to understand and see the difference between what the missions and ethics were with Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather in comparison to Jeff Beck, Bill O'Reilly.
Two words sums it all up:
Ambitious Sensationalism
