News Media Sensationalizes Things Ridiculously!

Ruthanne

Ruthanne

Caregiver
Location
Midwest
What does it mean if something is sensationalized?

English Language Learners Definition of sensationalize:

: to describe or show something in a way that makes it seem more shocking than it really is.

I have spoken of this before but I have come to realize that this causes unwarranted worry and anxiety and nervousness as a result.

For example, there is a Winter snow storm happening...they make it out like we are living in the 1800s with no resources or help for us or like we all are going to die or something. Well, we have snow plow trucks and snow blowers now and people shovel and it's all going to be alright like it always is.

So, I suggest if you get very worried or anxious about the news then have some self talk and say "it's going to be okay, it always is!" "It's not as bad as they make it out to be."


Do you have any suggestions for those who like to watch the News? I have thought of shutting it off but would miss things so I don't.
 

You have to consider the source: The Media. And what is the media going for.... Ratings. If they told the news in a boring way people would not pay much attention to it so they do over hype it so they get the ratings and in turn money.

These people who are on the news are trained in Universities to know how to present the news and yes they should present it factually , but in doing so and to get everyone talking about it they oversensationalize it. Is that right? No not really but it gets us watching and you see all these threads here in this forum that people are debating over that is a lot because of the media over hyping things. Not exactly the media given out what people are calling "Fake News" but the other hyping of it.

What to do about it? What I do is I choose not to watch the World News Stations like CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC. I sometimes/rarely will watch my local news mostly to see what is going on in my area. In today's world it is almost impossible to not know what is going on. I think you would have to live deep in a cave and without phone cell service to not know what is going on in the world and you know it immediately when it happens.
 
My suggestion, especially for weather check a few sources. We were told for days that an atmospheric river was going to hit our province - it did and caused an incredible amount of damage. Afterwards there were people who wanted to sue (don’t know who) because they didn’t know about it.

For news, I try to listen/read more than one place. Also, ignore the headlines. They’re usually clickbait.
 
Happens all the time. Remember Bush's ridiculous claims that there were WMD all over Iraq and that Saddam was on the verge of starting WW III? Because of the media's hyping of this garbage we went into a needless war and killed off one million innocent people.

Or how about the BS that Syria gassed its people. Remember this:


170405-weiss-russia-disinformation-tease_uoay9r






Guess what - it was all FAKE NEWS:


syria gas attacks were fake - Search (bing.com)



People were clamoring for an American invasion to "stop" President Assad from this 'tyranny'. We nearly invaded and IT WAS ALL A FAKE - NOBODY GOT GASSED.
 
oldiebutgoody said:
Happens all the time. Remember Bush's ridiculous claims that there were WMD all over Iraq and that Saddam was on the verge of starting WW III? Because of the media's hyping of this garbage we went into a needless war and killed off one million innocent people.

Or how about the BS that Syria gassed its people. Remember this:


170405-weiss-russia-disinformation-tease_uoay9r






Guess what - it was all FAKE NEWS:


syria gas attacks were fake - Search (bing.com)



People were clamoring for an American invasion to "stop" President Assad from this 'tyranny'. We nearly invaded and IT WAS ALL A FAKE - NOBODY GOT GASSED.
Click to expand...
You are correct. That news reported was fake. That news was also received from the media from other sources and of course there is someone at the top who chooses to report it or not. I guess when it is news of that sort of magnitude if you elect not to report it as a news anchor you might as well start searching for another job. That is a sad fact.
 
Rah-Rah said:
You have to consider the source: The Media. And what is the media going for.... Ratings. If they told the news in a boring way people would not pay much attention to it so they do over hype it so they get the ratings and in turn money.

These people who are on the news are trained in Universities to know how to present the news and yes they should present it factually , but in doing so and to get everyone talking about it they oversensationalize it. Is that right? No not really but it gets us watching and you see all these threads here in this forum that people are debating over that is a lot because of the media over hyping things. Not exactly the media given out what people are calling "Fake News" but the other hyping of it.

What to do about it? What I do is I choose not to watch the World News Stations like CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC. I sometimes/rarely will watch my local news mostly to see what is going on in my area. In today's world it is almost impossible to not know what is going on. I think you would have to live deep in a cave and without phone cell service to not know what is going on in the world and you know it immediately when it happens.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know but forgot to include all that in my OP.
Quite true.
 
I find our local news to be much more balanced than the national news. They share the news in a much more balanced and less sensationalized way.

We actually DVR everything and never watch it live. The national news (GMA and Nightly News) always mentions every story upfront and if there isn't anything that I don't already know I delete it or just fast forward to the stories of interest. I needed to know we would have a snow and ice storm last night that would cancel my travel plans today but I didn't need to know that Meta's stock tanked. Saw that one coming anyway. ;)
 
Rah-Rah said:
You are correct. That news reported was fake. That news was also received from the media from other sources and of course there is someone at the top who chooses to report it or not. I guess when it is news of that sort of magnitude if you elect not to report it as a news anchor you might as well start searching for another job. That is a sad fact.
Click to expand...



Hate to phrase it this way but I must: the pro war news media is the biggest collection of prostitutes in all of human history. They enthusiastically told us we just had to get into two wars in the Middle East, with over a million innocents dead, no possible justification for the crimes has ever been made, the treason committed by the politicians who started the wars was never punished, and that same media continues to tell us our soldiers were killed because they were "fighting for our freedoms" which is nothing less than total garbage. Let's be honest and admit that these prostitutes are well paid for their lies because they are controlled by the same financial interests who profit from war. Soon enough those prostitutes will promote another war, more deaths, more destruction, and more profits for themselves.
 
This film - The Kentucky Fried Movie takes a look at both TV and movies and how they sensationalize things. It was made in 1977 by the team who made Airplane!, the comic disaster movie, so be forewarned that it is risqué or even downright raunchy in parts. Still, if you aren’t easily offended, as I am not, it’s a pretty hilarious movie that you can watch for free on Tubi.tv or Pluto.tv, so says the preview link that I added above. If you’re in the mood to laugh, it’s perfect!
 
oldiebutgoody said:
Happens all the time. Remember Bush's ridiculous claims that there were WMD all over Iraq and that Saddam was on the verge of starting WW III? Because of the media's hyping of this garbage we went into a needless war and killed off one million innocent people.

Or how about the BS that Syria gassed its people. Remember this:


170405-weiss-russia-disinformation-tease_uoay9r






Guess what - it was all FAKE NEWS:


syria gas attacks were fake - Search (bing.com)



People were clamoring for an American invasion to "stop" President Assad from this 'tyranny'. We nearly invaded and IT WAS ALL A FAKE - NOBODY GOT GASSED.
Click to expand...
I almost forgot about that. It turned out that it was actually Martians who attacked the people of Syria!
martians attacked syrians - Search (bing.com)

Here is the Wikipedia entry on it. I don't believe it was faked any more than I believe the moon landing was staged.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douma_chemical_attack
 
oldiebutgoody said:
Hate to phrase it this way but I must: the pro war news media is the biggest collection of prostitutes in all of human history. They enthusiastically told us we just had to get into two wars in the Middle East, with over a million innocents dead, no possible justification for the crimes has ever been made, the treason committed by the politicians who started the wars was never punished, and that same media continues to tell us our soldiers were killed because they were "fighting for our freedoms" which is nothing less than total garbage. Let's be honest and admit that these prostitutes are well paid for their lies because they are controlled by the same financial interests who profit from war. Soon enough those prostitutes will promote another war, more deaths, more destruction, and more profits for themselves.
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, I agree the media certainly are the ones that stir the pot of many evils that are brought onto this world. I am not sure I would have expressed it as you did, but I certainly understand what you are saying. As for those who fought over in the Middle East, they did not put their lives on the line for nothing and to tell them that would be absurd.
 
Ruthanne said:
Do you have any suggestions for those who like to watch the News? I have thought of shutting it off but would miss things so I don't.
Click to expand...

TV news is first and foremost a means of generating revenue for the TV stations. The higher their viewership ratings, the more they can charge for their endless commercials...and thus, increase their corporate profits.

It's important to stay informed, but in order to get the most accurate information, several sources must be used....multiple channels, newspapers, internet sites...etc....but NO Facebook/Twitter nonsense.
 
Don M. said:
TV news is first and foremost a means of generating revenue for the TV stations. The higher their viewership ratings, the more they can charge for their endless commercials...and thus, increase their corporate profits.

It's important to stay informed, but in order to get the most accurate information, several sources must be used....multiple channels, newspapers, internet sites...etc....but NO Facebook/Twitter nonsense.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, but common sense and your own brain is the best tool you have.
 
Ruthanne said:
Do you have any suggestions for those who like to watch the News? I have thought of shutting it off but would miss things so I don't.
Click to expand...
I like to eat chocolate but I wouldn’t make a steady diet of it. For me, watching the news, too much, takes away my serenity and I miss that a lot more than I miss what some talking head on TV wants me to “know”. What can I do about the news anyway? Life goes on, news or not.
Don M. said:
Absolutely! A person must have the ability to separate the facts from the nonsense.
Click to expand...
But not everyone has that capability.
 
BREAKING NEWS: EVERYTHING IS BREAKING NEWS!

They even open the world news programs with dramatic and startling sound effects to let you know that there are some serious issues about to be reported.

I get most of my news from a news aggregator where I can look at the headlines and read what's important to me and avoid what I'm sick of hearing about. I tend to skip over articles where some "expert" is predicting what might happen or speculating why something did happen. Just give me the facts. I don't need to be told that you don't know anything at this point but you're going to make some wild-ass guesses. Hell, I can do that.
 
Chris P Bacon said:
This film - The Kentucky Fried Movie takes a look at both TV and movies and how they sensationalize things. It was made in 1977 by the team who made Airplane!, the comic disaster movie, so be forewarned that it is risqué or even downright raunchy in parts. Still, if you aren’t easily offended, as I am not, it’s a pretty hilarious movie that you can watch for free on Tubi.tv or Pluto.tv, so says the preview link that I added above. If you’re in the mood to laugh, it’s perfect!
Click to expand...
I saw that at the drive in. Hilarious!
 
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