Hungry for sensationalism

We as journalists walk a fine line between being ethical and sensational.

We are often accused of sensationalising everything we report on, but this is not the case. The dilemma we face every day is just that. We ask ourselves, what does the reader want and how many people will the story reach?

And from the statistics we receive on an hourly and daily basis it shows that the reader wants hard-hitting news. The kind of news that leaves most people gasping in shock.

The stats show that the stories about horrific accidents, crime, dead bodies and animal abuse receive the most attention. The stories about the accomplishments of people in the community and the successes of public entities receive very little attention.

Therefore, is it completely our fault for giving the reader what they want? I am often asked why there are so many bad stories in the paper and I always say, if we stopped reporting on the bad things, there will be very few people who will read our stories.

Are we so used to being victims of crime and so used to all the injustices in this country that this becomes a part of our daily lives?

I think so, a day without any bad news seems almost impossible and the more we see these horrific tales, the more curious we become and the more we want to read about it.

Media houses and journalists are guilty of sensationalising certain stories because there is pressure on us to get the news out there first and to generate the most stats. However, we are not the only ones to blame as it is the reader who clicks on that story or buys the paper to read these stories.

Let me know how you feel about this and what kind of stories draw your attention.