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66-511: The BBC started the Big Read with the goal of finding the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS, and telephone. The show attracted controversy for adopting an allegedly sensationalist approach to literature , but supporters praised it for raising the public awareness of reading. The British public voted originally for any novel that they wished. From this, a list of 200

132-445: A link between MMR vaccines and autism with it reaching the news media via press releases and a news conference getting widespread coverage despite the publication being flawed and the article later being debunked and retracted. Political polarization and democratic backsliding can be exacerbated by the media environment and its incentives towards sensationalism. Algorithms that elevate senstional and inflammatory content across

198-447: A 'vast audience of many thousands, even millions of passive individuals'. Television news is restricted to showing the scenes of crimes rather than the crime itself because of the unpredictability of events, whereas newspaper writers can always recall what they did not witness. On web-based platforms such as Facebook , Google and YouTube their respective algorithms are used to maximize advertising revenue by attracting and keeping

264-441: A broadcaster one needed a license. In Western Europe sensationalism in the news also increased after the liberalization of television networks in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1800s, falling costs in paper production and rising revenues in advertising in the U.S. led to a drastic rise in newspaper's circulation, which attracted the growing audiences that advertisers desired. One presumed goal of sensational reporting

330-574: A communications attorney who had served on Ronald Reagan 's presidential campaign staff in 1976 and 1980, the FCC released its report on General Fairness Doctrine Obligations stating that the doctrine hurt the public interest and violated free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment . The commission could not, however, come to a determination as to whether the doctrine had been enacted by Congress through its 1959 Amendment to Section 315 of

396-749: A contributing factor in the rising level of party polarization in the United States . While the original purpose of the doctrine was to ensure that viewers were exposed to a diversity of viewpoints, it was used by both the Kennedy and later the Johnson administration to combat political opponents operating on talk radio. In 1969 the United States Supreme Court , in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC , upheld

462-544: A major influence on society, or biased presentations of newsworthy topics, in a trivial, or tabloid manner, contrary to general assumptions of professional journalistic standards . Some tactics include being deliberately obtuse, appealing to emotions , being controversial , intentionally omitting facts and information , being loud and self-centered , and acting to obtain attention. Trivial information and events are sometimes misrepresented and exaggerated as important or significant, and often include stories about

528-956: A manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints. In 1987, the FCC abolished the fairness doctrine, prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either Commission policy or congressional legislation. The FCC removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in August 2011. The fairness doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest , and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented. The demise of this FCC rule has been cited as

594-659: A matter of principle, his belief that the doctrine impinged upon the First Amendment, not partisanship. Fowler described the White House staff raising concerns, at a time before the prominence of conservative talk radio and during the preeminence of the Big Three television networks and PBS in political discourse, that repealing the policy would be politically unwise. He described the staff's position as saying to Reagan: The only thing that really protects you from

660-573: A nationwide syndication contract. McLaughlin offered Limbaugh to stations at an unbeatable price: free. All they had to do to carry his program was to set aside four minutes per hour for ads that McLaughlin's company sold to national sponsors. The stations got to sell the remaining commercial time to local advertisers." According to The Washington Post , "From his earliest days on the air, Limbaugh trafficked in conspiracy theories, divisiveness, even viciousness", e.g., "feminazis". Prior to 1987 people using much less controversial verbiage had been taken off

726-520: A preference for their products or services to be reported positively in mass media, which can contribute to bias in news reporting in favor of media outlets protecting their profits and revenues, rather than reporting objectively about stated products and services. The more dependent news organizations are on advertising revenue a greater number of sensationalist news stories are produced is argued by Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Mariska Kleemans in Proving

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792-426: A range of platforms including social media , Google , and others have received criticism as fueling division in society. This extends beyond sorting people into echo chambers and filter bubbles to include radicalization by showing more extreme content in order to boost engagement. Fact-checking websites, media literacy , better content moderation on social media, and legislation have been pursued to reduce

858-410: A station's license term from eight years to four, with the requirement that a license-holder cover important issues fairly, hold local public hearings about its coverage twice a year, and document to the FCC how it was meeting its obligations. The bill was referred to committee, but progressed no further. In the same Congress, Representative Maurice Hinchey (D- NY ) introduced legislation "to restore

924-507: A unanimous court): Government-enforced right of access inescapably dampens the vigor and limits the variety of public debate. This decision differs from Red Lion v. FCC in that it applies to a newspaper, which, unlike a broadcaster, is unlicensed and can theoretically face an unlimited number of competitors. In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not forbid editorials by non-profit stations that received grants from

990-551: A viewpoint on a controversial public issue" but that it had not yet exercised that power because licensed broadcasters had "voluntarily" complied with the "spirit" of the doctrine. It warned that: Should future experience indicate that the doctrine [of 'voluntary compliance'] is inadequate, either in its expectations or in its results, the Commission will have the opportunity—and the responsibility—for such further reassessment and action as would be mandated. In one landmark case,

1056-482: A way that is fair and non-biased so that they can create their own opinions. In 1969, the court "ruled unanimously that the Fairness Doctrine was not only constitutional, but essential to democracy. The public airwaves should not just express the opinions of those who can pay for air time; they must allow the electorate to be informed about all sides of controversial issues." The court also warned that if

1122-416: Is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emotionally loaded impressions of events rather than neutrality , and may cause a manipulation to the truth of a story. Sensationalism may rely on reports about generally insignificant matters and portray them as

1188-451: Is in the headlines of news articles. "Slam Journalism" is a term describing the rise of intense, emotionally charged language in headlines, notably the use of the word slam to mean criticize. The data scientist Cory Booker suggests that news agencies simply "[speak] the language that resonates with their audience best." Below are examples of such headlines, with the intense language highlighted in bold. David Berube considers

1254-452: Is to increase or sustain viewership or readership, from which media outlets can price their advertising higher to increase their profits based on higher numbers of viewers and/or readers. Sometimes this can lead to a lesser focus on objective journalism in favor of a profit motive , in which editorial choices are based upon sensational stories and presentations to increase advertising revenue . Additionally, advertisers tend to have

1320-751: The Communications Act . In response to the 1986 Telecommunications Research & Action Center v. F.C.C. decision, the 99th Congress directed the FCC to examine alternatives to the fairness doctrine and to submit a report to Congress on the subject. In 1987, in Meredith Corporation v. F.C.C. the case was returned to the FCC with a directive to consider whether the doctrine had been "self-generated pursuant to its general congressional authorization or specifically mandated by Congress." The FCC opened an inquiry inviting public comment on alternative means for administrating and enforcing

1386-491: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting ( FCC v. League of Women Voters of California , 468 U.S. 364 (1984)). The court's 5-4 majority decision by William J. Brennan Jr. stated that while many now considered that expanding sources of communication had made the fairness doctrine's limits unnecessary: We are not prepared, however, to reconsider our longstanding approach without some signal from Congress or

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1452-418: The suffix "-gate" . Sensationalism has also been blamed for the infotainment style of many news programs on radio and television. According to sociologist John Thompson , the debate of sensationalism used in the mass medium of broadcasting is based on a misunderstanding of its audience, especially the television audience. Thompson explains that the term 'mass' (which is connected to broadcasting) suggests

1518-442: The " Overton window " online thanks to algorithms replacing traditional gatekeepers of journalism. C.P. Chandrasekhar argues that news outlets are at a higher risk of releasing content that is false because of how quickly news is circulated through the internet in order to capitalize on those views and clicks for profit. Joe Sommerlad criticized algorithms used by Google News for not promoting more trustworthy sources. One of

1584-474: The 4–0 vote, Chairman Patrick said: We seek to extend to the electronic press the same First Amendment guarantees that the print media have enjoyed since our country's inception. Sitting commissioners at the time of the vote were: The FCC vote was opposed by members of Congress who said the FCC had tried to "flout the will of Congress" and the decision was "wrongheaded, misguided and illogical". The decision drew political fire, and cooperation with Congress

1650-595: The FCC abolished the doctrine by a 4–0 vote, in the Syracuse Peace Council decision, which was upheld by a panel of the Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit in February 1989, though the court stated in their decision that they made "that determination without reaching the constitutional issue." The FCC suggested in Syracuse Peace Council that because of the many media voices in the marketplace,

1716-404: The FCC argued that teletext was a new technology that created soaring demand for a limited resource, and thus could be exempt from the fairness doctrine. The Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC) and Media Access Project (MAP) argued that teletext transmissions should be regulated like any other airwave technology, hence the fairness doctrine was applicable, and must be enforced by

1782-477: The FCC that technological developments have advanced so far that some revision of the system of broadcast regulation may be required. (footnote 11) After noting that the FCC was considering repealing the fairness doctrine rules on editorials and personal attacks out of fear that those rules might be "chilling speech", the court added: Of course, the Commission may, in the exercise of its discretion, decide to modify or abandon these rules, and we express no view on

1848-547: The FCC to revoke Lamar Broadcasting's license for television station WLBT due to the station's segregationist politics and ongoing censorship of NBC network news coverage of the U.S. civil rights movement. In 1974, the Federal Communications Commission stated that the Congress had delegated the power to mandate a system of "access, either free or paid, for person or groups wishing to express

1914-822: The FCC's Editorializing Report repealed the Mayflower doctrine , which since 1941 had forbidden on-air editorializing. This laid the foundation for the fairness doctrine, by reaffirming the FCC's holding that licensees must not use their stations "for the private interest, whims or caprices [of licensees], but in a manner which will serve the community generally." The FCC Report established two forms of regulation on broadcasters: to provide adequate coverage of public issues, and to ensure that coverage fairly represented opposing views. The second rule required broadcasters to provide reply time to issue-oriented citizens. Broadcasters could therefore trigger fairness doctrine complaints without editorializing. The commission required neither of

1980-477: The FCC's general right to enforce the fairness doctrine where channels were limited. However, the court did not rule that the FCC was obliged to do so. The courts reasoned that the scarcity of the broadcast spectrum, which limited the opportunity for access to the airwaves, created a need for the doctrine. The fairness doctrine is not the same as the equal-time rule , which is still in place. The fairness doctrine deals with discussion of controversial issues, while

2046-573: The FCC, Martin Firestone's memorandum to the Democratic National Committee presented political strategies to combat small, rural radio stations unfriendly to Democratic politicians: The right-wingers operate on a strictly-cash basis and it is for this reason that they are carried by so many small [radio] stations. Were our efforts to be continued on a year-round basis, we would find that many of these stations would consider

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2112-690: The FCC. In 1986, Judges Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the fairness doctrine did apply to teletext, but that the FCC was not required to apply it.   In a 1987 case, Meredith Corp. v. FCC , two other judges on the same court declared that Congress did not mandate the doctrine and the FCC did not have to continue to enforce it. In Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC , 395 U.S. 367 (1969),

2178-601: The Fairness Doctrine". H.R. 3302, also known as the "Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005" or MORA, had 16 co-sponsors in Congress. In June 2007, Senator Richard Durbin (D- Ill. ) said, "It's time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine", an opinion shared by his Democratic colleague, Senator John Kerry (D- Mass. ). However, according to Marin Cogan of The New Republic in late 2008: Senator Durbin's press secretary says that Durbin has "no plans, no language, no nothing. He

2244-560: The Obvious? What Sensationalism Contributes to the Time Spent on News Video . The Watergate scandal has been credited by some with creating distrust in government and opening the door for a new business tactic for the media that resulted in the spread of negative, dishonest and misleading news coverage of American politics; such examples include the labeling of a large number of political scandals, regardless of their importance, with

2310-687: The Soviet Union, strong censorship resulted in only "positive occurrences" being reported on, with the news looking significantly different than in the West. In the United States, modern sensationalism in the news increased after the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 by the Federal Communications Commission which required broadcasters when showing one partisan view to show another and in order to be

2376-619: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld, by a vote of 8–0, the constitutionality of the fairness doctrine in a case of an on-air personal attack, in response to challenges that the doctrine violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . The case began when journalist Fred J. Cook , after the publication of his Goldwater: Extremist of the Right , was the topic of discussion by Billy James Hargis on his daily Christian Crusade radio broadcast on WGCB in Red Lion, Pennsylvania . Cook sued arguing that

2442-549: The actions of individuals and small groups of people, the content of which is often insignificant and irrelevant to the macro-level day-to-day events occurring globally. In A History of News , Mitchell Stephens notes sensationalism can be found in the Ancient Roman gazette Acta Diurna , where official notices and announcements were presented daily on public message boards, the perceived content of which spread with enthusiasm in illiterate societies. Sensationalism

2508-421: The air as obvious violations of the fairness doctrine. Two corollary rules of the doctrine, the personal attack rule and the "political editorial" rule, remained in practice until 2000. The "personal attack" rule applied whenever a person, or small group, was subject to a personal attack during a broadcast. Stations had to notify such persons, or groups, within a week of the attack, send them transcripts of what

2574-447: The attention of users. This business model results in sensationalist content often being prioritized as algorithms often predict that it will get the highest amount of engagement. When trying to cater to younger audiences, news stories that are more sensational and unusual will often drown out stories that may be considered less exciting but more significant. In Mass Media and American Politics , Doris A. Graber and Johanna Dunaway give

2640-511: The broadcasts of these programs bothersome and burdensome (especially if they are ultimately required to give us free time) and would start dropping the programs from their broadcast schedule. The use of the fairness doctrine by the National Council for Civic Responsibility (NCCR) was to urge right-wing radio stations to air rebuttals against the opinions expressed on their radio stations. In 1985, under FCC Chairman Mark S. Fowler ,

2706-658: The commission, the Yankee Network agreed to drop the editorials. Flynn created a company called Mayflower Broadcasting and tried to get the FCC to award him WAAB's license. The FCC refused. In 1941, the commission made a ruling that came to be known as the Mayflower Decision, which declared that radio stations, due to their public interest obligations, must remain neutral in matters of news and politics, and they were not allowed to give editorial support to any particular political position or candidate. In 1949,

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2772-627: The decision to repeal the fairness doctrine. The FCC did not provide prompt justification, so both corollary rules were repealed in October 2000. In February 2005, U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter ( D - NY ) and 23 co-sponsors introduced the Fairness and Accountability in Broadcasting Act (H.R. 501) in the 1st session of the 109th Congress of 2005-2007, when Republicans held a majority of both Houses. The bill would have shortened

2838-433: The doctrine be deemed unconstitutional, stating that: The intrusion by government into the content of programming occasioned by the enforcement of [the fairness doctrine] restricts the journalistic freedom of broadcasters ... [and] actually inhibits the presentation of controversial issues of public importance to the detriment of the public and the degradation of the editorial prerogative of broadcast journalists. At

2904-474: The doctrine ever restrained speech, then its constitutionality should be reconsidered. Justice William O. Douglas did not participate, but later wrote that he would have dissented because the Constitutional guarantee of Freedom of the press was absolute. However, in the case of Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo , 418 U.S. 241 (1974), Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote (for

2970-544: The equal-time rule deals only with political candidates. In 1938, Lawrence J. Flynn, a former Yankee Network employee, challenged the license of John Shepard III's WAAB in Boston, and lodged a complaint about WNAC. Flynn asserted that these stations were being used to air one-sided political viewpoints and broadcast attacks, including editorials, against local and federal politicians that Shepard opposed. The FCC requested that Shepard provide details about these programs. To appease

3036-494: The example of how the Chicago Sun Times will give 20 times more space to sports in comparison to the state government. Covering singular news stories that are considered dramatic can lead to other stories being obscured. In a 24-hour news cycle , there will be instances where there is little news happening along with no developments in stories that are considered important and because of this they will need to fill

3102-454: The fairness doctrine entitled him to free air time to respond to the personal attacks. Although similar laws are unconstitutional when applied to the press, the court cited a Senate report (S. Rep. No. 562, 86th Cong., 1st Sess., 8-9 [1959]) stating that radio stations could be regulated in this way because of the limited public airwaves at the time. Writing for the court, Justice Byron White declared: A license permits broadcasting, but

3168-612: The fairness doctrine went against the First Amendment's goal of creating an informed public. The fairness doctrine required that those who were talked about be given chance to respond to the statements made by broadcasters. The court believed that this helped create a more informed public. Justice White explained that, without this doctrine, station owners would only have people on the air who agreed with their opinions. Throughout his opinion, Justice White argued that radio frequencies, and by extension, television stations, should be used to educate listeners, or viewers, about controversial issues in

3234-573: The fairness doctrine's obligations before 1949. Until then broadcasters had to satisfy only general "public interest" standards of the Communications Act. The doctrine remained a matter of general policy and was applied on a case-by-case basis until 1967, when certain provisions of the doctrine were incorporated into FCC regulations. In 1969, the United States courts of appeals , in an opinion written by Warren Burger , directed

3300-401: The fairness doctrine. In its 1987 report, the alternatives—including abandoning a case-by-case enforcement approach, replacing the doctrine with open access time for all members of the public, doing away with the personal attack rule , and eliminating certain other aspects of the doctrine—were rejected by the FCC for various reasons. On August 4, 1987, under FCC Chairman Dennis R. Patrick ,

3366-465: The legality of either course. As we recognized in Red Lion, however, were it to be shown by the Commission that the fairness doctrine '[has] the net effect of reducing rather than enhancing' speech, we would then be forced to reconsider the constitutional basis of our decision in that case. (footnote 12) Various presidential governments used the Fairness Doctrine to counter their political opponents. At

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3432-481: The licensee has no constitutional right to be the one who holds the license or to monopolize a radio frequency to the exclusion of his fellow citizens. There is nothing in the First Amendment which prevents the Government from requiring a licensee to share his frequency with others. ... It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount. The court did not see how

3498-409: The most prominent and most covered news topics is crime being represented disproportionately to other social problems. Most often what is covered is the "accounts of the commission of crime and law-enforcement activities." A lesser amount but still significant level is given to court proceedings and the least related to corrections giving the public a limited understand of the criminal justice system and

3564-522: The negative impacts of algorithms and sensational media. When American public television news came about in the mid-20th century it came about in part in response to the commercial news stations having sensationalized news prioritized above that of "serious reporting". Some have argued tha different algorithms and platform incentives are needed to reduce modern sensationalism both online and among politicians reacting to those online incentives. Andrew Leonard describes Pol.is as one possible solution to

3630-728: The news. The more modern forms of sensationalism developed in the course of the nineteenth century in parallel with the expansion of print culture in industrialized nations. A genre of British literature, "sensation novels," became in the 1860s an example of how the publishing industry could capitalize on surprising narrative to market serialized fiction in periodicals. The attention-grasping rhetorical techniques found in sensation fiction were also employed in articles on science, modern technology, finance, and in historical accounts of contemporary events. Sensationalism in nineteenth century could be found in popular culture, literature, performance, art history, theory, pre-cinema, and early cinema. In

3696-427: The savageness of the three networks—every day they would savage Ronald Reagan—is the Fairness Doctrine, and Fowler is proposing to repeal it! The 1987 repeal of the fairness doctrine enabled the rise of talk radio that has been described as "unfiltered", divisive and/or vicious: "In 1988, a savvy former ABC Radio executive named Ed McLaughlin signed Rush Limbaugh — then working at a little-known Sacramento station — to

3762-547: The sensationalism of traditional discourse on social media that has damaged democracies, citing the use of its algorithm to instead prioritize finding consensus. Fairness doctrine The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in

3828-479: The social contexts of crime. With science news, the press release may be relied upon heavily, which can exaggerate or spin the findings. One theory for this practice, in addition to time constraints, is that journalists do not access academic articles as much since many are behind paywalls. One example of sensationalism in science news was in 1998 when Andrew Wakefield published a study in The Lancet showing

3894-428: The time by sharing a story that is less so about actual news and more intended to keep the audience's attention. In news markets where there is more competition the more likely a certain news outlet will be to produce sensationalist stories as a way to compete with other outlets. One feature of sensationalistic news is the intensification of language used in the article. The most common use of sensationalist language

3960-485: The top 25 with Rowling represented only by her fourth volume, Goblet of Fire , and Tolkien only by The Lord of the Rings . Those two novels finally placed fifth and first; the other preliminary leaders by Rowling and Tolkien nominally led the also-rans in ranks 22–25. Contests similar to the Big Read were conducted in other countries: Other lists: Sensationalism In journalism and mass media , sensationalism

4026-467: The use of headlines to be the primary way sensationalism manifests in media, by creating teasers that use emotion to try and capture the attention of an audience even if the headline exaggerates or is otherwise misleading. In YouTube videos, the thumbnail image of a video can similarly mislead audiences. The use of fearmongering is sometimes used by media outlets as well to gain attention to their content. Zeynep Tufecki argues that it's easier to shift

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4092-595: Was asked in a hallway last year, he gave his personal view"—that the American people were served well under the doctrine—"and it's all been blown out of proportion." On June 24, 2008, U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D- Calif. ), the Speaker of the House at the time, told reporters that her fellow Democratic representatives did not want to forbid reintroduction of the fairness doctrine, adding "the interest in my caucus

4158-463: Was drawn up, with the highest 21 then put forward for further voting, on the provision that only one book per author was permitted in the top 21. As the poll was based on novels, the plays of William Shakespeare were not part of the survey. In the first stage, all four extant Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling were among the 25 leaders. So were both Middle-earth novels by J. R. R. Tolkien . The second stage featured 21 books by distinct authors:

4224-472: Was one issue. In June 1987, Congress attempted to preempt the FCC decision and codify the fairness doctrine, but the legislation was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan . In 1991, another attempt to revive the doctrine was stopped when President George H. W. Bush threatened another veto. In February 2009, Fowler said that his work toward revoking the fairness doctrine under the Reagan administration had been

4290-404: Was said and offer the opportunity to respond on-the-air. The "political editorial" rule applied when a station broadcast editorials endorsing or opposing candidates for public office, and stipulated that the unendorsed candidates be notified and allowed a reasonable opportunity to respond. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the FCC to justify these corollary rules in light of

4356-411: Was used in books of the 16th and 17th century, to teach moral lessons . According to Stephens, sensationalism brought the news to a new audience when it became aimed at the lower class , who had less of a need to accurately understand politics and the economy , to occupy them in other matters. Through sensationalism, he claims, the audience was further educated and encouraged to take more interest in

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