Those who have been following the latest news headlines for today have noticed that a growing number of news media is using a lot more negative language in their reports. Whether it’s right-leaning or left-leaning, these reports often have a negative tone that may be hard for the average reader to follow.
Increasing negativity of news content affects readers
Whether it is because we are more prone to reading negative news or we just want to avoid negative news, the growing body of evidence shows that humans tend to pay more attention to negative information. The gloomy news is that this phenomenon is not limited to Western societies. In fact, it is a global phenomenon. Indeed, the New York Times has sunk into a dark place in the first decade of the new millennium. In fact, a recent survey suggests that 77% of Americans agree that Islamic militants are a serious threat to the U.S.’s very existence.
However, the true cost of this malarky isn’t all that well publicized. It isn’t uncommon for people to be swayed by a plethora of clickbait headlines, which offer gimmicks like “must know” information, “must see” visuals and “must read” articles. While the novelty wears off, the news is still good for a print or online publication.
Right-leaning news media uses more negative language than left-leaning news media
Historically, the right-leaning news media has been more negative than the left-leaning news media. However, there are exceptions. The Associated Press is a prime example. A panel of experts reviewed its US political news and found that it has a borderline left-leaning bias.
There are some authors who have argued that the right-leaning news media is more prone to negative stimuli, which may explain why right-leaning news organizations use more negative language. However, there is still some uncertainty about the actual impact of these differences.
The study used a sample of 23 million headlines from 47 news organizations. The researchers used a model that detects sentiment using the six basic emotions as described by Ekman. The study also used fixed effects to account for political orientation. In addition, it included a random effect for each news organization. The results showed that the right-leaning news media was more likely to express anger in their headlines than the left-leaning news media.
Television is the dominant choice for news
During the 2015 UK General Election, newspapers and television news bulletins shared a policy agenda, but the editorial judgments of broadcasters were significantly different. A study by Loughborough University examined the influence of newspaper agenda-setting on television news during the campaign.
The study found that the majority of stories reported by television news broadcasters originated from right-wing newspapers. In contrast, most news stories from right-wing newspapers did not reach the same prominence as news stories in left-wing newspapers. This suggests that news values are not politically neutral and that newspapers have a tendency to partisanise their coverage.
The study examines how newspapers and television news set their agendas, as well as the pressures faced by journalists and how the editorial judgements of television news broadcasters are affected. The study also explores the role of newspapers in broadcast news during the election campaign.
The study found that newspapers, especially the Independent and Daily Mail, were influential in setting the agenda of television news bulletins during the election campaign. The study found that newspapers were more likely to cover policy stories than television news broadcasters. In contrast, newspapers were more likely to cover stories that were aimed at promoting the Conservative Party.