Describe two or three 23 ways in which television journalism

Describe two or three (2-3) ways in which television journalism has become more like entertainment.

Solution

It seems that broadcast television news programs have resorted to a man bites dog, blood and guts, celebrity format,to keep up with the busy American with a short attention span and even shorter amount of free time. This is clearly driven by profit motives. What many think of as news seems to be no more than a few attention grabbing headlines already digested and spit back out in a way that the viewer can understand.

In each story, the journalist decides when and how to disclose documents. The decision is made to suit their purposes and the public must wait for the journalist to decide what is important for them. This is just like dramatic revelations done in theatres or television programmes.

All writers want to keep their audience interested in the story and journalism, like the entertainment industry, relies on its audience. They are not simply disinterested academics producing scholarly works. They are promoting a commodity that is bought and sold.

In a study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, eighty percent of the American public said they believe \"journalists chase sensational stories because they think it will sell papers, not because they think it is important news. \" Another 85 percent of the public believes that \"newspapers frequently over-dramatize some news stories just to sell more papers.\" Over 80 percent believe sensational stories receive lots of news coverage simply because they are exciting, not because they are important.

There is tendency for the press to play up and dwell on stories that are sensational - murders, car crashes, kidnappings, sex scandals and the like.