Denotations and Connotations in Sensationalism - Essay Example

Sensationalism Sensationalism Introduction Sensationalism can be defined as the style used in reporting news to the public where the use of anger, fear, tension, excitement and at times crude thrill are used by the media to pull or attract the viewership, readership, ratings and eventually profits. Sensationalism in the internet is loosely used to an extent that the distinction between accurate and inaccurate news becomes a challenge to establish. Bloggers and tabloids have taken over the internet sensational new about celebrity breakups and relationships, expose on scandals and all manner of wretchedness and have developed popularity in the recent years. Sensationalism in its practice is not a new concept as such. The practice has been around going back to early humans. The act of storytelling and narrations were often related and focused on sex and conflict. According to Gaudreault et al. (2012) sensationalism per se is not a new phenomenon but has been there for long only that the term is new. Denotations and Connotations in Sensationalism Denotation and connotation are terms that are used to convey and also differentiate between two separate kinds of meanings of a particular word. In media reporting, denotation is regarded as first level of analysis; this is primarily what the target audience can visually view on the page. Often, it refers to literal meaning, and avoids any elements of metaphor. Denotations are occasionally coupled with connotation, which forms part of the second level of analysis. Connotation is symbolic nature of a word, things or attributes that are triggered by a word, ideas and notions suggested or even associated a particular word. Connotations are associated with emotions and feelings. According to Durham & Kellner (2005), connotations vary depending on the context and the individual understanding of the word. A single word can bring different emotions, ideas and feelings to different people depending on their personal experiences. Sensationalism in itself is largely controlled by denotations and connotations but often in the wrong way. The application of connotations particularly is largely depended on the context and the target audience. If one decides to intentionally ignore this consideration, then they are likely to send out the wrong information. While sensationalism is not completely a negative tool to be used in the media and journalism, it matters when it is applied in crucial situations. In an online article on The New York Post by Fears (2014) the writer gives a headline concerning construction of a "mosque” at the centre of the ground zero. In real sense, there is no mosque being constructed in this area. As a matter fact, it was a construction of a museum devoted to Islam. For one to understand this, they need to understand about the 9/11 events and the reasoning behind the use of the term mosque. This is a perfect example of how connotation might give the complete opposite meaning of a particular word. Somebody might argue that sensationalism is significant in attracting people towards a particular news platform. With the advancement in the internet communication, the social media and the establishment of news blogs and websites, more people are trying to get traffic into their platform. This has been turned into competition with most people compromising the accuracy of the information posted or published just to attract the masses. News is often twisted in ways that will capture people’s attention regardless of whether the headline is accurate or not. Cohen (2008) says that sensationalism is often associated negative news where as soft headlines are associated with positive news. Sensationalism can easily give a wrong impression regarding the content of news. Problem of sensationalism According to Donsbach (2015), sensationalism has affected the public in so many ways by creating the wrong impression to the public leading to negative understanding of some of aspects that are crucial in the society. In the recent years, even international media houses have been found to use sensationalism as a way passing their news to the public. By using attractive, enticing and provoking headlines, media houses and journalists are able to attract the attention of readers. Most of the times, the details or content of the headline might be the complete of the opposite. According to Fox News (2011), Jon Stewart claimed that the bias among the mainstream media is mainly inclined towards sensationalism, conflict and laziness. The public has the right to get the right and correct information. There is the psychological aspect of reading information and this is largely affected by the headline one sees even before going through the news. According to Giannangelo (2012), all knowledge and understanding of concepts and interpretation of information is largely triggered by sensations as well as abstract ideas which form the basis of elementary sense impressions. Victimization of people Sensationalism easily affects individuals featured in the news and articles especially when the information published on headlines is wrong or incorrect. Miller (2008) says that peoples reputation and identity have been tarnished through sensational reporting. Majority of people might not get the denoted meaning of specific words used by reporters leading to the public getting the wrong impression concerning the people feature in the news. When this happens, at times it becomes hard to reverse the effect. Most of the reporters and media houses that do this might decided to carry out a subsequent news making clarification but with minimal magnitude to try make correction. The individual featured is finally left affected. In his post with The Guardian Carlin (2014) uses the headline calling former South African athlete Oscar Pistorius "Intelligent, self-contained, stupid and hot-headed". This is a radical way to describe a person who is going through trial and has not been proven to be guilty. The athlete who is also physically challenged is most definitely victimized by this headline. The effect that the media has on the public is so much and may not even be effectively controlled by policies and systems. The impact the news create on particular subject can easily influence the perception and understanding of different concepts. It is even worse when it comes to the effect in regard to news concerning individuals. Whenever people have been featured in particular news, the public tends to believe that whatever has been printed or published is true and final. The featured individual at times may not have the chance to give their take in the matter. This leaves them victimized and violated. According to Radford (2012), suspects of crime and other people from marginalized groups are easily turned into victims of sensational reporting where wrong information is published regarding them. Public misinformation Sensational headline can at times lead to misinformation regarding very serious issue to the public. The public domain largely relies on blogs, news websites to get reliable and authentic information. When the wrong information is given, the public might not even notice at times. There are those individuals who might note the mistake but the biggest number is the people who will believe the initial story. Carter (2014) reports of how after the disappearance of the Flight MH370, CNN online coverage gave very exaggerated analysis and headlines with information that did not have realizable sources. The media house gave information regarding flight route and details concerning the cabin crew and the passengers even before the Malaysian government released any information. The public took this information seriously and with great significance due to the serious nature of the incident. The public relies on acquiring information from all possible sources including the internet. People are able to access this information and easily believe the information acquired. Sensational headlines tend to attract more people and this consequently means that many people tend to acquire the wrong information. The public is concerned with serious issues regarding the health threats, terrorism, political developments among others and media houses, bloggers and freelance reporters have taken this into their advantage to speculate around this topics and issues. According to Cornwell (2009) public misinformation might not be easy to control especially when people have already read about particular news. News houses should make efforts to correct such mistakes. High levels of inaccuracies Sensationalism does not give any consideration to accuracy but rather on profits and high traffic in terms of readers. Information can easily be twisted or compromised either intentionally or ignorantly with the aim of getting better ratings and the masses. The lack of accuracy in the news affects both the audience as well as the individuals whose information is being reported. The idea of accurate journalism and reporting can only be effective if facts are put next to facts other than speculation. Media houses in effort to make breaking news and also running with exclusives shift to making speculations concerning issues they feel is more relevant and attached to people. After the Boston bombing, major media houses rushed to make headlines and breaking news regarding the victims as well as the arrest if the terrorists. All these were speculation without information from the police and the government. According to Carter (2013) the FBI criticized some of the media houses who had made wrong reporting regarding an arrest of suspects related to the Boston Marathon. At that point, investigations were still underlay and no one had been taken in relation to the bombing. CNN and Fox News had made reports regarding the arrest and this was a second mistake from the two media houses who the previous year had misreport supreme court’s ruling regarding the President Obamas health care. There is no doubt that sensationalism has a great effect on the accuracy of the information being portrayed. The headlines and the content tend to be totally different and this might confuse the reader of the news. In the end, the reader either gets confused or completely lost on what is the real news. According to Henry (2007), sensational journalism is considered to be one the single reasons why news may end losing its credibility. Cases of inaccuracies in reporting especially when one knows that they are reporting the wrong information affects the peoples perception regarding the source of the news. Conclusion With the advances in the technology and the social media, information can be shared all over the world within seconds. People can access information through different gadgets ranging from smart phones, iPads, tablets, television sets, and laptops among others. This means that there are now a huge number of people using the web with the purpose of getting information and entertaining themselves. In an ideal situation, this would be a call for quality and credible reporting in order to ensure that unnecessary fear, excitement and fear is not created. Instead, people have decided to use sensationalism t instill fear, excitement and other unnecessary emotions and feeling to people. The social media allows people to use external links to websites and blogs and people have become creative to create headlines that attract people to click on their link. The information on such blogs and websites are mainly irrelevant and inaccurate. Nonetheless, sensationalism if well applied is effective and instrumental in creative journalism as well as creating emphasis on curtain issues. Sensationalism in the media has become a tool for propaganda and sharing of ideological stands through the media. Sensationalism is more of an unethical journalism as is primary objective is not based on informing the audience but rather capture and manipulate the public. The problems with sensationalism need to be addressed with seriousness as it has much negative impact. The government and other stakeholders need to develop polices and structures that will encourage positive and ethical journalism other than letting the industry at the expense of manipulation and unprofessionalism. References Top of Form Donsbach, W. (2015) the concise encyclopedia of communication Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons Inc Top of Form Gaudreault, A., Dulac, N., & Hidalgo, S. (2012). A Companion to Early Cinema New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Giannangelo, S. J. (2012). Real-life monsters: A psychological examination of the serial murderer. Bottom of Form Top of Form Durham, M. G., & Kellner, D. (2005) Media and Cultural Studies Oxford: John Wiley & Sons. 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Media and the path to peace Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Carlin, J. (2014, November 16). Oscar Pistorius: ‘Intelligent and self-contained, stupid and hot-headed’. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/nov/16/oscar-pistorius-john-carlin-south-africa Carter, B. (2014, March 17). CNN’s Ratings Surge Covering the Mystery of the Missing Airliner. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/business/media/cnns-ratings-surge-with-coverage-of-the-mystery-of-the-missing-airliner.html Carter, B. (2013, April 17). The F.B.I. Criticizes the News Media After Several Mistaken Reports of an Arrest. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/business/media/fbi-criticizes-false-reports-of-a-bombing-arrest.html Fears, D. (2014, April 30). Developer ditches plan for ‘Ground Zero mosque’. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from New York Post: http://nypost.com/2014/04/30/developer-ditches-ground-zero-mosque-to-create-museum-for-islam/ Fox News. (2011, June 11). Exclusive: Jon Stewart on Fox News Sunday. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from Fox News: http://video.foxnews.com/v/1007046245001/exclusive-jon-stewart-on-fox-news-sunday/?#sp=show-clips Read More