Media's Distorted Reality: Unraveling Exaggeration and Sensationalism

Exaggeration by Media

What is Exaggeration?

An act or instance of exaggerating something and overstating over reality is exaggeration basically the act of describing as larger than its actual worth or greater than what is true or a statement that has been enlarged beyond what is true.

Exaggeration and News:

Every day the news is filled with stories about war, terrorism, crime, pollution, inequality, drug abuse and oppression it's not just the headlines were talking about it may include some issues or stories produced by news channels or by just an individual.

In News when an issue or a news is overhyped it takes it to the exaggeration and make it famous around most of the people even to those who cannot even relate to it but must be talking about it.

Famously exaggerated stories:

Royal weddings: In 2011 Prince William who is the expected next king of United Kingdom had decided to get into a knot with his girlfriend Kate Middleton and non-royal ordinary girl lives in United Kingdom.

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Their relationship might have looked weird just because of their families statuses and would have got some coverage being an royal wedding but that become the most exaggerated news because it got every news channel talking about it even after a week it has done. From their dress to a single step taken by both of them was highlighted by news.

West Nile virus : In West Nile fever is a viral infection typically spread by mosquitoes. According to survey no symptoms of it founded in 80% of people but it was spreader among the people by news like every second people on earth has it and portrayed it like HIV Aids.

Ending of word in 2012: In 2009 a movie "2012" was released by Roland Emmerich which is about massive destruction happens in the world and was shown it happened in 2012 which has been spreader among people that it is going to happen in 2012 and was overhyped which make a lot people frighten about 2012. After 2012 been passed away people realized that that movie was an absolute exaggeration and was just for the business of the movie.

Sensationalism:

Sensationalism, in epistemology and psychology, a form of Empiricism that limits experience as a source of knowledge to sensation or sense perceptions. Sensationalism refers to the use of sensational subject matter, style or methods, or the sensational subject matter itself behavior, published materials, or broadcasts that are intentionally controversial, exaggerated, lurid, loud, or attention-grabbing and to describe or show something in a way that makes it seem more shocking than it really is.

Sensationalism and Media:

Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are overhyped to present biased impressions on events, which may cause a manipulation to the truth of a story.

Why Sensationalized?

One presumed goal of sensational reporting is to increase or sustain viewership from which media outlets can price their advertising higher to increase their profits based on higher numbers of viewers.

Effects on Targeted viewers:

As media outlets arouses and explain all the things in superficial manner it directly effects it viewers and put some serious effects on the way its viewers perceive it. Some of the viewers do not take such interest in what's on media but most of them observe it keenly an try to adopt those things what they have seen on television, listened on Radio or read in newspaper. Media directly influence people life which might be not proven to be good sometimes.

Exaggeration around the globe:

As all over the world socioeconomically status emphasized on middle class or lower income class all those are the main target of mainstream media.

According to statista .com : The source projected the number of TV household would reach 1.74 billion in 2023, up from 1.63 billion in 2017. Which means media had influenced and will keep influencing people's life on larger number in the future .

Aggression due to Sensationalistic exaggerated content :

While media is keep focusing on it Sensationalized content and making things more exaggerated it will surely put more adverse effects on society. A viewer does not think before getting into a content produced by media that what impact he will get when that content start influencing his ordinary life which makes him more aggressive if he cannot achieve that goal which he has settled after being influenced by media. And for achieving that goal he might try some illegal or immoral ways which are directly against the norms of one's social life.

Glorification persuade:

Exaggerated things can become deadly persuasive when presented glorified in some cases and can enforce people to adopt it to achieve what he has thought about it not considering its harmfulness and adverse effects.

Alcohol: Alcohol consumption is the most glorified thing settled by media over last few decades. We are surrounded by the message that alcohol is fun, attractive, desirable and harmless. We get this message many times a day. We get it from the ads and, far more insidiously, we get it from the media, which depend upon alcohol advertising for a large share of their profits. Keep focusing and exaggerate a false assumption is absolutely wrong and is so injurious to human life.

Out of the world thoughts: Media is generating all new content everyday and in every new movie or in drama serial it comes out with new idea some of them are really good and need to applied in actual world but some of them are really so superficial and cannot be adopted by people in real but plays a major role in how its viewers perceive it and act upon it. Like in some movies it been showed that a individual person got against the whole system of government and fighting against all political parties which is an absolute misconception and exaggeration. It would not change the actual system in real but may develop a new thought in some of its viewers to go against the government.

Love stories: As like other objectives of media to achieve Love stories and all content about emotional attachments has become favorite for media to exaggerate. More of the people who have ever got to any relationship are influenced by media. In movies and drama it is portrayed as essential part of ones life and to get it he can do anything with the term "Everything is fair in War and Love" . This topic has become the major part of media and been exaggerated well enough to putting adverse effects. "In 2015 a 15 years old school boy in Karachi killed his girlfriend and himself in the way he saw in a movie" that is the clear example of how media influence life and its exaggeration puts adverse effects on people's life.

Suggestion for future:

As exaggeration has become an tool for the business of media helping it to flourish more economically stronger by gaining more viewership it should emphasize more on positive messages conveyed by itself. As like ordinary news are exaggerated only for the sake of beneficial profits by getting more viewers positive news should be conducted in glorified manners which impact people for good and influence them to be good socially and themselves.