Pte Essay on “News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers”.

News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. What factors do you think influence these decisions? Do we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good news were reported? Use your own ideas, knowledge and experiences and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.

Media is the only way for a layman to have access to national and international affairs. Hence there is a common opinion that everything reported by media should be true. However, it is an accepted fact that news editors, while deciding what to report, can be influenced by many factors.

The very first thing that has a bearing on the decision making is the need for publicity and profit. It has often been said that ‘Good news is bad news’ because it does not raise circulation. Hence, instead of reporting the real facts, news editors may be forced to go after news that attracts the public. Thus, the general public is provided biased news, which they savor delightfully. Furthermore, in a society where there is various political, religious or social ideologies, editors may resort to favoritism as lack of support from major group will have serious consequences over their publicity.

Moreover, it is seen that some newspapers and TV stations are owned by some political parties or religious groups with well-defined objectives; to propagate their own ideologies. In such cases, it is cocksure that what they provide will be for their own interest. Furthermore, the coming up of audio-visual media changed the nature of news altogether. Now television channels only give importance to those news which make visual interest.

If it is true, then one has to believe that newspapers and TV stations are tailoring their news to their readers’ and viewers’ requirements. Thus it can be said that reporting real world events in an honest and objective light has become almost impossible.