Sensationalism is the use of language with key words that are useful to make a boring story into an exciting one. Assumptions, accusations, and lies are used to make the story more interesting.
Introduction
Sensationalism is a powerful tool used in the journalism world. Journalists use keywords to create a shocking title for a boring article. Some may even make assumptions, lies, or gossip in order to make the story as attractive as the title.
Examples & Explanations
Example # 1:
This is a very good example of sensationalism because instead of informing, this story is used as gossip. They use exclamation marks in order to make the title seem more interesting. They use the color yellow and capital letters so it stands out and it's the first thing that you read. Finally, Brad might've been with another lady, but we don't know if she was an actual hooker and we don't know either if they we're having a relationship, or if it was just friendship or work.
Example # 2:
This is sensationalism because they use an important figure in our society and make assumptions about what is happening behind closed doors. They use yellow, capital letters, and exclamation marks in order to attract your attention. There are no actual facts about the event, just opinions and theories.
Example # 3:
As you can see above, the journalist that wrote this, used sensationalism in the title. It uses really big letters, especially in "EBOLA!" just to scare the people into reading the whole article. The rest of the title is underlined and with black letters. They try to grab your attention just by exaggerating the title.
Example # 4:
Sensationalism appears in the title because the title seems like a warning, as well as they use big and white letters to scare the people. They exaggerate and assume things in order to make a good story and sell. Journalists have no idea what is actually happening with ISIS and they can't inform us about something they're not 100% sure. The image that they use is shocking because it's a man holding a gun with an ISIS uniform. This interests the people into reading the whole article.
Example # 5:
This is sensationalism because they exaggerate a lot the situation. They say it's an attack and it's brutal, but it was just two protestants walking on stage and yelling stuff. They explain the whole experience as shocking and scary, but it wasn't that bad, they just dramatise the title in order to get more people to read it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we think that what journalists do with sensationalism is unethical even though it's 100% legal. People at newspapers can do whatever they want and can't be accused of anything. They assume, lie, and theorise stories that are there just to sell, make money and acquire power. Journalists use powerful tools like words ad images to make stories seem fascinating. Journalism it's now not a tool to inform, but to scare and allure our society into reading more and more each time just with simple words and shocking images.