The News Media’s Dangerous Addiction to ‘Fake Facts’
Jun 7, 2024
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Jerusalem Demsas, a staff writer at The Atlantic and host of the podcast Good on Paper, dives into media biases that skew public perception. She discusses the alarming trend of negativity in news reporting, emphasizing that audiences share the blame for sensationalism. Demsas critiques misguided narratives around maternal mortality and highlights how misinformation impacts public trust, especially during crises like COVID-19. Her insights reveal the importance of critical evaluation of news, urging listeners to seek out grounded, factual discourse.
The most significant bias in news media is towards negativity and catastrophes, shaping public perceptions and trust.
Audience behavior influences news media bias, emphasizing negative stories over positives and shaping news presentation.
Deep dives
Negativity Bias in News Media
The most important bias in news media is a bias toward negativity and catastrophe. The news often focuses on negative aspects and catastrophes, which leads to intense institutional mistrust and bias against various sectors. This bias is not solely attributed to the news media but is also influenced by audience behavior, shaping what news is presented. Understanding this negativity bias is crucial in comprehending the current state of media and societal trust.
Impact of Catastrophizing Bias
Catastrophizing bias can lead to emphasizing bad news over good news, even when it may not accurately reflect reality. The tendency to focus on catastrophic narratives influences public perception and policy decisions. Examples include how events like crime surges receive more coverage than declines, creating inaccurate public perceptions. This bias can also suppress positive statistics, impacting overall understanding of societal issues.
Maternal Mortality Misconceptions
The podcast delves into the misconception surrounding maternal mortality rates in the U.S., highlighting a shift in recording practices that led to a perceived increase in deaths. The introduction of a pregnancy checkbox on death certificates caused an overestimation of maternal mortality. This change in measurement method, rather than an actual increase in deaths, contributed to the alarming rise in reported maternal mortality cases.
Challenges of Communicating Complex Truths
Communicating evolving truths, such as the effectiveness of mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic, requires nuance and care. The evolving scientific understanding demands careful communication to convey accurate information to the public. Media incentives, audience biases, and the need for transparent reporting play crucial roles in fostering informed public discourse amidst evolving narratives.
What do most people not understand about the news media? I would say two things. First: The most important bias in news media is not left or right. It’s a bias toward negativity and catastrophe. Second: That while it would be convenient to blame the news media exclusively for this bad-news bias, the truth is that the audience is just about equally to blame. The news has never had better tools for understanding exactly what gets people to click on stories. That means what people see in the news is more responsive than ever to aggregate audience behavior. If you hate the news, what you are hating is in part a collective reflection in the mirror. If you put these two facts together, you get something like this: The most important bias in the news media is the bias that news makers and news audiences share toward negativity and catastrophe. Jerusalem Demsas, a staff writer at The Atlantic and the host of the podcast Good on Paper, joins to discuss a prominent fake fact in the news — and the psychological and media forces that promote fake facts and catastrophic negativity in the press.
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