News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to write in newspapers. What factors influence these decisions? Do you think we become used to bad news? Should more good news be reported?

News editors have challenging decisions to make when deciding what to publish because they must consider the interests of many competing factors. The primary consideration for editors is the interests of their employers, or the government if they play a significant role in determining the future of media outlets. If owners have no particular interest in a story, editors will often choose to publish many negative stories as they often contain warnings for the general public, but

this

should be balanced with positive stories to avoid pessimism and cynicism in society. In

this

essay the role of the media will be discussed. Editors are employees and

although

they make decisions about what is to be published, they make those decisions with the interests of their owners in mind. Media organisations often take a political stance and will favour one political party over another to reflect the interests of the owner. In

this

way the media influences political debate and are

therefore

very powerful.

This

situation is both undesirable and

unavoidable but

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unavoidable, but

the overall impact of individual media organisations has become less because of the wide availability of different information sources on the Internet. If there is little political gain in a

story

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story, then

then

editors will generally choose to publish more negative than positive stories in the media because these stories often serve as warnings to the general public.

For example

, stories of children dying because of being left in cars on hot days and people charged with serious offences

such

as drug trafficking in other countries are useful reminders to the population of the serious consequences of these actions.

However

, it is important to balance negative articles with more positive articles to avoid people becoming depressed and cynical and to remind people of the goodness that exists in almost everyone. Stories of people rescuing others or providing support to the ill and underprivileged are important in reminding us of the many positive things that we do for others and are done for us each day. In summary, news editors represent the owners of media organisations and will make decisions in their best interest. Where there is little or no interest they will usually report more negative stories as these serve as warnings to the public, but balance these with positive ones to remind us of the goodness we all possess.