Assignment:
Yellow journalism involves sensationalism, exaggerations of news, and distorted stories. It began in the late 1800s when newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst became involved in competition for circulation. Yellow journalism downplays legitimate news and promotes misleading headlines to boost sales and excite public opinion. Many of the stories are biased opinions masquerading as objective facts.
•Analyze and explain whether yellow journalism has simply faded away, or is still a part of news reporting.
•How skeptical should readers be while examining sources and stories in the news? Give an example of a news story you have recently read that was misleading or biased. Support your answers with a factual rationale. In reference to the news story that you just identified, provide at least two examples in which the reporter could have made the news story more reliable.
•Infotainment is a television program combining information with entertainment. The three types of crime and justice infotainment shows are news magazines, reality-based crime shows, and media trials. Analyze and explain what types of stories might be picked by crime and justice infotainment shows to entice viewers.
•How close are the crime reality shows to the real work of law enforcement officers? Analyze and explain whether media scripts are amended to make such shows more exciting.
•Of the three types of crime and justice infotainment shows, which would be the most factual and why? Also explain which would be the most fictional. Post links to each of these, as examples.