Whether news reports focusing on negative contents at a higher frequency than positive ones is good or not has been a controversial topic. Some people claim that daily issues widely featured in the media would result in more adverse consequences rather than meaningful values towards the society. In my opinion, broadcasting negative stories could provide the public with considerable benefits to some extent; however, the drawbacks are far more significant.
On the one hand, it is undeniable that coverage of bad news could help people heighten their awareness of the daily problems. To be more specific, being exposed to these news could help individuals get deeper insights into the pressing problem in terms of their cause, the happening place as well as the level of consequences that it brings. Hence, it contributes to raising people’s awareness about the alarming issue from the underlying aspects, fostering them to work on immediate action to mitigate the trouble. For instance, if there is news about online fraud, the citizens could get more information about the trick that the fraud does; therefore, be more careful when being contacted for some suspicious purposes such as the offer to transfer a great amount of money via bank account.
On the other hand, exposure to excessive negative contents could impose detrimental impacts on both the individual as well as the society. On the individual level, overwhelming bad news could make a person’s mental condition deteriorate as it might trigger the constant fear of insecurity. For example, when reading an abundant amount of news about coaches crash on the highway leading to the death and injury of travellers, readers could be anxious about going on this kind of vehicle. Moreover, on the society level, excessive focus on negative news would result in political instability. In other words, citizens would blame the government for deplorable cases or poor decisions. Hence, there could be some protests against the governments, adversely affecting the nation’s security.
In conclusion, emphasis on bad news could raise the public’s awareness about the alarming issues; however, this trend might harm people’s mental state and give rise to political unrest, which is far more significant than the aforementioned benefit.