Abstract
As media sacrifice standards for survival in cutthroat markets, sensationalism and tabloidization proliferate worldwide. Newspapers used to eschew punctuation marks, particularly exclamation marks, in news headlines, considering it sensationalism. Headlines with exclamatory gimmicks were required to be rewritten. As news went online, however, so did headline exclamations, which may have been a carry-over from other computer-mediated communication where exclamation marks are used to express emotions. This study integrates theories of spiral, sensationalism, and alarm, respectively from communication research, journalism, and psychology, and applies the integrated theory to processes and effects of online news.
News headlines signal changes in the environment. Headlines elicit readers’ attention due to the functioning of the alarm system and sensationalism as a part of human instinct in adapting to the changes in environment. The exclamation mark as a symbol related to threatening situations and emotive forces, together with headlines signaling environment changes, we assume that the combination of exclamation marks and online news headlines will elicit a significant amount of attention from readers.
This study investigates the effect of exclamation marks in online news headlines on the reading and relaying behavior of Chinese users. Web users have increased by nearly 30 times in China in less than 15 years, from 22.5 million in 2000 to 642 million in 2014. Knowing the online behavior of this group should enhance our understanding of human communication in general.
Based on an analysis of nearly 80 thousands news stories posted on TouTiao.com (Headline News) of China, it shows that exclamation marks in headlines, as cries for alarms and triggers for sensations, lead to significantly higher number of reads and relays, leading to a spiral of imbalance in favor of sensationalized content. By contrast, the same effect does not extend to other punctuation marks.
There has been a debate on how to balance professionalism and commercial interest in the journalism industry. Sensationalism is increasingly used by journalists as a bait to lure clicks and views. However, over-use of this strategy may jeopardize the credibility of the media organization.
News headlines signal changes in the environment. Headlines elicit readers’ attention due to the functioning of the alarm system and sensationalism as a part of human instinct in adapting to the changes in environment. The exclamation mark as a symbol related to threatening situations and emotive forces, together with headlines signaling environment changes, we assume that the combination of exclamation marks and online news headlines will elicit a significant amount of attention from readers.
This study investigates the effect of exclamation marks in online news headlines on the reading and relaying behavior of Chinese users. Web users have increased by nearly 30 times in China in less than 15 years, from 22.5 million in 2000 to 642 million in 2014. Knowing the online behavior of this group should enhance our understanding of human communication in general.
Based on an analysis of nearly 80 thousands news stories posted on TouTiao.com (Headline News) of China, it shows that exclamation marks in headlines, as cries for alarms and triggers for sensations, lead to significantly higher number of reads and relays, leading to a spiral of imbalance in favor of sensationalized content. By contrast, the same effect does not extend to other punctuation marks.
There has been a debate on how to balance professionalism and commercial interest in the journalism industry. Sensationalism is increasingly used by journalists as a bait to lure clicks and views. However, over-use of this strategy may jeopardize the credibility of the media organization.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 28 Jul 2016 |
| Event | International Association for Media and Communication Research Conference, IAMCR 2016: Memory, Commemoration and Communication: Looking Back, Looking Forward - Leicester, United Kingdom Duration: 27 Jul 2016 → 31 Jul 2016 https://leicester2016.iamcr.org/leicester2016.html (Link to conference website) |
Conference
| Conference | International Association for Media and Communication Research Conference, IAMCR 2016 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Leicester |
| Period | 27/07/16 → 31/07/16 |
| Internet address |
|