News coverage is information about current events published in newspapers, magazines, news blogs, television and radio. It includes interviews, transcripts, articles and other written material, and it may include video clips, audio recordings or photographs. The content of news media often focuses on politics, government, crime, the economy, social issues and international relations.
The men and women who present the news, like anyone else, have feelings and motives that affect their judgment and choices. If they are angry, jealous or anxious, their perspectives can be skewed. They may also belong to complex organizations with different, sometimes competing, goals and needs. They must deal with tight deadlines and budgetary constraints.
Even when they try to report the facts as they see them, journalists often make decisions that skew their coverage. For example, they might focus on the sound and fury of political situations instead of describing how the arguments at a congressional hearing were presented. During the government shutdown of 1995, CBS broadcast a heated exchange between the secretary of defense and a senator in which the senator denounced the decision to keep military funds at their current level. This is not the way a senator would have spoken to his or her fellow committee members in private, but it’s how the situation played out on live TV.
Another concern is that news stories are often too short. This is especially true of television and radio news, which are confined by limited time slots. In addition, some studies suggest that negative news raises a person’s stress levels and can have other negative effects on health.