The Impact of Sensational News towards Public Perception on the Malaysian News Industry

Oon, Jin Xuan (2022) The Impact of Sensational News towards Public Perception on the Malaysian News Industry. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Sensationalism has always been an effective means to gain profit. This effectiveness is further amplified with the aid of digital media. However, it is argued that the publication of sensational news may bring harmful consequences in the long run if people start to have a negative perception towards it. In return, this negative perception would affect corporate reputation, and readers may eventually stop consuming news from media outlets that publish overly sensational news. Therefore, this study aims to find out how sensational news published by online news impacts the public perception of the Malaysian news industry. To do so, an online survey was distributed to 150 Malaysian online news readers. The results show that respondents enjoy reading sensational news and agree with its publication even though they have a negative perception towards it. Therefore, it is suggested this negative perception alone would not pose any significant threats to the survival of media outlets in the near future. Still, there is a price to pay for the publication of sensational news – and that is the reputation of the media outlets and how the public perceives journalism and news itself.