AN INDEPENDENT MEDIA LITERACY PROJECT
The media is thirsty for our attention.
To understand why, just follow the money.
News and media make money based on the size of their audience.
The more eyeballs they get on their content, the more money they make. For almost 50 years, however, large parts of the news and media industries in America have shifted away from trying to appeal to the broadest audience with quality content and apolitical rhetoric. Instead, they've learned it's easier, and more profitable, to grab our attention with sensationalized and partisan content.
TL;DR:
The media industry rewards those who lean into outrage.
When media companies get more users and viewers, they can charge more for their services and advertising space.
These financial incentives mean they care less about the quality stories and focus more on having a constant stream of content for their users.
Topics that evoke negative emotions get the most engagement, so people or stories discussing them are pushed to the forefront.
As a result, media companies rely on sensational content, regardless of the facts or substance, because it's easy to manufacture and good at attracting an audience.
Public figures who want media attention make sensational statements, because those get more attention on TV and social media. When regular people believe these claims, our ideas about the world become overly shaped by anger and fear, and we turn back to our media for updates about our concerns.
Why are media companies so thirsty for attention?
Because eyes on content = money.
Their profits depend on having as many people as possible viewing their ads, programming, or other content. Here's how it works.
Hover or click on each card for more information.
Let me say that again for the folks in the back:
Media companies
show us
whatever content gets viewers,
even if that content is exaggerated or totally untrue.
The more dependent a company is on ad revenue, the more likely it is to show you sensational content.
Check out how much of the following companies' revenue comes from ads.
Hover over the graphs for more info (or click if you're on mobile).
Income by Source
All Other Income
Advertising
*includes carriage fees, licensing fees, and online subscription fees.
Facebook gets 98% of its income from ads on the apps it owns, including Instagram. Those ads earned them $84.2 billion in revenue in 2020.
ByteDance gets 79% of its income from ads on its apps,
like TikTok. Those ads earned them $27.2 billion in revenue 2020.
ByteDance
Twitter gets 86% of its income from ads, primarily via promoted tweets. These brought in $3.2 billion in revenue in 2020.
TV news networks get less of their total income from ads, and yet,
their business is completely dependent on viewership.
This incentivizes them to focus on what they think will get them the highest viewership, rather than what's important or true.
Check out how much of the following news networks' revenue comes from ads.
Hover over the graphs for more info (or click if you're on mobile).
Income by Source
All Other Income
Advertising
Fox
News
CNN
This especially applies to media companies that rely on real-time events and updates, including...
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Cable TV News Channels, like Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.
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Social media platforms, like TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit.
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Media that promote specific political ideologies, like news opinion shows and segments.
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Many others that rely on breaking news stories, real time updates, active viewership, and social media engagement.
Remember: Not all media companies are created equal.
Some use outrage and sensationalism more than others. Some adhere most strictly to facts. Some have other motivations altogether, like serving an ideology. We'll cover how to tell the difference in another series.
Negativity bias is the way that negative information and experiences often have a greater impact on a person's psyche than neutral or positive ones of equal intensity.
So, just how important is viewer- based income for the media business?
Check out these stats about where their revenue comes from.
Hover over the graphs for more info (or click if you're on mobile).
Sources
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Hendriks Vettehen, P. and Kleemans, M. (2017). Proving the Obvious? What Sensationalism Contributes to the Time Spent on News Video. Electronic News, 12(2), pp.113-127. doi: 10.1177/1931243117739947
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Pelt, S. (2016). Affiliate Fees and Content Licensing Revenues for the Media Sector. Market Realist. Accessed October 1, 2021.
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Facebook, Inc. (2020). Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. p.66. Accessed October 1, 2021.
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Twitter, Inc. (2020). Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. pp.41-42. Accessed October 1, 2021.
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Fox Corporation. (2020). Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. p.36. Accessed October 1, 2021.
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Walker, M. and Norman-Katz, N. (2021). Cable News Fact Sheet. Pew Research Center. Accessed October 1, 2021.
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Vaish A., Grossmann T., & Woodward A. (2008). Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development. Psychological bulletin, 134(3), 383. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.383
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These companies are totally dependent on views to stay in business. This model incentivizes media companies to show you whatever keeps you watching or scrolling, even if that content is deceptive, sensationalized, or bad for your health and relationships
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so they are most interested in showing you whatever will keep you watching or scrolling, no matter what that content is