CP Journalism Series: Why We Report on the Sad Stuff
(Crystal A. Proxmire, April 10, 2023)
Oakland County, MI – The past couple of weeks have been tragic in Oakland County, with stories of a five year old who was found dead in a neighbor’s pool, an infant killed while co-sleeping with a parent, an estranged husband who shot members of his wife’s family, a crash that killed a young woman, a missing man found dead, and more.
For each of those stories, Oakland County Times ran police reports with facts about the incidents. In several of those cases, we had people commenting and writing to request those stories be removed out of respect for the families involved.
It’s a sentiment that we understand, but there are a number of reasons why journalists share information about the saddest and hardest experiences that happen in the community. And I wanted to take a moment to explain those, so people know why.
I can’t speak for other reporters or news outlets, but for me the number one motivation for sharing news about tragic events is because when there is no news, and no official police information, what ends up spreading are rumors. So often when things happen there is false information shared on Facebook. And often the rumors are tied with judgments and accusations which ultimately are even harder on the people involved in the tragic circumstances.
Or there are simply unanswered questions. People are naturally curious when they see a large police presence. There is also a real need for members of the public to understand the complex work that first responders do. Taxpayer dollars fund these services, and understanding them can be crucial in conversations about budgets, funding, and policy.
People may also find comfort in knowing the facts, rather than just hearing rumors and not knowing what is happening with their relative, friend, neighbor, co-workers etc. Sometimes news can help people talk about the tragedies and share info when the family isn’t in a position to. I remember in junior high when a classmate died of a concussion while playing. For many of us, the story in the paper was our way of knowing what happened, and knowing that their death was real, and official. It also gave us something to come together around, and a clipping to remember them by.
Sharing stories of tragedies and accidents helps us in society to know what dangers there are, and how to prevent them. Hearing about a young woman who died in a crash may stick in people’s minds and remind them to take care when driving. Or if there is an intersection with frequent crashes, it can prompt officials to look at the cause and make changes if necessary.
The story about the infant’s death was a reminder for people that sleeping with babies and infants is unsafe, and can prevent further deaths through awareness.
Documenting deaths related to drugs, suicide, or violence is a way for communities to understand how common those problems are. Stories with domestic violence help people know they are not alone in their experiences, and serve as warning that abusive situations can have fatal consequences.
It is true, that tragedies drive website traffic. And what story about journalism and crime would be complete without throwing in the “if it bleeds it leads,” adage. But there is a reason for it. Not only are there problem-solving benefits to sharing tragic news, there are psychological ones.
NiemanLab.org recently broke down a Nature Human Behavour study that looked at the propensity for humans to be drawn to sad words in news headlines. Words like harm, heartbroken, ugly, troubling, angry — get 2.3% more clicks, on average, according to the study.
They added “As Baumeister et al. put it in an oft-cited paper 20 years ago: Bad is stronger than good. In evolutionary psychology terms: “A person who ignores the possibility of a positive outcome may later experience significant regret at having missed an opportunity for pleasure or advancement, but nothing directly terrible is likely to result. In contrast, a person who ignores danger (the possibility of a bad outcome) even once may end up maimed or dead.” Being vigilant against novel threats let our ancestors pass more of their genes into the next generation.”
The Nieman piece sums up the effect, reporting “But thankfully, the effect size is small.”
Another psychological phenomena that I’ve seen over the past 13 years of publishing, is that people want to know about crime stories or other tragedies, until it is someone they know.
Of course this makes sense, but the reality is in every sad story the people involved are someone’s friend or relative. In the midst of hard times, the best route may be advising people to avoid the news, rather than requesting reporters to cover up the stories.
There are times that media can cross the line, and there are media outlets that thrive on sensationalism. When the shootings in Oxford High School happened, there were reporters trying to sneak past police and talk to students. There were reporters going to the hospital and bombarding anyone who passed with questions to see if they were related to the juvenile victims. And the phones of family members dealing with an incredibly difficult situation already, were ringing off the hook with intrusive inquiries. That behavior is what gives reporters a bad name.
For Oakland County Times, our focus was on how to help, and the community efforts that came about to support the students and bring community members together.
Being a reporter can have challenges of what to cover, and how hard to push for information. We often have different ideas of where that line is. But at the end of the day, reporters who are trained and experienced have a good sense of what is appropriate and what isn’t.
In most cases reporters do the jobs they do because they care about communities. Our interest is in providing facts and accurate information about a variety of topics so that members of the public can know about challenges the community faces, and have the data to make good decisions. Ignoring the stuff that is hard to talk about does not make those things go away. There is a saying that “sunlight in the best disinfectant,” which means that you can’t solve problems you can’t see, and that knowledge is power.
I truly hope that people realize the value of hard conversations, and of sad news, even when it touches them personally. We are all connected, and sharing the pain of tragedy ultimately can bring us together in amazing ways. It isn’t easy hearing about hard losses, and it isn’t easy reporting on them.
But it’s still something that the world needs.