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"Do most stations do a good job of presenting a balanced mix of positive and negative
types of stories, or is this an area where they need to improve?"
Many stations have made significant strides in this area, but almost 40% of the viewers
feel that most still need to do a better job. Just over half of them (22%) feel strongly
about this, particularly men, 50-64s, and minorities.
 What Viewers Really
Have to Say about Balance
The majority of viewers still think
there are too many negative stories on most local newscasts, and that more positive
content is needed for balance. In fact, many say that their local newscasts are ENTIRELY
negative, with the possible exception of weather and sports. "You get slammed every
day with all the bad stuff...You don't see any positive. Everything is negative, negative,
negative...You almost don't want to turn the news on, because it's all negative. We don't
want to spend an hour just listening to everything that's bad."
Viewers say that the number of negative stories is depressing, so much so that it
sometimes makes them less likely to watch. Others worry about the effects of so much
real-life violence on the minds of young people, as well as what it's doing to society as
a whole. "If you project a presence of doom and gloom on a constant daily basis, then
it's gonna have a profound effect on people's psyches...The negativity is impacting our
children and how they're growing up."
Some viewers feel that negative news fits into the general image associated with the
"tabloid" style used by some local newscasts to lure an audience. In addition,
they say that the order of stories within a typical newscast may also be responsible for
the feeling that all news is bad. "They put all the bad stuff in together, and then
they put the good stuff in at the end."
Several respondents say that when a station offers a better balance between negative and
positive stories, that means the station has a higher quality of coverage. "[A
balance of positive and negative] means you'll get a better coverage of the news...When
you sit down to watch news, you need to know everything, and they should give you a little
bit of everything...Why just [negative or ]positive things? Let's just talk about
everything."
Blacks and Hispanics often attach a racial interpretation to this issue, saying that what
they really want is "a better balance of positive and negative stories specifically
about African Americans or Hispanics." Many feel that people of color are either
ignored or portrayed in a negative way by local television. "When they put Black
people on TV, they always pick the dumbest ones at the scene of a crime to
interview...Sometimes they make more of an issue of crimes committed by Blacks than by
Whites...Blacks and Hispanics are unfairly represented as criminals. If the story is on
welfare, crime, or the prison system, they always show Blacks...Here in Corpus Christi,
we're about 65% Mexican-American, and they should cover more of [our] stories."
Additional comments concerning this issue:
There Need to Show the Good Things, Not Just the Bad —
"They give you the feeling that nothing good ever happens, and a lot of people are
doing good things that should have credit. Community projects, Goodwill, things for the
elderly, people in need...They need to get away from so much crime and disaster, and give
more of the good things that're happening, and good things people are doing to improve
life, help improve the environment, etc...It'd be very refreshing to hear positive things
goin' on...There's positive and negative in everything...I like to hear about positive
things...All they ever show is negative stories out here on the local news, they never get
any positive stories..Positive stories really get no airplay. Catastrophes is all they
want to report. That's all you see on TV...You turn on any world news, and the whole tone
tends to be different. It's more of a neutral tone, and you get a bit of both sides. It
seems to be a little more balanced to me. So when you watch world news [as opposed to
local news], you see the difference right away...A lot of times when you watch the news,
it's so negative, because there's so much bad stuff going on, it makes you feel that's all
there is to life...As we all know, news is primarily violence and crime. There aren't
really nice things that come on the news...Positive is what makes the world go...There's a
lot of positive stuff out there we can learn from. People helping other people, charities,
what we could do to help."
Positive News Has a Positive Influence On Society —
"If young people who don't necessarily have good models for behavior, if that's all
they hear, they feel it gives them a license to follow in that type of behavior. I feel if
they hear some of the positive, some of the younger ones will feel there's an alternative
of behavior they can aspire to...We need more positive news...The media has a very big
effect on people. If you keep on presenting only negative stories, and it's the only thing
they hear, then they'll tend to lean towards that negativism. But if you balance it, you
not only allow them to see the two sides of the story, but you have them thinking
positive, also...Children are also watching, and need to know there's a good world out
there, too, and they can be a part of that...When they focus on sensationalism, they don't
necessarily give people good role models they can be following. Certain kinds of examples,
like someone who's a community volunteer, or more on Habitat for Humanity, or food banks,
or education at a university."
Having Too Much Negative Is Frightening & Depressing to Watch
— "We begin to feel frightened, and it really isn't as bad as they make it out
to be...It's too much violence...It's nice to hear something good, like an achievement.
Or, because they've always done these stories on the bad part of welfare, report stories
on people who've pulled themselves up out of it...Most of it is accidents or
homicides...Have some stuff that isn't all crime related...After you get done watching
news, you're thoroughly depressed...You almost don't wanna turn the news on, because it's
all negative...If all we see is negative, it's gonna start our day off wrong, and we're
gonna feel bad...We all need encouragement, and it's very depressing to watch nothing but
negative news...We had a shooting on this street, then they tell you about a rape, and
then a woman was carjacked, and they threw her out of the car, and the baby was in the car
with the kidnappers, etc. You hear all that, and say `My God, I'm afraid to go
outside!'...Probably the reason I don't watch the news on a regular basis is because I
know the entire half-hour or hour I'm gonna be watching is just all bad news, bad news,
bad news. It's all necessary to know, but it's little overwhelming."
Other Observations — "We want to hear it all...I'd
like to hear both sides...Like they show something negative, and then when it's
straightened out, they never follow up to show everything turned out alright."
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