Is the Medium the Message?: An Experimental Test with Morbid News

In: Journalism quarterly, Band 69, Heft 4, S. 921-928

Abstract

This study examined whether medium is an important factor in arousal of curiosity about morbid events. A total of 131 undergraduate students read or viewed six reports: one good news story, one neutral story and four morbid stories. One group read print versions only, while a second group saw photographic images depicting these events and a third group viewed televised versions of these events. Subjects rated stories on a 100-point thermometer rating scale measuring attraction-aversion. Television news reports, somewhat contrary to expectations, did not evoke more curiosity about morbid events than did print or still photo accounts. Television may be getting a bad rap, the authors suggest.