sensationalism

thumb|upright=1.5|Causes of death in the US vs. media coverage. The percentage of media attention for terrorism, homicide, or suicide is much greater than the percentage of deaths caused by it. There is a null in numerical data concerning deaths per day on various bars in media charts. In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emotionally loaded impressions of events rather than journalistic objectivity. Sensationalism may rely on reports about generally insignificant matters and portray them as a major influence on society, or biased presentations of newsworthy topics, in a trivial or tabloid manner, contrary to general assumptions of professional journalistic standards.

Some tactics include appealing to emotions, seeking and stoking controversy, and generally prioritizing attention. Trivial information and events are sometimes misrepresented and exaggerated as important or significant, and often include stories about the actions of individuals and small groups of people, the content of which is often insignificant and irrelevant to the macro-level day-to-day events occurring globally.