Preferring negative or positive news? A closer examination of journalistic negativity in a health crisis

Abstract

Negativity of news coverage is widely documented. We examined whether the news media’s preference for reporting negative events was salient in news coverage of the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, which was characterized by intensification or mitigation of viral spread. The daily number of news stories on the outbreak was compared with several viral spread indices to determine if the media responded to negative changes more than positive changes. At the aggregate level, the amount of MERS news coverage was associated with positive changes. When the number of newly confirmed patients decreased, the MERS news increased. However, a separate investigation of breakout and abatement stages showed that the media covered more negative changes during the breakout stage and shifted to more positive occurrences during abatement. These findings are discussed in light of the dynamics of journalistic attention to health crisis.

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