Think some of the commenters on here must be writing those headlines!!!

a lot of people have Been saying this for a long time – the media do saturate people with negativity. one reason why i started reading the Journal is because it has positive news stories also

It is remarkable that an industry which depends on advertising for revenue is perpetually reinforcing negativity and gloom. With the greater population having lost trust in politicians and church, the media is helping to fill the information void. With its ability to influence consumer mood, sentiment and demand- surely it is time for newspapers to take a look at their role in society? Well done Kevin Kelly for taking this initiative.

This is why (apart from JournaL.ie) I stay away from newspapers, radio and TV news. There are a certain few journalists out there that seem to get kicks out pi**ing off the the Irish puplic.

At least the Indo is now officially classed as a tabloid.

Whatever sells I suppose,

Although I do think this recession is being milked media wise and I’ve no doubt they have a huge role in keeping it on going (not purposely, just saying that the more people are discouraged to spend the longer the recession will go on for)

No news is good news.

Study shows that thejournal.ie has three times as much Apple stories than any other Irish news site.

Good news is no news.

I tend to agree with the tone of that article. We are deluged with negativity from all media sources not just newspapers. It all becomes a self fulfilling national prophecy. If we are constantly told things are bad we will think and act accordingly (albeit subsconciously most of the time). People with little or no money lose hope and give up. Those with money hoard for the even rainier day. The immediate result is that the economy moves even slower. The indirect result is depression or other illnesses and a general sense of hopelessness which in turn leads our young to believe there is no option but immigration or worse deliquency and crime. Nobody is looking for happy clappy reporting in a time that everyone is struggling but some balance is required instead of what looks to me like many media outlets trying to outdo the other with tales of woe.

I am delighted that this study has been undertaken as it’s about time we open the conversation about the role the media is playing in modern Ireland , let’s not stop at the print media the radio and Tv are just as culpable eg.Joe Duffy is he a force for positive or negative ?

unfortunately most people are full of negative news and again the government and the banks making all that happening…very sad to be honest…

Who reads only 11 pages of a paper? Of course, the first – and top positioned stories – are likely to be more negative. So why were they only included? It seems to make the study a ridiculous, biased snapshot of each paper, simply aligning to your pre-determined view of tabloids. Maybe if the whole news section was analysed it would give a more balanced view of each paper.

Also, I would query the choice between deciding a headline is negative rather than neutral. “BB Bri Mugged At Knife Point,” for example. That simply states a fact: Brian Dowling was mugged at knifepoint. How could that be made “positive”? Surely by stating the facts of what happened – as was done here – it is neutral. No spin, as you seem to be accusing papers of doing in their headlines. To make it negative, would it not have to be something alike, “Evil Rapist Viciously Mugs BB Brian At Knifepoint,” adding the editorial negativity?

Thanks for all the comments

The question remains – are the media open to some introspection?

It’s hard to polish a turd when courruption and greed goes on every day. What are they supposed to say “Bertie is a good guy the money was only resting in his account” “Sean Sherlock is not a complete moron he knows what he is doing come on people lay off him” maybe we should just let the people at the top just do what they like and we can just read and hear about “ends the elephant player the drums at Dublin zoo today” ahhhh so nice and positive….but I do agree with most people saying that they don’t buy newspapers anymore and get there news online from good websites.

A study? It’s not that hard to see.

No mention of inter-rater reliability unfortunately, difficult to accept these figures as a consequence.

Very useful analysis. The question is what to do about it? My belief is that tabloids play into a lowest common denominator game -> maximise sales by printing stories which they believe tap into public opinion (rather than stories outside the box which could potentially lose reader’s interest). The problem is that this that they are re-enforcing that negativity which has been ever more prevalent since 2008.
One approach is to start flooding the papers with positive news and see if they print any of it.
Another is to start asking people you see carrying a tabloid why they spend their money on something which is mostly negative and by consequence going to make their day more negative. Note, a second consequence of reading tabloids is that if the analysis is overly simplistic (be it negative or positive), then finding solutions to the problems will be hard because we don’t have the big picture. The political system is a reflection of us (elected politicians need to tap into public opinion really well which is why they often lack leadership – they reflect the public rather than lead public opinion to a better place). If we get people to see the consequences of their daily tabloid purchase, then their minds may be opened.
Another approach is to print a positive news tabloid which if successful becmoes a game changer and another is to highlight the possible negative impact on their advertising revenue.
Of those 4 suggestions I favour the 2nd (engaging people on the street in a discussion about it, could even have a leaflet ready to give them as reminder and I’d start prioritise the most negative tabloid first) but no doubt there are many more possible approaches.

I’ve been saying this for the last 4 years – once the recession started, all we got was bad news after bad news. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of bad news out there, but equally, there is a hell of a lot of good and positivenews as well, but of course, this won’t sell newspapers – will it? I believe as a society, a lot of us secretly love to moan, gossip, complain, perhaps thrive in someone else’s misfortune, which is why papers continue to print bad news as this sells. So, not only have the papers to change their stories, but we need to start looking for the good stories, the postive ones, the ones that will get this country back to basics (starting to sound like Enda now – sorry).

I’m not saying that we sould ignore all the bad things, but constantly reading them and looking at them just makes us miserable and less willing to spend our hard earned money locally – industries which NEED our support now more than ever. This leads us to look for cheaper prodcuts online (or in the North) in order to save a few Euro here and there, but what about the long term effect in our pocket and in our community. There more we spend abroad, the less money going into our economy, which means jobs will be lost, less money goes to the Revenue, which means higher taxes- so that few Euro you just saved has now been wiped out in tax increases.

I’ve stopped reading papers and even looking at the news on occasions just to avoid all these negative stories. Lets get our heads down, stop moaning, work hard, spend locally and lets utilies the skills, talent and ideas of both our current and younger generations in order to get this country moving in the right direction. I don’t care if Fingleton gets off or jailed, if Bertie was a good or a bad guy, if Fitzpatrick or Drum are made bankrupt – none of this will get us out of the current situation – we are where we are (admitingly, it would be nice to see justice done though). As Pumbaa says in the Lion King, ‘you gotta put your behind in the past’…….

It’s time to start shouting loud at these tabloids that we want positive feel good stories – and the only way to do that is by telling them where it hurts, in their pockets. So stop buying these tabloids (especially The Mail – can only be considered toilet paper, even worse than The Sun) and let them know that we want to move forward and that whilst they are part of the problem at the moment, they can also be part of the solution in the future.

Now who’s with me??? Anyone?? Okay, I’m off to have a cup of tea and read The Star…………..the sports sections only – at least there’s good news there, I think……