The Increasing Viability of Good News

This Element suggests that, despite the negative tone of media coverage the prevalence of positive news is likely to increase.

Stuart Soroka (Author), Yanna Krupnikov (Author)

9781108987080, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 August 2021

75 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 0.4 cm, 0.11 kg

In spite of what appears to be the increasingly negative tone of media coverage, this Element suggests that the prevalence of positive news is likely to increase, for three reasons: (1) valence-based asymmetries vary over time, (2) valence-based asymmetries vary across individuals, and (3) technology facilitates diverse news platforms catering to diverse preferences. Each of these claims is examined in detail here, based on analyses of prior and/or novel data on media content, psychophysiological responses, and survey-based experiments. Results are considered as they relate to our understanding of media gatekeeping, political communication, and political psychology, and also as actionable findings for producers of media content, communications platforms, and media consumers.

1. Introduction
2. The Valence of News Coverage
3. The Argument
4. Discussion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Press & journalism [KNTJ], Media, information & communication industries [KNT], Media studies [JFD]