When people think of news coverage, they likely picture a live anchor or a big TV broadcast. But a lot of media doesn’t fit those molds anymore. They’re streaming online, showing up in your phone’s feed, or coming to you via podcasts and newsletters.
Some of the more recognizable names in news include NBC, CBS News, and USA Today. They’ve reworked their formats to meet the way people get their information now. They cover everything from politics and the environment to science and sports. They even have a section that covers things that might not make it to the front page of other news outlets, like global health and development stories.
A lot of these outlets also try to balance out negative and positive stories, as well as local vs national topics. They know that some of their audience can get burned by too much negativity – and they want to help them stay healthy and resilient.
But people also pay attention to which stories you decide to highlight and why. And they may be even more concerned if you veer from your normal story volume – like during a pandemic or an election cycle. So if you’re doing something different, it’s good to be transparent with your audience about it.
Some research has been exploring how journalists depict problems — like poverty, homelessness, and environmental degradation — in the news. These studies have found that some journalists often portray these issues in an episodic and individualistic manner — focusing on people who are suffering — while other news outlets provide more systemic attributions of the problem, such as how history, power, or social structures contribute to the issue.
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