When it comes to the news in mass media, there are those who assert that emphasizing merely on sad

news, such as disastrous events and social issues, has negative consequences on people and
communities. Even though I believe these types of information could instill and promote
disappointment in societies, I am not fully convinced that the developments resulting from this trend are
all adverse.

On the one hand, the coverage of news about social problems and emergencies could be sometimes
harmful. Feeding these kinds of information to people would evolve them into pessimistic individuals,
who are always waiting to hear about an unfortunate event and turn them into hopeless people who
forget to be content. A salient example here is today's Persians situation; The last year media covered
mostly the tragedies and terrible events, such as casualties from the airplane blowout, Coronavirus
victims, and financial stress, therefore Iranians have become indifferent people who do not care about
happy moments of life; thus their optimism about the future has been faded significantly.

On the other hand, focusing on negative news can also be informative for society in many ways. To
begin with, the more information people have about catastrophes, they will be more cautious regarding
their health and well-being. For example, covering news about a natural disaster, such as an earthquake,
will educate people to deal appropriately in case of its occurrence. Secondly, broadcasting only pleasant
stories would spread an unrealistic view among the population. Not only would they ignore the crisis
around them, but they do not also care about other fellow-citizens in case of a disaster. Last, by not
least, it has been shown that negative news is more interesting for people who follow them on the
media; This means that if reporters only cover good news, there would be limited demand for reading
newspapers and watching news programs.

To draw a conclusion, it is evident that by promoting negative news in society, people will lose hope in
their destiny and life. However, in my perspective, giving information about unfortunate events and
faulty aspects of culture would make people more intelligent and careful about their communities.
Nevertheless, this does not mean ignoring happy moments in the media.

Pasha Azad

AC