The 24-hour news cycle is the process where national broadcasting stations produce a constant flow of news and current events for their audiences. This all day structure was first introduced in 1980 by CNN to eliminate their competition, who only reported at certain times of day for thirty minute intervals.
The fact that the 24/7 structure has been around for so long does not mean it is the most efficient way to spread news; in fact, this seemingly convenient cycle may actually lead to a plethora of problems for today’s society.
For example, many people who are exposed to large amounts of advertisements and propaganda suffer from salience bias. Salience bias is a mindset that influences someone’s perception of information, which can lead to poor decision making.
Another thing to notice is that most of the news on these stations are negative. On top of everyday struggles, the continuous consumption of unhealthy stories increases levels of stress and anxiety in the average person.
Others may claim that the constant flow of news is beneficial to the people because it keeps them informed at all times, and that news addiction is nothing to worry about. Also, the robust news industry allows for different corporations to cater to any audience for any type of news they may wish to consume.
However, despite how practical it may seem, the dangers of corporate greed and political bias in news coverage remain a threat to healthy news consumption. The large media network companies who run the news are desperate to compete for viewership, and will go to any extent to keep the money flowing.
As Erick Elejalde said in his article Understanding news outlets’ audience-targeting patterns, “Instead, bias in the news is found to be more correlated to the political inclinations of the readers, showing a tendency in these news outlets to align themselves with the political preferences of their target audience and hence, maximizing selling profits.”
This once again proves how these news stations favor the viewers who lead to higher amounts of money.
The 24 hour news system operates by having an uninterrupted broadcast where all of the stories are either overblown or overly depressing, along with luring in an audience who can be manipulated by means of salience bias for profit. The 24-hour news cycle is detrimental to society, and should not continue as it has been for the past 40 years.
