Media-Hype Fatigue: Audience Evaluations of a Human-Interest Framed Media-Hype

Audun Beyer, Tine Ustad Figenschou

Abstract


Numerous studies have documented the media’s extensive focus on individual cases when reporting on immigration. In this article, we ask how the audience views such human-interest framing when a single story receives disproportionate attention. Employing an explorative survey of a representative sample of the population as the story peaked in the media, we found that the audience is highly critical of the media coverage, particularly regarding the scale and scope of the coverage. This points to an interesting paradox: the human-interest frame, meant to capture audience attention and engagement in a story, actually makes people tired and less engaged when overused.


Keywords


Human-interest framing, normative standards, illegal immigration, media-hype, burglar alarm

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