In my opinion, there is a clear and distinct difference in a story being newsworthy and mere sensationalism. Does the story have far reaching effects? Does it change the status quo in any way? If the answer to these questions is "no", then it is probably sensationalism. We have been talking about ledes a lot in our class. I have noticed that in stories that are sensationalized, the lede is buried and often insignificant.
Many of the weekend stories on the news are sensationalized. Businesses typically bury negative stories by releasing them on Fridays near the end of business. This makes it feel like news outlets are sensationalizing the story, so it can be difficult to tell. I would typically ask myself these questions. If by the end of the story, I am asking myself, "Why is this newsworthy?" Then the story was probably sensationized.
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