How Journalists value Positive News: The influence of professional beliefs, market considerations, and political attitudes

Abstract

Although the negative bias of the news media is generally recognized in many countries, the media also regularly feature various types of positive news, ranging from touching human interest stories to news about national or community achievement. However, few scholarly analyses have examined whether and how professional journalists value positive news. This article examines Hong Kong journalists' perceptions of the values of five types of positive news stories. We hypothesized that professional beliefs about media roles, market considerations, and political attitudes are related to the perceived value of positive news. The analysis of data from a journalist survey revealed that journalists regard news stories that tell touching stories and promote social values and norms as important, but they do not consider important stories that promote national development and achievement. Our findings showed that belief in the cultural role of the press, acknowledgement of market influence on the media, and national and local identification significantly predicted the perceived value of positive news.