Children's Responses to Negative News: The Effects of Constructive Reporting in Newspaper Stories for Children

Abstract

For a well-functioning democracy, it is crucial that children consume news. However, news can elicit overly negative emotions and discourage engagement in children. The question, therefore, is how news can be adapted to children's sensitivities and needs but can still inform them. This study investigated whether constructive reporting (solution-based narratives including positive emotions) in news about negative events improved emotional responses and encouraged engagement (intention and inspiration to engage). In an experiment, 8-13-year-olds (N = 332) read a story containing either constructive elements or not. Constructive news elicited lower levels of negative emotional responses and provided more inspiration for engagement than nonconstructive news. These promising findings open doors for follow-up investigations regarding constructive news reporting, also among adult audiences.

Children’s cognitive responses to constructive television news

“…This study is the first in the emerging field of constructive journalism that investigated how constructive news reporting, compared to nonconstructive news reporting, affects cognitive processing. Following studies on how constructive news reporting influences children's emotional responses, engagement, and prosocial intentions (Kleemans et al, 2017a(Kleemans et al, , 2017b, this study examined whether constructive news reporting in stories tailored to children succeeds in journalisms' core function to inform the audience. Our findings suggest that the effects of constructive news are mixed.…”

“…Based on the theoretical foundations of constructive journalism, one might expect that a constructive style of news reporting elicits smaller increases in negative emotional responses and smaller decreases in positive emotional responses than nonconstructive news reporting. Previous research already provided support for this assumption (Kleemans et al, 2017a(Kleemans et al, , 2017b. It is conceivable that changes in emotional responses mediate the effect of the style of news reporting on recall.…”

“…Some argue that children should be shielded from negative news, while others emphasize that children should be exposed to it in order to empower them as citizens in society (cf. (Alon-Tirosh and Carter, 2013;Kaziaj and Van Bauwel, 2017;Kleemans et al, 2017a).…”

“…Children were asked to indicate on two separate 100-mm VAS (cf. Kleemans et al, 2017aKleemans et al, , 2017b: how frightened and anxious they felt. Children provided their specific emotional feelings by marking a position along a continuous line on the right endpoint with a frightened or anxious emoticon and on the left endpoint with the same emoticon, but with a red cross through it.…”

Is the news making us unhappy? The influence of daily news exposure on emotional states

“…When it comes to appraisal of news stories, we propose it is mainly primary appraisal that is of importance. Most news events are likely to be perceived as outside the person's control (Kleemans, de Leeuw, Gerritsen, & Buijzen, ; Maguen, Papa, & Litz, ), making secondary appraisal less relevant to investigate as it is unlikely to vary much from person to person. For example, news about wars, poverty, and the recession are all things a recipient cannot change or has any influence over.…”