Emotion

Abstract

This chapter considers why (and how) emotions matter in news content. Based on an automated content analysis of the New York Times from 1980 to the present, the authors suggest that expressed emotion is a regular feature of news coverage. This has both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, past work suggests that expressed emotion increases reader attentiveness. On the other hand, some research suggests that engagement with current affairs might be impeded by the prevalence of negative emotions (especially anxiety and anger). The truth is probably somewhere in between: there is some ‘ideal’ amount of emotionality in news content that increases engagement without passing the point at which emotional intensity is counterproductive.