Study Finds: Over 40% of Headlines are 'Pure Speculation'

I've blogged quite a bit about the sad state of the about the MSM in general, and the Israeli MSM in particular. There has always been yellow journalism, but I can't help feeling that the profession has really gone down hill in the last thirty years.

Now my subjective feelings are backed up with empirical evidence:

A new media study shows that speculation in Israeli headlines has jumped by 250% in the past 20 years.

The research was carried out by Dr. Moti Zeiger of the School of Media in the Netanya College, who also serves as the Chairman of the Israel Association for Communications.

Zeiger researched 1,745 front-page headlines in the three leading Israeli newspapers since 1985, and came up with this tidbit: A third of the headlines relate to events that may never happen.

Most significant is the fact that the phenomenon is very much on the rise. Twenty years ago, only 17% of the headlines were speculative, while today, that number has risen to 41%.

The newspapers that were researched: Yediot Acharonot, Maariv, and Haaretz.

Dr. Zeiger has published research on various topics having to do with media and the press, including internet talkbacks, the media's role in shaping the structure and limits of public dialogue on disputed issues, journalists as representatives of the community and culture in which they operate, the clash between obligation to country and to their profession, reality shows, and more.

It just goes to show that we do live in a alma deshikra, a world of falsehood.