Biased presentation of news

News media may only present sensational items which give an exaggerated impression of a certain sector of social, economic or political life, and which will tend to strengthen prejudices and antagonisms and maintain inequalities and injustices, or alternatively they may mask these and lead to ignorance and apathy. News items may be scandalous and tend to defame a person's reputation. They may also be titillating or gossipy or simply of a low standard.

Newsworthy items, or those that are felt to be so by the directors of the various news media, tend to be negative items or exaggerated items which are not necessarily related to context. The latter may be good or bad, depending on the political views of the controllers.