ABSTRACT
Scandal is hardwired into the news selection process. It affects decision making across individual, routine, organizational, institutional, and social system levels of news production—often distorting the relationship between the severity of political wrongdoing and media attention to it. Journalists, editors, news organizations, and the political system itself have long favored stories that feature prominent individuals engaged in conflict, struggle, or competition. While this type of reporting is often necessary for the functioning of the Fourth Estate, it also may fuel sensational, event-driven coverage that has the propensity to drown out more important thematic issues. There are many forces that influence legacy gatekeepers’ prioritization of scandalous news, and in this chapter I trace the ways in which they present themselves in new and unexpected ways. In so doing, I identify both the pitfalls and value of scandalous coverage, and emphasize the need to weigh controversial information with a journalistic commitment to the public good.
