Journalistic Hype

I have XM radio in my car. Now I can listen to Fox when I can't watch it. I can also listen to the John Batchelor Show, which is excellent by the way. However, I'm beginning to get something about journalism which was probably always there, but maybe not so obvious. HYPE

Fox has breaking news every 5 minutes. It is rarely "breaking" anything that hasn't already been said for hours. CNN is no different. Their anchors never use any adjective that isn't a superlative. Why use big when you can use huge.

Sure, I expect this from the tabloids at the grocery check out. Even the popular magazines now do it. But Hype now dominates every media. As a result, I am regularly disappointed by the full story when what follows after the break doesn't come close to deserving the lead.

I'm a salesman by birth, so I know about Hype. But, as I have matured (?), I find it harder to do. It might be effecting my sales, my readership here, and even my book sales. Should I resort to overstatements and drama to boost my numbers?