Media narratives today exert a far greater psychological influence than the events themselves, and this influence is largely negative. Corporate ownership structures and profit-driven models of mainstream media incentivise sensationalism and fear-based storytelling over constructive or healing narratives. As a result, anxiety-inducing content continues to dominate the media landscape, limiting the capacity of new media forms to foster emotional resilience at scale, said Prof. Subhash Dhuliya, Founder and Director, Newswriters.
The expert was responding to a question by the Yuva sustainability intern on how new Asian media platforms, including digital storytelling and solutions journalism, can move beyond raising awareness to foster emotional resilience and address mental health challenges, during 4th Yuva Sustainability Webinar on Mental health in the Climate Crisis: A call to speak up.
Devansh Saxena, a Media student at IIMT University Meerut, is a Yuva Sustainability Intern.