Calls grow for media reform as fear-driven news hurts the vulnerable

With anxiety rising among older Australians, critics say the media must answer for the human cost of its fear-driven formula, writes Nick Potter.

MY MOTHER was raised in an era when television was a marvel — a living room shrine to progress and connection. Her parents were among the first in their street to own a colour TV, and every evening, they tuned in to Channel Nine News. It was trusted. It was family. It was Australia talking to itself.

That ritual never left her.

Through marriage, motherhood and retirement, she kept the same routine: dinner at six, Channel Nine at six, too. For decades, she watched, trusted, and absorbed it all — the politics, the crime, the catastrophes. But over time, the comfort turned corrosive.

After retiring at 50, her social circle faded and television became her only companion. When life grew quiet, the TV grew louder. The world on screen seemed darker, more dangerous, more divided. The more she watched, the more she worried. Every crisis felt close; every headline sounded personal.

Now, my mother is confined to an aged-care mental health facility. And what plays in the common room, day and night? The same mainstream media cycle – fear, outrage, disaster – on repeat. The faces change; the formula doesn’t.

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The psychology of fear-based news

Modern news is built on the economics of attention, not truth.

Fear keeps people watching, and older viewers – especially those isolated or retired – are the most loyal and vulnerable audience of all.

Research shows that repeated exposure to threats, negative imagery or anticipatory negative thoughts is associated with altered cortisol responses and heightened sensitivity to threat, which may underpin chronic anxiety. Seniors who live alone are particularly susceptible because their social reality is shaped almost entirely by what they see and hear on screen.

In aged-care homes, where routine and repetition already define the day, the news becomes a constant drip of existential dread. I’ve watched patients shuffle past the TV, muttering about wars or viruses they barely understand — all while news presenters smile between ads for pharmaceuticals and funeral plans.

This isn’t journalism serving the public good.

It’s emotional exploitation disguised as information.

The forgotten duty of care

Australian broadcasters are not bound by the same ethical scrutiny as healthcare professionals, yet they influence millions of minds daily. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) enforces codes against misinformation — but not against psychological harm caused by relentless negativity.

If a medication caused anxiety, hopelessness and confusion in elderly patients, we’d pull it from the shelves.

If a broadcaster causes the same harm, we call it “the nightly news”.

If Australians want nice things, try shunning the destructive newsrooms

The latest economic update strongly endorses Labor and repudiates the media-backed Coalition.

A call for reform — and for conscience

I am not writing this to wage war on Channel Nine. I’m writing because my mother’s story is not unique — it’s multiplied across thousands of homes and hospitals every night.

So I ask Channel Nine and every major news network in Australia to act with conscience:

Introduce balanced programming — daily segments that highlight community resilience, scientific progress and acts of kindness, not just crime and catastrophe.
Partner with mental-health organisations to design viewing guidelines for aged-care settings and isolated seniors.
Train journalists in trauma-informed reporting, ensuring that stories of violence and tragedy are handled responsibly, not sensationally.

Australia’s elders built the world we stand on. They deserve a media landscape that honours their trust — not one that weaponises it for ratings.

The bigger question

When we switch on the news, we assume we’re connecting to reality. But what happens when that “reality” becomes a distortion, one that isolates, frightens and slowly erodes the well-being of those who once believed in it most?

If a society is judged by how it treats its elderly, then perhaps the media that shapes their world deserves to face that same moral test.

My mother deserved better.

So do yours.