Mass media, the ‘sensational message’, and metamorphic truths

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of mass media’s ability to rapidly spread sensational messages. With the view that the accuracy or truth of the ‘sensational message’ can change, either evolving naturally within our collective perception or through more deliberate ways, this then presents some scenarios in which ever more flexible notions of truth in the future may provide not only challenges but also opportunities. Using different perspectives but always with a bit of lightheartedness, two events that are separated by half a century and a vast expanse of technological advances are presented as lenses with which to examine our collective obsession of the sensational and how this obsession may influence our perspective as well as our subsequent choices. Looking towards the increasingly connected future, the challenges and economic implications of our susceptibility to sensational media are explored so that in the end, the readers will have gained insights on mass media’s power to flex our notions of truth.