This is based on a thought I had in my head while reading the newspaper - I am not an expert on the media or what influences change in general. Ironically my parents, who teach sociology, know a lot about this topic. Yet, like most fields of research, the answer is very complicated. We do not for certain what sparks change. Something I feel we do not really talk about is depressing news headlines. What could we do to make the depressing stories less sensational, focus more on how we can prevent a problem. An example of this could be if the numbers of deaths involving motorcycles going over potholes are increasing. Maybe the newspaper editors can include what we can do, what specific road work in this scenario, to prevent this.  This idea can be kind of controversial it is own right- what if somebody was brutally killed in a freak accident (getting electrocuted by sitting on a metal toilet during a lightning strike). It can be tragic, but still not happen to many people Or what if the family of the person(most of these stories seem to involve tragic deaths) does not want reporters to make opinions about them. That can be true. Here are some depressing news stories I have recently seen and read: “5 marines declared dead after crash off Japan”, “2 drown dogs that do not need saving”, “Cops: Teenage football player killed pregnant girlfriend”, etc. If a newspaper editor wrote a story about why there are so many incidents of domestic bloodshed citing the last story mentioned would it attract hate? Would the hate even matter if enough people are convinced it should be written? In my opinion, on this concept would be that they should run the story, but should consult the families and friends of the person before.