sensationalize
Other forms: sensationalized; sensationalizing; sensationalizes
To sensationalize is to exaggerate a story to make it more thrilling or alarming. Newspapers sometimes sensationalize a headline in order to sell more papers.
TV, online news sources, and other media use this tactic all the time, sensationalizing the details of a news story, the headline describing it, or the images that accompany it. Watching the news can make you think that your city is becoming more dangerous, but it's not always true — often, the media has sensationalized a few crimes and made it seem that way. Sensationalize shares a Latin root with sensation that means "feeling."
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(usually of a newspaper) present a story or an article in exaggerated and exciting details to arouse interest and provoke public opinion
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Vocabulary lists containing sensationalize
This nonfiction book tells the story of Maggie, Kate, and Leah Fox, three sisters living in Civil War America who became famous for Maggie and Kate's claims of being spiritual mediums.