4. The Selection and Presentation of the News

Question 1

3 ways in which owners can influence the selection and presentation of the news

Answer 1

They may occasionally give instructions to editors
Influence the resources available to cover news stories
Journalists and editors’ careers depend on not upsetting the owners which may lead to self-censorship

Question 2

Consequence of owners drive for profit and competition

Answer 2

Owners drive for profit and competition with other media companies means news may be turned into infotainment, which may lead to unethical journalistic practices like bribery and hacking

Question 3

Where does most media profit come from?

Answer 3

Advertising

Question 4

Consequence of desire for advertisers according to Bagdikian

Answer 4

Importance of advertising means news reports will be presented in a way to avoid offending advertisers, or will be ignored altogether

Question 5

Why do minority views often go unrepresented in the media?

Answer 5

Because companies need to attract large audiences in order to secure advertisers. They’ve got to cater for the mass market

Question 6

What does underrepresenting minority views help to maintain?

Answer 6

Helps to maintain hegemony (political and social dominance) of certain ideas in society

Question 7

What can the pressure to attract audiences lead to?

Answer 7

Tabloidisation of news coverage as companies aim to make the news as entertaining and appealing as possible

Question 8

What has new media technology create greater opportunities for?

Answer 8

Citizen journalism

Question 9

What does citizen journalism involve?

Answer 9

Involves ordinary individuals rather than professional journalists and media companies collecting, reporting and spreading news

Question 10

What can citizen journalism help to overcome?

Answer 10

It can help to overcome suppression of stories and biassed news reports on established media

Question 11

Impact of citizen journalism and online criticism of mainstream news outlets?

Answer 11

It has transformed traditional journalism
Citizen journalism has been used to expose offensive, illegal or corrupt activities which may not have been covered by traditional media

Question 12

What news media has there been a decline in and what news media has there been an increase in?

Answer 12

Decline in newspapers and TV for news consumption and more use of social media

Question 13

What are increasingly used to spread news stories on a global scale?

Answer 13

Social networking sites

Question 14

How has the intensity of news changed?

Answer 14

It’s changed with digital news programmes and websites running constantly changing bulletins all day long. There is now a greater emphasis on getting news stories out than getting them right

Question 15

3 forms of social control in the selection and presentation of the news

Answer 15

Agenda setting
Gatekeeping
Norm setting

Question 16

Agenda setting

Answer 16

The media’s influence on selecting the subjects for public discussion

Question 17

Agenda setting according to the GMG

Answer 17

GMG suggest the main media organisations and their journalists work within a framework of the dominant ideology which influence the subjects that the public are encouraged to think about

Question 18

Gatekeeping

Answer 18

Media’s power to refuse to cover some issues and cover others

Question 19

Gatekeeping according to the GMG

Answer 19

Owners, editors and journalists infouence the knowledge that the public can gain access to

Question 20

Norm setting

Answer 20

The way the media emphasise conformity to social norms and seek to isolate those who don’t

Question 21

What may the way news items are presented influence?

Answer 21

The way news items are presented may influence how people are encouraged to see a story (E.g. the order of stories, the choice of headline etc)

Question 22

What can sometimes create a moral panic?

Answer 22

False reporting in the media

Question 23

Has the new media and citizen journalism made moral panics less or more common?

Answer 23

Less common as there are more sources of information and increased scepticism of mainstream media interpretations (pluralist and postmodernist take)

Question 24

8 news values

Answer 24

Continuity
Threshold (impact and reach)
Unexpectedness
Negativity
Elite persons/placed
Unambiguous (easy to understand)
Personalisation (relatable)
Proximity

Question 25

3 things that affect the content of the news according to the GMG

Answer 25

Journalists operate within what Becker called the hierarchy of credibility, meaning they attach the greatest importance to the views of powerful individuals and groups
Journalists tend to be white, m/c men and they share the interests and values of the dominant ideology
Churnalism

Question 26

Churnalism

Answer 26

To reduce time and costs, journalists often produce articles based on information provided by news agencies, government press releases, spit doctors etc without checking facts or finding the news themselves

Question 27

3 reasons for the increase in churnalism

Answer 27

Desire of owners to cut costs
Pressure to attract audiences
Time pressures on journalism due to 24/7 reporting