MEDIA - How can Bureaucracy be used to Evaluate News Values Theories?

Question 1

What is the Definition of News Values?

Answer 1

The general guidelines that determine the worth of a story and how much prominence it is given!

Question 2

What is the Definition of Organisational or Bureaucratic Routines?

Answer 2

The processes and routines that exist within a business or organisation, EG: Time or space available in the schedule!

Question 3

What are the 6 Factors that Influence Organisational or Bureaucratic Routines?

These are known as the Logistics of Collecting News, which can also determine what news gets reported and how it gets presented!

Answer 3

1. Financial Costs
2. Time or Space Available
3. Deadlines
4. Immediacy or Actuality
5. The Audience
6. Journalistic Ethics

Question 4

(FINANCIAL COSTS) Why have the last 10 years seen a decline in expensive forms of news coverage?

Answer 4

This is because TV networks have been cutting costs since the 1990s!

Question 5

(FINANCIAL COSTS) Explain how the BBC was affected by severe budget cuts!

Answer 5

The BBC has been affected by severe budget cuts brought about by the government freezing the cost of the TV licence fee in 2010 for 6 years and the decision by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2015 that the BBC should fund the £650 million cost of free TV licences to people aged 75+, which has taken up ⅕ of its budget.

Question 6

(FINANCIAL COSTS) Are Newspapers Immune to Financial Pressure?

Answer 6

No! = As readerships have fallen over the last 20 years, newspapers have attempted to cut costs by making thousands of journalists redundant.

Question 7

(FINANCIAL COSTS) What does Williams argue that the Impact of Cost-Cutting is on the Quality of the News? HINT: Newspaper Investigative Journalism!

Answer 7

He argues that cost-cutting has undermined the quality of investigative journalism in the UK –> He argues that newspaper investigative journalism in the 21st century has largely been reduced to “digging up dirt and revealing secrets about the private lives of the Royals, MPs, footballers and rock stars”.

Question 8

(FINANCIAL COSTS - Williams) What point can be used to Counter-act what Williams says?

Answer 8

However, this may be an unfair generalisation; there are some newspapers who are engaged with attempts to expose capitalism, such as The Guardian and the Private Eye magazine.

Question 9

(FINANCIAL COSTS) What does Franklin argue in regards to the Impact of Cost-Cutting is on the Quality of the News?

Answer 9

He argues that entertainment has now superseded the supply of information in the construction of the news, both in newspapers and TV. He calls this ‘infotainment’ (information and entertainment)!

Question 10

(FINANCIAL COSTS) What does Davies argue that ‘Infotainment’ does? HINT: Brings in revenue!

Answer 10

Davies argues that infotainment is attractive to media companies because it attracts large audiences and, therefore, brings in advertising revenue.

Question 11

(FINANCIAL COSTS) What does Williams conclude regarding the News and Infotainment? HINT: The blur of lines in the media!

Answer 11

Williams concludes that “news is increasingly seen as lost among a tsunami of trivial and sensational copy”. He concludes that the change from news to infotainment is a threat to culture and democracy because it often blurs the distinction and the lines between the fictional and the factual.

Question 12

(FINANCIAL COSTS) What approach is TV described as taking in the modern day, in order to attract Consumers? HINT: Focus on Celebrities - ‘More Madonna than Mugabe’!

Answer 12

There is evidence that TV news is pursuing a more populist and tabloid news agenda. ITV’s evening news contains more lifestyle and celebrity stories, whilst an Ofcom survey criticised BBC news coverage for being more ‘Madonna than Mugabe’ = Based around celebrities and moguls rather than politics and current affairs!

Question 13

(TIME OR SPACE AVAILABLE) Why does News have to be Tailored?

Answer 13

News has to be tailored to fit either the time available for a news bulletin or the column space in a newspaper.

Question 14

(TIME OR SPACE AVAILABLE) Explain the BBC and the ITN’s evening news programme and how long their programmes are!

Answer 14

Both the BBC’s and ITN’s evening news programmes contain, on average, 15 items transmitted over a 25-30-minute period.

Question 15

(TIME OR SPACE AVAILABLE) Because Channel 4 News is an hour long segment, what does this mean?

Answer 15

In contrast, Channel 4 News is an hour long, which means items can be treated in more depth and detail.

Question 16

(TIME OR SPACE AVAILABLE) Explain what the Newspaper Fixed Schedule means for the Stories they Include!

Answer 16

A newspaper only has a fixed amount of space for each news category and they have a strict and limited schedule.

Sometimes news stories are included or excluded simply according to whether they fit the time or space available for the newspaper or news organisations’ airing time!

Question 17

(DEADLINES) Explain the Advantage of New Media over Traditional Media, in regards to timings and being live!

Answer 17

TV news, especially 24-hour satellite-based news, has an advantage over newspapers, because it can report news as it happens (it is live, on-demand, 24/7 etc) → As seen with 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings.

Question 18

(DEADLINES) Explain Newspaper Deadlines and Give an Example!

Answer 18

Newspapers, however, have deadlines (usually around 10pm, if they news is to be included in the morning edition) and they focus more so on the previous day’s stories and events.

EG: The Guardian prints newspaper stories between 9pm and 1am the night before they go live!

Question 19

(DEADLINES) Explain Broadsheet Newspaper coverage of News Stories!

Answer 19

Broadsheet newspaper coverage of stories generally tends to be more detailed and analytical than most TV news coverage, as they focus on live updates and don’t get to dig into the real details of previous stories and events.

Question 20

(IMMEDIACY AND ACTUALITY) What can make TV News more Impactful and Dramatic? HINT: Sound bites!

Answer 20

Events are much more likely to be reported on TV news if they can be accompanied by SOUND BITES, LIVE FOOTAGE and other examples of evidence, from the location of the event → This is thought to add dramatic reality and make the stories more impactful!

Question 21

(IMMEDIACY AND ACTUALITY) Explain Recent Technological Advancements in News-Gathering!

Give an Example! HINT: BBC News 24!

HINT: New Media Advancements!

Answer 21

Recent technological advancements (new media) in news-gathering have also made possible a level of immediacy that was un-imagined a few decades ago.

EG: BBC News 24 is now able to inform the UK about news’ on all the BBC websites, and by uploading news to apps on smartphones.

Question 22

(AUDIENCE) What do Pluralists argue in regards to the Audience of the Media and can you give an Example of this? HINT: Audience Characteristics!

Answer 22

They would argue that the content of the news and the style in which is presented and produced are very much a REACTION TO THE AUDIENCE / to the type of audience that is thought to be watching, or the social characteristics of a newspaper’s readers.

EG: Five News is characterised by short, snappy bulletins because it is aimed at a younger audience –> They do this in order to make more profit and represent society (Market Model and Democratic Mirror)!

Question 23

(AUDIENCE) Detail what type of Audience that ‘Tabloid’ newspapers, such as ‘The Sun’ have!

Answer 23

Tabloid newspapers, such as ‘The Sun’, are aimed at a working-class, youngish readership, so simplistic language is used because that is what is believed that their readership want. This also reflects the educational level of the target audience.

Question 24

(AUDIENCE) Detail what type of Audience that ‘Broadsheets’;, such as the ‘Guardian’ have!

Answer 24

Newspapers traditionally referred to as ‘broadsheets’, such as the Guardian, may be considered to be aimed at the more qualified professional middle classes (as is Channel 4 News).

Question 25

(AUDIENCE) Explain what impact the Time of Day has on particular News Broadcasts and provide an Example! HINT: What News would be shown in the Morning is different to the News that would be shown at Lunchtime!

Answer 25

Who is perceived to be watching a news broadcaster at particular times of the day also influences the selection of the news and what is shown.

EG - At lunchtime, broadcasts are more likely to be viewed by a stay-at-home parent, and so an item relating to a supermarket ‘price war’ might receive more coverage than it would in a late-evening bulletin.

Question 26

What did Keeble and Mair (2012) look into?

Answer 26

Journalistic Ethics!

Question 27

(JOURNALISTIC ETHICS) What did Keeble and Mair highlight?

Answer 27

They have highlighted the unethical culture and practices of some sections of the news media. All British newspapers are signed up to the Press Complaints Commission’s (PCC) voluntary code of conduct.

Question 28

(JOURNALISTIC ETHICS) What is the 1st Clause of the PCC and why has it been Criticised? HINT: Press must not publish anything misleading + No legal powers / limited power ad influence

Answer 28

This Clause insists that the “press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures”.

However, this code of conduct has been criticised as not powerful enough - the PCC has no statutory or legal powers to punish any irresponsible media behaviour or online behaviour.

Question 29

(JOURNALISTIC ETHICS) What is the Role of Ofcom? HINT: Protect people from harmful material!

Answer 29

Ofcom was created by the government and it is the Communications Regulator in the UK!

Ofcom is responsible for protecting people from being exposed to harmful or offensive material, from being treated unfairly and from having their privacy violated by TV and radio.

Question 30

(JOURNALISTIC ETHICS) What happened in 2011, which led to the Leveson Inquiry?

Answer 30

News International (owned by Murdoch’s News Corp) admitted that the hacking of voicemails by journalists employed by the News of the World newspaper was a common practice.
T
his led to widespread outrage when it was discovered that the News of the World had hacked the voicemail of the murdered teenager Milly Dowler after her abduction in 2002, and they had even deleted some of her messages from her phone in an attempt to hear new messages that might land → This led to the Leveson Inquiry!

Question 31

(JOURNALISTIC ETHICS) What was the Outcome of the Leveson Inquiry, 2011-2012 and what did Lord Leveson recommend happen?

Answer 31

This concluded that phone-hacking was common and encouraged by editors, that the culture of the press frequently and unethically demonstrated a blatant disrespect for people’s privacy and dignity, and that news stories frequently relied on misrepresentation and embellishment.

Lord Justice Leveson recommended the setting up / creation of an independent regulatory body that would hear complaints from the victims of unfair press treatment, and would have the power to impose fines on news organisations. He also recommended that this body be underpinned by legislation, in order to make sure it was doing its job properly and could be effectively scrutinised if needs be.

Question 32

(JOURNALISTIC ETHICS) What happened as a result of the Leveson Inquiry, in regards to the Coalition Government + Why are People calling for ‘Leveson 2’?

Answer 32

In 2013 = The Coalition government of Cameron and Clegg rejected the majority of Leveson’s recommendations and instead introduced a new press watchdog. However, all news organisations have so far refused to sign up to it → The Leveson Inquiry lacks an impact here and no significant changes have been made in the running of news organisations; this is why people are calling for Leveson 2!