MEDIA - News Values (Why some Stories make the News and why Others Don't)!

Question 1

Identify how both Hegemonic Marxists and Traditional Marxists would say that News Content is selected!

Answer 1

HEGEMONIC MARXISTS = Agenda-setting!

TRADITIONAL MARXISTS = Reflecting the views of the owners / reinforcing the bourgeoisie ideology!

Question 2

Identify how both Pluralists and Hegemonic Marxists would say who decides which events and interests are ‘Newsworthy’!

Answer 2

PLURALISTS = Democratic Mirror and Market Model –> They believe that the news is a ‘Window into the World’!

HEGEMONIC MARXISTS = Editors and Journalists ‘accidentally’ preaching the Hegemonic Ideology!

Question 3

Explain one way in how the news may be packaged in society! HINT: Technological Convergence!

Answer 3

Technological Convergence - All on one site and on one piece of technology, such as the smartphone!

Question 4

What are the 2 ways in which the News can be Consumed?

Answer 4

PASSIVELY - Viewing the media and accepting what you see online = Marxists (false consciousness), Pluralists!

ACTIVELY = Getting involved and either contributing to the media or opposing it = Post-modernists + Citizen Journalism!

Question 5

Explain what is meant by the ‘Hypodermic Syringe Model’!

Answer 5

AKA the ‘Magic Bullet Theory’= This suggests that the media has a direct and powerful influence on its audience, like a syringe injecting information directly into the mind!

Question 6

What are the 3 reasons as to why some stories make the news and not others?

What does all three of these then link to?

Answer 6

• News Values / Newsworthiness
• Bureaucratic Constraints
• Ownership

These all link to the ‘Selection and Presentation’ of the News!

Question 7

Explain what is meant by ‘News Values / Newsworthiness’!

Answer 7

What is regarded as interesting to the audience!

Question 8

Explain what is meant by ‘Bureaucratic Constraints’!

Answer 8

The logistics of collecting news!

Question 9

Explain what is meant by ‘Ownership’!

Answer 9

Who owns the company and what their values are!

Question 10

What does McQuail say, in regards to the Media / the News?

Answer 10

They say that it is all ‘socially manufactured’, due to the selective process of selecting and presenting the News to the People!

Question 11

Who are Galtung and Ruge and what did they identify?

Answer 11

Galtung and Ruge are 2 Norwegian Sociologists who identified a set of news values, which they believe are used by Journalists when they select News Stories!

Question 12

(GALTUNG AND RUGE) Name the 10 News Values they identified! HINT: Name as many as you can; you do not need to remember all of them, but try and remember at least 3-5!

Answer 12

1. Extraordinary / Unexpectedness
2. Threshold
3. Un-ambiguity
4. Reference to Elite Persons
5. Reference to Elite Nations
6. Personalisation
7. Frequency
8. Continuity
9. Negativity
10. Composition

Question 13

(EXTRAORDINARINESS) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 13

Rare, unpredictable, shocking events!

EG: Terrorist attacks and the deaths of celebrities, such as Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson!

Question 14

(THRESHOLD) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 14

The ‘bigger’ an event is, the more national press it gets!

EG: Terrorist attacks, such as 9/11 –> Due to the size of the audience and the amount of people they impact!

Question 15

(UN-AMBIGUITY) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 15

Events that are easily understood and clear to grasp!

EG: Financial crimes are harder for people to understand in comparison to murders and solved crimes, such as serial killers like Ted Bundy!

Question 16

(REFERENCE TO ELITE PERSONS) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 16

Stories that involve and include famous and powerful people who are worthy of public interest!

EG: ‘Partygate’ and the Royal Family!

Question 17

(REFERENCE TO ELITE NATIONS) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 17

Stories that involve and revolve around important nations! Especially countries that are close to the UK / have links to the US, as seen with the publication of US stories in the UK (perhaps this is due to the influence of Murdoch though, as he owns both UK and US companies).

EG: Stories regarding Trump and him going for re-election!

Question 18

(PERSONALISATION) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 18

Personalised to one person / individual / celebrity and the drama that surrounds them!

EG: Politics is often presented as ‘Party Leader’ vs ‘Party Leader’ –> Starmer vs Sunak!

Question 19

(FREQUENCY) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 19

How frequently events like this happen and how long they last!

EG: ‘Longer stories’ often involve the impacts of the EU and Brexit, due to the long process and the longevity of its impact!

Question 20

(CONTINUITY) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 20

The story that ‘keeps running’, which makes it more accessible and longer-lived!

EG: Madeline McCann and Brexit!

Question 21

(NEGATIVITY) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 21

Bad stories are often more newsworthy, as they are more exciting!

EG: Iran War and the war in Ukraine + the Israel-Palestine Conflict!

Question 22

(COMPOSITION) Explain what this means and give an Example!

Answer 22

Events that fit the style of the Paper / Website / TV Channel it is on!

EG: Right-wing papers supporting right-wing ideas, such as policies regarding the economy!

Question 23

TRUE OR FALSE: 3/4 of TikTok’s user base are aged 16-24!

Answer 23

FALSE: 1/2 (50%) of TikTok’s user base are aged 16-24!

Question 24

TRUE OR FALSE: YOUNGER age groups are much more likely to use the internet and social media for news!

Answer 24

TRUE!

Question 25

Where do OLDER age groups most of their news from?

Answer 25

They often favour printed newspapers, radio and TV for their news!

Around 70% of people aged 65+ get their news information from TV channels, like the BBC and BBC One!

Question 26

Give the names of 2 Sociologists who critic News Values!

Answer 26

Brighton and Foy!

Question 27

(BRIGHTON AND FOY) Explain their Criticisms of News Values! HINT: Only of Norwegian newspapers, lack of Consensus in actual society + Different Cultural Expectations!

Answer 27

They criticise Galtung and Ruge by pointing out that their research was only limited to Norwegian newspapers. They also are not sure how relevant the news values are today, in contemporary society!

They believe that it is unlikely that there is a consensus amongst Journalists, Editors and Owners about News Values, due to the diversity of the media and society today! = Audiences are also so diverse, as seen with the ranges of social classes, ethnicities, ages, genders, identities etc in society, so suggesting that there is a consensus between journalists and audiences is false! EG: The news values of a Sun reader may be different to someone who watched Channel 4!

They also suggest that cultural expectations about news vary from country to country - what people in Mexico deem as ‘newsworthy’ may be different from what people in Britain suggest is ‘newsworthy’!

Question 28

(BRIGHTON AND FOY) What 3 ways did they identify to determine that Journalism is undergoing a change and that Traditional Values / News Values may no longer be relevant?

Answer 28

• Influence and emergence of Lobbyists and ‘Spin Doctors’
• Churnalism
• Citizen Journalism

Question 29

What does Spencer-Thomas say about ‘News Values’? HINT: Criteria and Guidelines!

Answer 29

They say that News Values are criteria that determine the worth of a news story and how much prominence it is given by newspaper and broadcast media!

They define news values as general guidelines or criteria that determine the worth of a news story and how noticed it is by newspapers or broadcast media.

Question 30

What do Harcup and O’Neill say, in regards to criticising News Values? HINT: Their own News Values!

Answer 30

They updated Galtung and Ruge’s study by looking into British newspapers! = They concluded that there were 10 criteria / news values that newspaper reporters use to judge whether a story is newsworthy or not. These include (but there are more out there):

• Celebrity
• Surprise
• Bad news
• Magnitude
• Relevance
• Media Agenda

Question 31

Explain the Influence of ‘Spin Doctors’ and Lobbyists and give some Examples!

Answer 31

‘Spin Doctors’ = Their role is to meet journalists in order to ‘manage’ news stories so that they are favourable to the government. EG: In Blair’s government, Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson were his ‘spin doctors’!

Both lobbyists and ‘spin doctors’ challenge the idea that all news stories are the product of news values; some stories are clearly constructed to favour particular political points of view.

Question 32

Explain what Davies means by ‘Churnalism’ and explain its Impact!

Answer 32

Davies = He argues that journalists should be renamed ‘churnalists’ because they are largely engaged in churning out ‘facts’ or stories that are given to them by government spin doctors and public relations companies that work for the interests of celebrities.

He suggests that up to 80% of stories found in tabloid newspapers come from these official sources (PR people, PA and Reuters) rather than journalists using their own news-gathering skills.

Influence of Churnalism = News stories are characterised by uniformity, which reduces the choice that is available to the news reader (‘myth of choice’) = There is little opportunity to see other sides of the story, as hardly any other choice or interpretations are given!

Question 33

What does Drudge say about Citizen Journalism? HINT: Not Constrained by News Values + Helps to Improve Democracy!

Answer 33

Drudge claims that citizen journalism has allowed every citizen to be a reporter and have their voice equated with that of the rich and powerful → Citizen journalists are also not constrained by any system of news values that might prevent certain facts coming to light = EG: The BBC was accused of not reporting knowledge of Jimmy Saville’s crimes because he occupied a powerful position within the BBC.

Drudge also claims that citizen journalism goes against these obstacles (such as news values) and, therefore, helps to improve the democratic process. Citizen journalism challenges the idea that news is shaped by news values and also supports the postmodern notion that mass media content is now more diverse.

Question 34

What are the 2 Quotes that John Snow uses to speak about Citizen Journalism?

Answer 34

1. He claimed that Citizen Journalism was ‘gold dust flying our way’
2. However = He also said that ‘there’s loads of rubbish out there’!

Question 35

What do Supporters of Citizen Journalism in the UK say about it, in regards to improving Democracy?

Can you give any Examples?

Answer 35

They argue that it is useful for monitoring those in power and authority because of its ‘whistle-blowing’ potential, especially for politics. Citizen journalism may also improve knowledge of what is going on in societies that Western journalists may find difficult to accept / be prevented from freely moving around!

EG: During the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011-2012, a great deal of information was passed on by citizen journalists to Western news agencies.

Question 36

What does Keen say about Citizen Journalism? HINT: 3 Negatives!

Answer 36

He dismisses citizen journalism as offering up “opinion as fact, rumour as reportage and innuendo as information”.

This suggests that citizen journalism has issues regarding its validity of the information, as it may have been misinterpreted or falsely labelled as something else, which can lead to the spreading of ‘fake news’, which may be harmful to some members of society.

Question 37

In terms of Citizen Journalists improving the Democratic Process, what does Couldry argue is actually the truth, in regards to the USA? HINT: Citizen Journalism had a MINIMAL impact!

Answer 37

They investigated citizen journalism and its impact in the USA; they concluded that it had a minimal effect on both the news-gathering process and the democratic process.

Question 38

What does Gillmor argue, in regards to the Negatives of Citizen Journalism? HINT: Only privileged people can be Citizen Journalists!

Answer 38

They state that citizen journalism is usually the product of a narrow and privileged part of society; it requires education, technical skills, money and time! It is doubtful that the traditional voiceless sections of society - mainly the poor and the working-class - are going to be citizen journalists, due to lack of education and resources!