Media- Selection And Presentation Of The News

Question 1

What does Cathcart say about the news?

Answer 1

“The news tells us what is new, important and interesting in public life; it promotes informed debate, entertains and enlightens”

Question 2

What does McQuail argue about the news?

Answer 2

It isn’t objective or impartial. News is absolutely manufactured product because it is the end result of a selective process.

Question 3

Describe the first economic factor?

Answer 3

Cost- having media professionals around the globe is expensive; news outlets often gather stories from agencies who sell news items and press releases from governments and pressure groups.

Question 4

Describe the 2nd economic factor?

Answer 4

Drive for profit; generated by selling advertising space. This has 2 effects;

1. Conservatism- Bagdikian argues stories the news present avoid offending advertisers
2. Dumbing Down- Davies says news is undergoing a process of tablodization, this has turned the news into a form of infotainment

Question 5

How does Fenton describe the news?

Answer 5

The “life-blood” of society

Question 6

Describe the first structural factor?

Answer 6

Owners can influence the content of news;

1. Directly; can instruct media professions to present/ not present an item (gatekeeping and agenda setting)
2. Allocation of resources; owners have final decision on physical space in papers, airtime and staffing level etc

Question 7

Describe the second structural factor?

Answer 7

Bureaucratic Constraints; The process of selecting events for news is shaped by factors which may constrain MPs in selection;

1. Time and space
2. News Diary (Schleissenger)

Question 8

Describe the third structural factor?

Answer 8

Competition; News outlets often try and target their publications to certain audiences, e.g;
The Sun is aimed at young W/C readers so it has relatively short stories and uses simplistic language

Question 9

Describe the first political factor?

Answer 9

Some governments adopt direct forms of media censorship eg banning certain topics. Others adopt indirect forms eg having organisations and laws surrounding media content. News organisations themselves undertake indirect censorship through personal bias and perceived audience market (Chomsky and Herman)

Question 10

Describe the second political factor?

Answer 10

Franklin argues the news is influenced, controlled and selected by governments who employ a number of news management techniques to ensure their able to give their preferred interpretation of events.

Question 11

Define news values?

Answer 11

Spencer-Thomas; general guidelines that determine the worth of a news story and how much prominence it is given by the news.

Question 12

List Galtung and Ruge’s news values? (10)

Answer 12

1. Immediacy
2. Importance
3. Unambiguity
4. Meaningfulness
5. Un/expectedness
6. Composition
7. Reference to elite nations
8. Reference to elite people
9. Personalisation
10. Negativity

Question 13

Define agenda setting?

Answer 13

Items in the media provide a discussion point for the rest of society, if news content is selected, this means the minority is affecting the majority.

Question 14

Define gatekeeping?

Answer 14

The media can also limit what society discuss if they don’t publish certain things.

Question 15

What does Hall argue about news?

Answer 15

Supports capitalist interests; MPs attach greatest importance to the views of powerful and influential in society (primary definers). This is the hierarchy of credibility.

Question 16

What does Manning say about the news?

Answer 16

The media ignores the views of other or minority groups and treats them as threats to society. These groups can’t express any radical or extreme views in the media or they’ll be ridiculed/ presented negatively.

Question 17

What do Edwards and Cromwell say about news?

Answer 17

Media owners are nothing more than cheerleaders for Government and business and are engaged in the “dark art” of smearing anybody or anything than challenges/ threatens the dominant ideology of society and the existing social structure.

Question 18

What do pluralists argue about the news?

Answer 18

It isn’t socially constructed. Williams argues the news represents the world truthfully.
Investigative journalism often targets those in power.

Question 19

What does Jones argue about radio news?

Answer 19

It is fair, neutral and balanced - all sides when discussing an event are given equal emphasis.

Question 20

What does Schlesinger argue about the news?

Answer 20

There is now an acknowledgment among the powerful that the media is a tool to shape public perception of policies and behaviour.

Question 21

How does new media suggest news isn’t socially constructed?

Answer 21

New media has transformed the way people obtain the news and how it’s gathered. Audiences have abandoned traditional sources of news in favour for new media. This allows every citizen to create their own news content and thus allows everyone a chance to share their view.

Question 22

What does Drudge argue about new media?

Answer 22

Citizenship journalism “has allowed every citizen to be a reporter and have his or her voice equated with that of the rich and powerful”

Question 23

What is a moral panic?

Answer 23

Stanley Cohen; refers to media reactions to particular social groups or activities that threaten societal values and thus create anxiety amongst the general population.

Question 24

What do Goode and Ben-Yehuda say about moral panics?

Answer 24

Moral panics produce a “folk-devil”; a stereotype of deviance that suggests the perpetrators of the deviant activities are evil and steps need to be taken to control and neutralise their actions so society can return to “normality”.

Question 25

What are the 8 stages of a moral panic?

Answer 25

1. Media report a group using exaggerated language
2. Follow up articles identity group as folk-Devils
3. Media oversimplify reasons group has appeared
4. Moral entrepreneurs react and condemn group
5. Rise in police reports as group become more visible
6. Authorities stamp down on group
7. Group react by becoming more deviant in protest
8. More arrests result, statistics are reported and fulfil medias prophecy that the group was a problem.

Question 26

Describe the cause of moral panics? (Reaction to rapid social change)

Answer 26

Furedi argues moral panics arise when society fails to adapt to dramatic social changes and it’s felt there’s a loss of control. Older people feel a real sense of loss, making them more susceptible to the anxieties encouraged by media moral panics.

Question 27

Describe the cause of moral panics (a means of making profit)

Answer 27

Moral panics are the product of news values and the desire of MPs to sell papers. Moral panics sell tabloid papers, but after a while journalists abandon interest in them as they believe their audiences have lost interest too.

Question 28

Describe the cause of moral panics (serving ruling class ideology)

Answer 28

Hall sees moral panics as Serbia an ideological function. His study of black muggers served the ideological purpose of;

1. Turning white W/C against black
2. Divert attention from mismanagement of capitalism by the capitalist class
3. Justifying repressive laws.

Question 29

Describe the cause of moral panics (a reflection of people’s real fears)

Answer 29

Left realists argue moral panics have a very real basis in reality. Portraying such crime as a fantasy is naive as it denies the very real harm that some types of crime have on particular communities or the sense of threat that older people feel.

Question 30

What does Chandler argue about the news?

Answer 30

Newsreaders are presented as “neutral” observers in the way the read scripted news, dress formally and reduce body language.
The way TV news is presented results in it being regarded as the most reliable source of news by its audience.

Question 31

What is new media?

Answer 31

Refers to 2 trends over the last 20 years;

1. The evolution of existing media delivery systems e.g 5 channels to 100s of channels
2. The emergence of new delivery technologies e.g mobiles, computers and tablets.

Question 32

What is convergence?

Answer 32

Digitalisation resulted in the realisation that different ways of presenting a variety of types of info could all be combined into a single delivery system or media. Technological convergence has produced economic and social convergence.

Question 33

What does Jenkins argue about convergence?

Answer 33

Convergence involves both a change in the way media are produces and consumed. He said “convergence is both a top-down corporate-driven process and a bottom-up consumer-driven process”.

Question 34

What is compression?

Answer 34

Digital technologies enable the compression of signals; this has led to an increase of channels as many signals can go through the same cable line. New markets are organised around the concept of “narrow-casting”; the transmission of particular types of media content to niche or even individualised consumers.

Question 35

What does Boyle argue about compression?

Answer 35

He notes the focus of many media companies is now on creating a personalised media experience.

Question 36

What is interactivity?

Answer 36

Interactive media lets users select stories they want to watch and when they want to watch them. It’s been bought about by convergence. Producers and consumers are no longer separate roles. It’s produced a collective intelligence as consuming new media tends to be a collective process.

Question 37

What does Davies argue about the news?

Answer 37

British journalism is characterised by “churnalism”; the uncritical over reliance by journalists on “facts” produced by government spin doctors and PR experts. Journalism is forced into churnalism due to commercial pressures. They prefer to sermonise about the world rather than objectively report it.

Question 38

What does Couldry argue?

Answer 38

He notes only 6 corporations operate the majority of major news worldwide. Resource pressure mean journalists have to compete with the entertainment sector, leading to tabloidisation. This has led to a decline in public trust in the media profession. The public is aware the news lacks balance and serves corporate interest over society.

Question 39

What are 3 ways a media owner might influence the editorial priorities, fairness, transparency and impartiality of the news?

Answer 39

1. Owner may be directly involved in setting the editorial approach or policy of the news media.
2. Owner may influence the way news is gathered and presented.
3. Owners political/ business ideology may directly/ indirectly impact the choices of stories pursued by editors and how they’re presented.

Question 40

What does Bagdikian say about the power elite?

Answer 40

Almost all US media leaders are part of a wider power elite made up of a powerful industrial, financial and political establishment. Owners ensure content is conservative. The commercial pressure on journalists has meant the neutralisation of info and a reduction in objectivity due to fears it might offend the audience.

Question 41

What do Herman and Chomsky argue about propaganda in the media?

Answer 41

Media performance is largely shaped by market forces and that built into the capitalist system is a range of fitters that work to shape media output. Media are owned by wealthy companies, funded by advertisers and depend on government and businesses for info, so they control the flow of info.

Question 42

What do Glasgow University Media Group argue?

Answer 42

News is the product of social backgrounds of MPs (white, male, M/C). They unconsciously side with the rich and powerful as they have something in common.

Question 43

What did GUMGs semiotic analysis of news broadcasts find?

Answer 43

The language and visual images used by the media are more sympathetic to the interests of the powerful and devalue the points of view of less powerful groups. The media engage in agenda setting.