Selection and presentation of content in the media Flashcards
Topic 3 in textbook - the social construction of news
… has shown in a series of studies that the selection and presentation of news is not a neutral process
Glasgow Media Group - marxist
- can give directions to journalists
- influence resources available to journalists
- journalists don’t want to upset them so adopt a form of self-censorship
- concerned with making profit - infotainment
Media owners influencing presentation/ selection of news
Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British Press following phone hacking scandals and alleged police bribery
Levinson Inquiry (2011-2)
… suggests that the importance of advertising means that news will be presented to avoid offending advertisers
Bagdikian
… found that some stories were repressed or killed off to avoid upsetting advertisers
Barnett and Seymour
… suggest that pressures to attract audiences and avoid offending anyone lead to a more conformist, less informed and less critical approach to reporting politics
Barnett and Gaber
…found that ‘infotainment’ and ‘tabloidisation’ were in TV news across the world
Thussu
… came up with the term citizen journalism, with new technology allowing people to record and present their own content, providing competition for mainstream news
Jenkins
… suggested that citizen journalism are transforming traditional journalism, and can be used to expose illegal and corrupt activities, as well as fake news, making journalists more accountable
Bivens (2008)
A political uprising which many suggest was spurred on by social media spreading information
The Arab Spring (2011)
Traditional journalists now have to compete with constant social media and 24/7 news coverage, which may decrease content quality
Time constraints
… suggests that, whilst the news might not tell people how to think, it does tell people what to think about (agenda setting)
Cohen
… suggests that the news influences how we think about certain things eg politicians’ reputation (agenda setting)
McCombs (2004)
… suggest that the mainstream media works within the framework of dominant ideology (agenda setting)
Glasgow Media Group
… noted that in 2008 banking crisis the media focused blame on the bankers rather than the existing economic system (agenda setting)
Philo
Gatekeeping (key term)
The media’s power to refuse to cover some topics and to let others be covered
… suggested that journalists, editors and owners acted as gatekeepers, deciding which stories to allow public knowledge to access
Glasgow Media Group
Strikes are often reported negatively but rarely reports of workplace accidents, so people focus on stopping strikes rather than improving workplace safety
Example of gatekeeping
Norm-setting (key term)
The way the media emphasise and reinforce conformity to social norms and seek to isolate those who don’t conform
The language and images created influence what people think about news eg strikers being shown shouting, youths described as “thugs”
The presentation of news - Glasgow Media Group
Moral panic (key term)
A wave of public concern about an imaginary or exaggerated threat, stirred up by sensationalised reporting in the media eg XL bullies, vaccines causing autism
… found that the moral panic about the rivalry between Mods and Rockers (subcultures in the 1960s) caused a lot more violence and tension between them
Cohen
… suggested that moral panics arise when people struggle to react to social change
Furetti (1994)
… argues that moral panics serve the ideological function of turning the working class against eachother
Stuart Hall - marxist
… studied the moral panic about mugging in the 1970s which led to the labelling of young black people as criminal
Stuart Hall
… argued that sociologists who dismiss moral panics as media generated myths are denying their justified anxieties about real threats (eg mugging)
Steve Hall
Deviancy amplification (key term)
the way that media concern can worsen the issue by exaggerated, sensationalised reporting and excessive action (like lots of arrests)
… suggested that media-generated moral panics are becoming less common because of new media allowing more fact-checking and wider range of views
McRobbie and Thornton
Folk devils (key terms)
Groups that have been targeted by the media, they then get a bad name for themselves and are seen as a threat to society.
… suggest that selection of news uses news values
Galtung and Ruge
News value: Immediacy
Pressure to be present at events as they unfold - instantaneous coverage - aided by citezen journalists providing footage from the scene eg during Arab Spring
News value: unexpectedness
Events which are out of the ordinary so more exciting eg drama, conflict - natural disasters etc
News value: Frequency
Stories that can be covered continuously to give the full story - eg crime happening, court case, punishment, law change - fit into routine scheduling of newspaper/programme
… emphasise the importance of journalist assumptions in forming media content
Glasgow Media Group
News value: Proximity
Can either be physical proximity or cultural proximity - make events feel more meaningful and impactful
News value: unambiguity
Stories which are clear and easy to understand without much explanation or detail
Churnalism (key term)
A form of journalism in which journalists produce news based on pre-packaged material in press releases provided by sources such as government spin doctors , public relations consultants and news agencies without further research or fact-checking
Hierarchy of confidentiality (key term)
Becker - the greatest importance is attached by journalists to the views and opinions of wealthy and powerful individuals eg government
Primary definers (key term)
Hall et al - certain influential individuals regularly appear in the media as ‘experts’ contributing to agenda setting and influencing the selection/presentation of news eg consulting home office for crime policy stories
… suggests journalists are under pressure to use primary definers as a cheap and readily available source of news, since primary definers want to be on the news
Manning
Journalists tend to favour what type of view?
Moderate central, so ignore extremist or radical views
… point out that journalists are usually white, male and middle-class, so support the dominate ideology
Glasgow Media Group
Who came up with the term “churnalism”?
BBC journalist Waseem Zakir
…. found in 2008 that 80% of stories in 5 top newspapers were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material eg news agencies
Davies
… showed how “advertorials” (branded content presented as news) were increasingly appearing in online news sites (eg stories about christmas adverts or new collections)
Jewell (2014)
… came up with the propaganda model of the media
Herman and Chomsky (2002) - marxist
Propaganda model
Suggests that structural factors (eg ownership, market forces) create shared interests between people who make news (eg making profit) so the media pushes the dominant ideology
… argue that many leading journalists serve those who hold power in society and engage in the “dark art” of smothering opposition to the dominant classes
Edwards and Cromwell
Pluralist view on selection and presentation of news
Media competition and the need to attract audiences means journalists sometimes expose injustice and corruption in the elites (eg post office scandal) so they’re not always serving dominant ideology . Also, new media has undermined power of mainstream media through citizen journalists featuring alternative views
