Selection and presentation of content in the media

Question 1

… has shown in a series of studies that the selection and presentation of news is not a neutral process

Answer 1

Glasgow Media Group - marxist

Question 2

• 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

Answer 2

Media owners influencing presentation/ selection of news

Question 3

Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British Press following phone hacking scandals and alleged police bribery

Answer 3

Levinson Inquiry (2011-2)

Question 4

… suggests that the importance of advertising means that news will be presented to avoid offending advertisers

Answer 4

Bagdikian

Question 5

… found that some stories were repressed or killed off to avoid upsetting advertisers

Answer 5

Barnett and Seymour

Question 6

… suggest that pressures to attract audiences and avoid offending anyone lead to a more conformist, less informed and less critical approach to reporting politics

Answer 6

Barnett and Gaber

Question 7

…found that ‘infotainment’ and ‘tabloidisation’ were in TV news across the world

Answer 7

Thussu

Question 8

… came up with the term citizen journalism, with new technology allowing people to record and present their own content, providing competition for mainstream news

Answer 8

Jenkins

Question 9

… 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

Answer 9

Bivens (2008)

Question 10

A political uprising which many suggest was spurred on by social media spreading information

Answer 10

The Arab Spring (2011)

Question 11

Traditional journalists now have to compete with constant social media and 24/7 news coverage, which may decrease content quality

Answer 11

Time constraints

Question 12

… suggests that, whilst the news might not tell people how to think, it does tell people what to think about (agenda setting)

Answer 12

Cohen

Question 13

… suggests that the news influences how we think about certain things eg politicians’ reputation (agenda setting)

Answer 13

McCombs (2004)

Question 14

… suggest that the mainstream media works within the framework of dominant ideology (agenda setting)

Answer 14

Glasgow Media Group

Question 15

… noted that in 2008 banking crisis the media focused blame on the bankers rather than the existing economic system (agenda setting)

Answer 15

Philo

Question 16

Gatekeeping (key term)

Answer 16

The media’s power to refuse to cover some topics and to let others be covered

Question 17

… suggested that journalists, editors and owners acted as gatekeepers, deciding which stories to allow public knowledge to access

Answer 17

Glasgow Media Group

Question 18

Strikes are often reported negatively but rarely reports of workplace accidents, so people focus on stopping strikes rather than improving workplace safety

Answer 18

Example of gatekeeping

Question 19

Norm-setting (key term)

Answer 19

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

Question 20

The language and images created influence what people think about news eg strikers being shown shouting, youths described as “thugs”

Answer 20

The presentation of news - Glasgow Media Group

Question 21

Moral panic (key term)

Answer 21

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

Question 22

… 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

Answer 22

Cohen

Question 23

… suggested that moral panics arise when people struggle to react to social change

Answer 23

Furetti (1994)

Question 24

… argues that moral panics serve the ideological function of turning the working class against eachother

Answer 24

Stuart Hall - marxist

Question 25

… studied the moral panic about mugging in the 1970s which led to the labelling of young black people as criminal

Answer 25

Stuart Hall

Question 26

… argued that sociologists who dismiss moral panics as media generated myths are denying their justified anxieties about real threats (eg mugging)

Answer 26

Steve Hall

Question 27

Deviancy amplification (key term)

Answer 27

the way that media concern can worsen the issue by exaggerated, sensationalised reporting and excessive action (like lots of arrests)

Question 28

… suggested that media-generated moral panics are becoming less common because of new media allowing more fact-checking and wider range of views

Answer 28

McRobbie and Thornton

Question 29

Folk devils (key terms)

Answer 29

Groups that have been targeted by the media, they then get a bad name for themselves and are seen as a threat to society.

Question 30

… suggest that selection of news uses news values

Answer 30

Galtung and Ruge

Question 31

News value: Immediacy

Answer 31

Pressure to be present at events as they unfold - instantaneous coverage - aided by citezen journalists providing footage from the scene eg during Arab Spring

Question 31

News value: unexpectedness

Answer 31

Events which are out of the ordinary so more exciting eg drama, conflict - natural disasters etc

Question 31

News value: Frequency

Answer 31

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

Question 31

… emphasise the importance of journalist assumptions in forming media content

Answer 31

Glasgow Media Group

Question 31

News value: Proximity

Answer 31

Can either be physical proximity or cultural proximity - make events feel more meaningful and impactful

Question 31

News value: unambiguity

Answer 31

Stories which are clear and easy to understand without much explanation or detail

Question 32

Churnalism (key term)

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Hierarchy of confidentiality (key term)

Answer 33

Becker - the greatest importance is attached by journalists to the views and opinions of wealthy and powerful individuals eg government

Question 34

Primary definers (key term)

Answer 34

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

Question 35

… 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

Answer 35

Manning

Question 36

Journalists tend to favour what type of view?

Answer 36

Moderate central, so ignore extremist or radical views

Question 37

… point out that journalists are usually white, male and middle-class, so support the dominate ideology

Answer 37

Glasgow Media Group

Question 38

Who came up with the term “churnalism”?

Answer 38

BBC journalist Waseem Zakir

Question 39

…. found in 2008 that 80% of stories in 5 top newspapers were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material eg news agencies

Answer 39

Davies

Question 40

… showed how “advertorials” (branded content presented as news) were increasingly appearing in online news sites (eg stories about christmas adverts or new collections)

Answer 40

Jewell (2014)

Question 41

… came up with the propaganda model of the media

Answer 41

Herman and Chomsky (2002) - marxist

Question 42

Propaganda model

Answer 42

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

Question 43

… 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

Answer 43

Edwards and Cromwell

Question 44

Pluralist view on selection and presentation of news

Answer 44

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