Selection and Presentation of Media Flashcards
1
Q
What did Dennis MacQuail highlight?
A
- Highlighted an important aspect of news production as thousands of events occur but it is impossible to cover them all
2
Q
Is the news randomly selected?
A
- The news we see is not a random collection of events but carefully selected and shaped by the gatekeepers. They decide what is newsworthy meaning it has enough interest to attract an audience
3
Q
What are seven factors which influence which news stories are selected?
A
- Owners Influence
- Profit
- Citizen journalism
- Constraints of journalism
- Agenda setting
- Gate keeping
- Norm setting
4
Q
What is owners influence and how does it affect selection?
A
- Owners may impose their own views on the media either directly or indirectly and instruct editors to make the most profit and attract a certain audience
- They want to create the most profit so convey the dominant view of non-offensive news
- Editors may self censor their work to align with the owner
5
Q
What is profit and how does it affect selection?
A
- The profit needs to protect the business owners and shareholders so produce non-offensive material (Bagdikian)
- They gain profit through advertisement
6
Q
What is citizen journalism and how does it affect selection?
A
- New media, technology and globalisation means that news is available 24/7
- Media companies have to be up to date but post factually correct information
- They can also use citizen journalism as their source through posting their experiences
7
Q
What is the constraint of organisation and how does it affect selection?
A
- Newspaper companies cannot keep up with printing at the same rate of new media
- This means they have to change how they select news and use citizen journalism which allows a more diverse viewpoint
- News broadcasters are able to show breaking news rolling
- However due to speed, facts may not be properly checked or taking shortcuts which is what the audience rely on
8
Q
What is agenda setting and how does it affect selection?
A
- Media provides information and plans their layout. This means they are able to choose what we read
- McCombs and Shaw believes that they tell us what and how we think about something
- News companies are able to lay topics open for discussion
9
Q
What is gate keeping and how does it affect selection?
A
- They are able to choose which story by refusing some stories whilst allowing others in
- Pluto suggests that they do not report things which challenge the dominant ideology
- An example is tax evasion and benefit fraud
10
Q
What is norm setting and how does it affect selection?
A
- Norm setting enforces conformity and establishes what is seen as good
- This means people conform to social norms through what they see in the media
- They discourage non-conformity and isolate the people who do not so they appear in a bad light
11
Q
How is news presented and what does it influence?
A
- The physical position, photographs and emotive language of a news story can influence how important we believe the story is
- This can influence how people view stories and the opinions we form
12
Q
What is inaccurate reporting and what does it lead to?
A
- News reports can exaggerate or dramatize events to attract larger audiences which can lead to moral panics
(IPSO and laws of libel can prevent false reporting)
13
Q
What are moral panics and are they still relevant?
A
- Moral panics are the widespread fear threatens the moral standards of society
- Mod’s and Rocker’s (Cohen)
- It can define what is normal and deviant
- McRobbie and Thornton argue that these moral panics are less common due to rolling news as they live shorter
- Pluralists and postmodernists believe that audience are less likely to believe them as they are sceptical of mainstream values
14
Q
What are news values and how they lead to more newsworthy stories?
A
- Spencer-Thomas defines news values as general guidelines that determine the worth of a news story and how prominent it is
- Galtung and Rouge analysed international news across newspapers in Norway and identified some
1. Negativity = Seen as more newsworthy than good news
2. Extraordinariness (Twin Towers)
3. Personalisation = Photos
4. Reference to elite nations = Elite and powerful are seen to be more newsworthy
5. Threshold = The more people dramatically affected, more likely it would be reported
15
Q
What is churnalism and how has it affected the presentation of news stories?
A
- The constant production of stories which is based on second hand information from social media (Davies)
- 80% of stories were second hand
- They do this to increase profits
16
Q
Is media propaganda?
A
- Propaganda is the spreading of hateful news
Herman and Chomsky = Propaganda model of the media - Mainstream news is shaped by the powerful and they have the power to define and explain news which is news propaganda
- This is based on gaining the most profit
17
Q
What do Marxists believe about news propaganda?
A
- The social construction of the news reflects the interests away from the ruling class to the working class
- It is ideological conditioning of the working class to accept the inequalities in society
(Tax evasion and benefit fraud)
18
Q
What do Pluralists believe about news propaganda?
A
- It is not always to benefit the powerful as sometimes journalists expose injustices
- Furthermore, new media is able to undermine the power of mainstream media as there is alternative news available meaning more diverse viewpoints
19
Q
Is news socially constructed?
A
- A social construct is creating an idea of the norm from wider society
There are multiple factors which may lead to the social construction of news such as:
1. Agenda setting = Telling us what we should believe which is the dominant ideology as if it is common sense to align with those views
2. Profit = Sensationalism means they exaggerate news to attract audiences
3. Gatekeeping = They do not want to offend anyone so they keep it non-offensive
