The construction of the news Flashcards
Who talks about the news as a social construction?
McQuail
When did McQuail talk about news as a social construction?
1992
What does McQuail say?
‘news’ is not objective and impartial = bias
- events happen but not all events can become news due to the sheer number of them
What is the news (not definition wise)?
A socially manufactured product because it is the end result of a selective process
What is being referred to when talking about bureaucratic routines of the news?
News coverage shaped by the way TV news companies and newspapers are organized
How is bureaucratic routines illustrated?
- Finance
- Time
- Deadlines
- Audiences
Who controls what/how events are covered?
Gatekeepers, such as editors and journalists and proprietors
> decide what events are important enough to cover & how to cover them
Explain what is meant by finance
Sending personnel overseas and booking satellite connects can be very expensive
> may result in ‘news’ reports on very little events to justify heavy costs
- Decline in expensive forms of news coverage
(eg: investigative reporting or foreign affairs)
- more localized stores and neglecting LEDC countries in the news
Explain what is meant by time
Amount of time available for a news bulletin or the column space in a newspaper
- events much more likely to be reported
> esp. on TV if there’s live sound of speech and film footage from an actual location
- Longer, more complex new stories aren’t reported on
Explain what is meant by deadlines
Newspapers by their nature are dated
- all news included usually happened the day before
- TV news more immediate as it is often broadcasted as it happens
- Bureaucratic routines effects what is shown in the media and how its shown
Explain what is meant by audience
Content and style of news programmes often dependent on the type of audience thought to be watching
- Newspapers content cater to the social characteristics of newspapers reader
What’s an example of audience illustrated in the news?
The Sun
> aimed at a working class young readership
> using simplistic language because it believes that this is what its readership wants
When did Galtung and Ruge talk about news values?
1965
Who speaks about news values?
Galtung and Ruge
What is extraordinariness?
- Unexpected, rare and surprising events have more newsworthiness than routine events bc they’re out of the ordinary
What are some of the news values?
- Extraordinariness
- Personalization
- Reference to the elite
- Narratives and negativity
What is personalization?
complex events and policies are often reduced to conflict between personalities
> journalists and editors believe their audiences will identify with a story if social events are seen as the actions of individuals
What is reference to the elite?
Elite people: activities of the powerful and celebrities perceived as more newsworthy than exploits of ordinary people
(eg: pop stars)
Elite nations: stories about people who speak English as first language, look the same and have similar cultures as the audience, receive more coverage than those that don’t
What did McLurg say in relation to reference to the elite?
Claimed 1 Briton worth 5 dead Frenchmen, 20 dead Egyptian, 500 dead Indians and 1000 dead Chinese in terms of news coverage
What is narrative and negativity?
Narrative: journalists prefer to present news in the form of story with heroes and villains and a beginning, middle and end
Negativity: bad news regarded by journalists as more exciting and dramatic - potentially attracting a bigger audience
What is supporting research for news value?
Buckley gave 12 TV editors 64 news stories, asked to classify for news worthiness
- All classified them in a similar manner and those items most likely to be reported were those with the greater number of news values
What are the key sociologist theories for construction of the news?
Pluralism
The power elite
The propaganda model of the media
Instrumental Marxism
What does Pluralism argue?
Journalists: disinterested, impartial and objective pursuers of the truth
- Modern world of journalism: these goals are increasingly difficult to attain
Who speaks about pluralism?
Davies (2008)
What does Davies say?
Modern day British journalism chatactrised by “churnalism”
- Uncritical over reliance by journalists on ‘facts’ churned out by public relations experts
What stats are there that support Davies point?
80% of news stories in 2 national newspapers were sourced this way over a 2 week period in 1997
- Only 12% of stories were generated by journalists
Who speaks about the power elite?
Bagdikian (2004)
What does Bagdikian say about the power elite?
Critiques american news media as almost all media owners in the USA are part of a wider power elite made up of a powerful, industrial, financial and political establishment
- Media owners ensure that news content is politically conservative and their news outlets promote coverage values
- Such values permeate news
What’s an example of Bagdikian’s argument?
Most newspapers have sections dedicated to business news but contain little on poverty or the growing gap between the rich and the poor in the USA
Who speaks about the propaganda model of the media?
Herman and Chomsky (1988)
What is the propaganda model of the media?
The argument that media participates in propaganda campaigns helpful to elite interest
- Suggests media performance largely shaped by market forces
- built into the capitalism system is a range of filters that work ceaselessly to shape media output
What’s an example of Herman and Chomsky’s argument?
Advertisers want their advertising to appear in a supportive selling environment whilst government can pressure the media with threats of withdrawal of TV licenses therefore control the flow of info
Who are instrumental Marxists that talk about the construction of the news?
Edward and Cromwell (2006)
What do Edward and Cromwell argue?
Particular subjects are distorted, suppressed, marginalized and ignored by the British mass media
- EG: US/British gov responsibility for genocide, vast corporate criminality etc.
- Leaders of developing countries (disapproved by the west) are uncritically demonized
- USA presented as the champion of democracy
What does Hall say?
- News supportive of capitalist interest
> those in powerful positions have better access the media institutions than the less powerful
> result of news values employed by most journalists - Most journalists rank the views of primary definers
> more important/credible than those of pressure groups etc or ordinary ppl
= hierarchy of credbility
What are primary definers?
Politicians, police officers, civil servants and business leaders
Who critiques theories focused on elites?
Schlesinger (1990)
What does Schlesinger say?
Media doesn’t always act in interests of the powerful
- contemporary politicians are very careful about what they say to the media
> aware that the media can shape public perceptions of their policies and practices
> influences voting behavior and puts them under considerable pressure to resign
What does Schlesinger say about media owners?
Engaged in competition with each other
EG: newspaper price wars, public conflict between media owners over ownership
- doesn’t suggest a unified media
