Topic 4 The Selection and Presentation of the News Flashcards
What influence do owners have on media?
- owners occasionally give direct instructions to news editors
- they make the financial decisions
- allocate resources for reporters
- journalists depend on their careers, leading to self-censorship
- owners are concerned with profits so information gets squeezed out, encouraging the development of media culture
What does Bagdikian suggest about profits?
Bagdikian suggests the importance of advertising means new reports are created in a way to avoid offending advertisers with satires watered down or killed off altogether
What does the need to make profit lead to?
- leads to conservatism of the media
- means minority views are not presented
this helps to maintain the hegemony of the dominant views in society - leads to a dumbing down of news content
How has globalisation impacted media?
- news providers now have to compete to survive
- it is crucial for companies to be put o date
- Tiktok has meant that readers have short attention spans
What does Bivens say about citizens journalism?
Bivens suggests that citizens journalism through mobile phone recording at the scene of events, has led to the transformation of news reporting
What does Thussu argue about global competition and globalisation of media?
- it has led to tv news becoming tabloidized
- he called it global infotainment, designed to inform and entertain
How does Thussu’s theory link to concepts like hollywoodisation/ electronic colonialism?
- idolising the celebrity/hollywood culture
- demonstrates the power of American companies
- it shows how the west has power over others
How would Neo-Philliac’s view Thussu’s theory?
- they are optimistics social networks mean that social life is enhanced
- greater democracy and informed consumers
How would cultural pessimist’s view Thussu’s theory?
- limited consumer choice
- candyfloss culture - dumbing down of the audience
- not regulated
- little consumer choice
- cultural homogenisation
What are the impacts of the growth of the media?
- these changes have put organisational pressure on news media and organisations
- journalists are forced to produce material on a tight schedule to meet ever shortening deadlines, leads to shortcuts being taken
- leads to inadequate evidence been collected and stories not being correctly checked to see if its real
What does agenda setting in the media cause?
- people only discuss and are aware of the things they know about, mostly from the media
- this may mean that people may never discuss some topics because they are not informed about them
- audiences have little choice about what they receive
What does McQuail argue about the gatekeeping of media?
- argues the news is not objective or impartial
- stories that pose a threat tostagtus quo or dominant ideology
How has gatekeeping within the media meant that the ruling class have less power?
- Almost everyone has the oppurtuntity to broadcast opinion and question authority
- It is becoming increasingly harder for the ruling class to hide stories that threaten their power
Norm setting is achieved in two ways, what are they?
- encouraging conformist behaviour
- discouraging non-conformist behaviour - media emphasis the consequences for those who break social norms
What does norm setting show us in relation to the social contruction of the news?
- powerful people set the agenda and contract our ideas
- audience are passive
- owners have direct control
According to Cohen, how does the media start a moral panic?
According to Furedi, how are moral panics caused?
argues moral panics occur due to rapid social change as a way to gain control. They are based on wider concerns
Explain moral panics as a mean of making profit?
Some sociologists argue that moral panics are just products of news values and the desire of journalists to sell papers. Moral panics sell newspapers.
What do Marxists believe causes a moral panic?
Marxists such as Hall see moral panics as serving an ideological function. Moral panics make it easier for the powerful to oppress the general public
What do Left realists believe causes a moral panic?
Left realists argue that moral panics should not be dismissed as they have a real basis on reality. They argue that moral panics are justified in some cases.
What do McRobbie and Thornton argue about moral panics?
- the concept of moral panics are outdated and in decline
- this is because of 24/7 reporting and intense competition between media organisations
- audience has become increasingly sophisticated
What do Pluralists and Postmodernists say about media moral panics?
- moral panics are in decline
- people are more skeptical of media headlines and less likely to believe them
- most events have a short shelf life and will not be newsworthy long enough to build an audience
- links to Postman’s 3 minute culture
How does the media create a moral panic?
- reported in a way to frighten people
- turn deviant groups into folk devils
What are the 10 news values?
- extraordinariness
- threshold
- unambiguity
- reference to elite persons
- reference to elite nations
- personalisation
- frequency
- continuity
- negativity
- composition
What did the propaganda model discuss?
- Herman and Chomsky the media participate in propaganda campaigns helpful to elite interests
- there’s solidarity between wealthy and government as the provide the information sources
How is power elite an impact of journalist assumptions?
- media owners tend to ensure content is politically conservative and their outlets promote corporate values
- media often seem uninterested in issues like the class gap
- journalists try not to offend part of the audience as they will lose consumers, this may leave the media bland
- journalists are all from similar backgrounds
How is the hierarchy of credibility an impact of journalist assumptions?
- Hall argues the media supports capitalist interest because those in power have better access to music institutions
- Hall argues journalists rank the opinions of police officers and politicians as more credible than pressure groups. He calls this group ‘primary definer’
How can the view of journalist assumptions be critiqued by citizen journalism?
- alternative news sources - Charlie Brooker
- ordinary people are also credible - woman filmed George Floyd’s death
Why is news not impartial?
- critics suggest that commercial pressures, background of journalists, churnalism has meant news is socially manufactured which may end up reflecting the values and ideology of powerful groups.
- this undermines democracy as audience is only exposed to a limited range of information
What did Davies find that explained the rise in churnalism?
found that 80% of stories in certain newspapers were constructed through second hand news
What did Jewell find that explained the rise in churnalism?
Jewell showed how advertorials were increasingly appearing on online news sites, this blurs the line between advertising and news
Give 3 ways how owners influence media content?
- gatekeep amd agenda setting
- impose their own views with instructions to journalists
- have direct control over decisions
Why has citizen journalism increased in a global world?
- now have access to new media
- made people more accountable
- anyone can create news
What is agenda setting?
those who own media, control the topics we see and what they discuss and control when we see it
What is the impact of a moral panic?
- folk devil gets excluded from society
- creates a deviance amplification spiral
- expansion of the control agency
- clamping down on that behaviour
Define infotainment?
broadcast material which is intended both to entertain and to inform
