Journalism and Media Studies Midterm Review

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering midterm review terms including journalism standards, information neighbourhoods, news drivers, and source evaluation criteria.

Attention Economy

A system in which finite and valuable human attention is treated as a commodity: captured, analysed and traded for profit by digital platforms and advertisers

VITA or VIA

An acronym for the key characteristics that set journalism apart from other forms of information

Verified

The journalistic process that establishes or confirms the accuracy of information with evidence

Independent

Freedom from the control, influence or support of interested parties, including oneself

Transparent

Disclosure of interest, information sources, sponsorship, ownership and other limiting factors in the editorial process

Accountable

Acceptance of legal, moral and ethical responsibility for one’s journalistic work

Churnalism

Journalism that relies on existing material, such as press releases or wire service reports, instead of original research. This type of ‘news’ may or may not be verified

Press Release

Information written like a news story that is released by companies and governments to draw attention to or promote events, initiatives, results and distinctions

Sponsored or Branded Content

Content that resembles journalism, and which may be informative, but that is missing a key element: Independence. Promotion made to look like journalism

Universal News Drivers (or Values)

A set of protocols that journalists use to determine what makes news; most news stories will have more than one of these

Above the Fold

The top part of a print newspaper or website; the place where editors place the most newsworthy or attention-grabbing stories

Social media platform

An online digital service or app that hosts user-generated content and facilitates two-way communication

Social Media source

A user-generated post, video, thread or comment that can be found on an online digital service or app. This type of content may or may not pass the VITA test

Information Neighbourhoods

Five categories of information with different goals, methods, practitioners & outcomes

Primary Goal of Journalism

To inform and empower citizens

Primary Goal of Entertainment

To amuse or engage people during their leisure time

Primary Goal of Promotion

To sell goods, services & talent by increasing their appeal to consumers

Primary Goal of Propaganda

To build mass support for an ideology by canonizing leaders & demonizing opponents

Primary Goal of Raw Information

To bypass institutional filters & distribution costs to sell, advertise, advocate, entertain & inform

Journalistic Truth

The best obtainable version of news events based on verified facts up to the point of publication; this concept can build over time as more facts are verified

Framing

Mental structures that shape the way we see the world; each of us has our own method of seeing the world due to our socio-cultural backgrounds & experiences

News Angle

The choice that journalists make about how to tell a story – what to focus on, what to include or not include. Journalists use this narrative technique to make their stories compelling and easy to understand

Sanewashing

The tendency or practice of journalists to focus on the coherent or ‘normal’ parts of what someone is saying, thereby minimizing the extreme, incoherent or irrational

Narrative Bias / Selection Bias

In deciding how to tell a story (the narrative), journalists will inevitably prioritize information. This can limit what other information is included, which leads to this situation.

Importance / Impact

News driver: information crucial for public to know; EX: unemployment figures

Prominence

News driver: related to famous people – celebrities or leaders or public figures

Conflict

News driver: disagreements among people (celebrity divorce, labour dispute) that drives news

Human Interest

News driver: events that stir emotions and that strike a chord (sad, heartwarming, inspirational)

Magnitude

News driver: relates to the scope or numbers in a story (fatalities, acreage, lottery prize)

Proximity

News driver: relates to your community, town or country – a local connection

Unusualness

News driver: refers to news that you don’t see every day – odd, novel, unheard of, rare

Timeliness

Breaking news is a good example of this News Driver. Could be news as it’s happening OR anniversaries & commemorations OR trending topics

Relevance / Usefulness /Practicality

News driver: info that would be helpful in your everyday life and potentially improve your life

Source

Someone who gives information to journalists

A NICE

A way to evaluate the reliability of a source. The best journalistic sources would tick all 5 boxes in this evaluation

Authoritative / Informed

In sourcing evaluation, the person is knowledgeable about a news event

Named

In sourcing evaluation, the person offers their full identity

Independent (Sourcing)

In sourcing evaluation, the person has nothing to gain by talking to the press

Corroborated

In sourcing evaluation, the person’s claims can be supported by other sources such as documents. For very sensitive stories, we want more than one source to support a claim or piece of information

Evidence

In sourcing evaluation, we can determine if the person’s statement is fact or opinion, and their statement is verifiable i.e. the person provides proof

Anonymous Source

A source that is not named in a story. In using these sources, journalists should still provide Transparency, Characterization and Corroboration