english in the news

watchdog

the news platform keeping track of what should be covered in the news, “keeping people in check” (celebrities), investigating and fact-checking to keep people accountable

act as a gatekeeper

journalists and editors deciding what to publish and what is deemed “newsworthy”

act as a scorekeeper

to keep track of “wins”

how do we define the news?

a report on current events or happenings (newsworthy) that are deemed important to the general public/audience

what are the functions of the news?

to inform on current events

to reflect or shape public opinion

to sell/advertise (profit for shareholders)

to highlight changes/development in society

to promote/criticize particular ethical and political values (Fox News - conservative, angry,…)

to act as a gatekeeper, scorekeeper, watchdog

to entertain people

what or who determines what is or is not the news?

editors of platforms

what makes news newsworthy?

timeliness

impact

proximity

prominence

conflict

novelty/rarity

human interest

relevance

uniqueness/exclusivity

magnitude/scale

timeliness

the news has to be recent in order to be important

“old news is no news”

impact

the scale of influence of the news

e.g. crash on a highway impacts a lot of people because it gets closed down

proximity

the closeness of the news topic

e.g. local news

prominence

how important or influential the topics or people the news cover are

e.g. news about the president of the US, the royal family, influential politicians, celebrities

conflict

news about conflicts in the world, disagreements which influence the general public, tragedies

e.g. war

novelty/rarity

topics that are rare or infrequent are newsworthy because they are not common, which makes them special

e.g. new breed of animal was born, a cure for disease has been found

human interest

news surrounding topics about people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest, sympathy or motivation in the reader or viewer

“soft news”

relevance

news that is in relation to a particular readership, place, or time

uniqueness/exclusivity

a news story that cannot be accessed anywhere else

magnitude/scale

a news story which affects a large group of people / the majority of the area

e.g. COVID spreading

left-wing x right-wing ideologies in the news

“headlinese”

partiality

unfair bias towards something, “favouritism”

editorial bias

in November 2025 the BBC was accused of editorial bias

journalists/news reporters are inclined to report and convey news in what they deem favourable, they insert their opinions into their reports

censorship

suppressing certain opinions or preventing certain pieces of information (or books, films) from reaching the public

banning books - 1984, Fahrenheit 451

fake news

a genre of “yellow journalism”

purposefuly spreading misleading and incorrect information, false stories

to influence political views, opinions, or as a joke

clickbait

a sensationalized headline or cover image to attract attention of the reader

negativity bias

negative news headlines are more attractive

the tendency to register negative news rather than positive news, and to dwell on the events

shadenfreude

the joy of the misfortune of others

availability heuristic

a “mental shortcut” that helps people make decisions based on how easily examples or information come to mind

“the faster i think of it, the more i’m gonna be inclined to make a decision in that direction”

often makes us overestimate how important or frequent something is based on how recent is it

yellow journalism

journalism that exploits, exaggerates the news

to create sensations and attract readers

sensationalist

eye-catching headlines

from a popular comic strip called “The Yellow Kid” featured in the newspapers during a competition of two journalists in the 1800s - yellow was associated with the story

metonymy

a word/phrase is replaced with another that is closely linked to it

e.g. calling military power “sword”, “I am reading Blake”, “the crown” for the monarchy, “Hollywood” = film industry

colloquial register

“not formal/ordinary” + “language used based on context and audience”

= casual register

using everyday phrases

to be more easily understood

x

business register - has a higher standard of vocabulary

formal register - when you want to impress, job interviews, lectures, email communication, court of law

frozen (historic langauge that cannot be changed, quotes from the Bible

intimate - personal and private, inside jokes, pick-up lines, made-up words, pet names, secrets, something only the other person would understand

changing registers = code switching

puns

wordplay that uses words with multiple meanings/sound similar to make a joke

what did the sushi say to the bee….. wasabi.

standard English

“socially accepted” form of English used in academics or formal settings

associated with educated speakers

hedging

ambiguous, uncertain, cautious phrases

to minimize loss, to avoid disagreements

“cautious language”

propaganda

communication to influence/persuade an audience to further an agenda that is not objective, only showing “one side” or certain aspects of a situation to influence the perception of the reader

often using loaded language to evoke an emotional response

“to propagate” = “to spread”

multimodal news - images, video and digital influence

in the news recently - celebrity pics, JACOB ELORDI, LIVERPOOL, Trump :), Klempíř??? i wouldnt know

scenes of conflict, crime scene photos, mugshots, cartoons (political), pictures of the weather, graphs and charts, images of culture, lifestyle images, technology, people in the public eye

• to enhance newsworthiness, more drama, sensational, to shock, capture attention, inform (sometimes), to frame a narrative, satirise figures, elicit laughter, promote aspirational lifestyles, raise awareness, to console and comfort, to pad out stories and fill space

• thrill, fear, excitement, shock, pity, outrage, desire, jealousy, wonder, admiration, reassurance

• parity in pay gaps

• “sympathy for the frail old white man” im sobbing

• what is the agenda?

• what lies beyond the picture frame?

• how could this be portrayed differently?

• what is we switch news publications?

words vs images

• what is more powerful?

  • you process images faster YOU HAVE TO READ THE WORDS!

  • can interpret them in different ways, words not so much

  • SAD !!!!!? images evoke emotions more and faster than words

  • images are more powerful short-term, but words long-term

tabloids

• sensational

• loooooove images (of pop culture)

serious

• more words

• images of high-brow culture

The Onion

• whats the point? the news is usually reporting on useless things, they have unreliable sources, nothing really matters “im just some fucking guy”

• what features are being satirised? the scene with the ambulance lmao, exaggerate

• inane = lacking sense

• attractive witnesses with irrelevant opinions

• useless lists

• cynical use of emails, tweets to engage the viewers

• pumping up the drama by emergency services

• “credible” older witnesses

platform-optimised news

• tweets, tiktok videos, smartphone footage, screenshots (comments, texts), livestreams, YT clips

• keeping attention

• authenticity, cost, speed, engagement, relatability, platform compatibility, accessible