7.4 selection and presentation of the news

Social construction of the news

  • different stories can be told, but a range of practical, ideological, cultural, economic and social factors mean certain stories are chosen and told in a certain way

Galtung and Ruge - news values. More likely to be published is they are…

  • Unexpected

  • About important/ well known people

  • ‘Bad news’

  • Timely

  • Simple

  • Familiar

  • About elite countries

This has changed as there is a greater focus on celebrities, and it’s more important for stories to be visually interesting. Also must ensure that advertisers are not offended or alienated by any political or controversial messages

Practical constraints

  • tight deadlines

  • Limited budgets

  • Easily accessible

This has led to churnalism, reusing old information/ media (Davies). Found that 80% of stories in 2 newspapers were reused informatioN.

Agenda setting

  • where journalists and editors decide what is significant or not

Gatekeeping

  • Gans says editors are gatekeepers because they decide what is in the news and what isn’t, so they have access to information but withhold it from the audience

Evaluation of social construction of the news

  • there are news programmes that have a less strong editorial hand, such as ‘without comment’ where they publish photos without any comment. However journalists still choose which pictures to film

  • Marxists may argue that agenda setting and Gatekeeping practices are intended to transmit the ruling class ideology, rather than being to do with news values. Viewing these chooses as entirely political

  • Pluralists (Jones) found that the news does fairly reflect reality. Concludes there was a balanced discussion between news broadcasts

  • The media often targets the powerful and exposes corruption and abuse of power. However this may just be to manipulate the audience into believing the news is fair

  • Argued that citizen journalism reduces practical restrictions as access is much easier, as they can access photos and information from the public. However this may be more difficult for under-developed countries

Regulating the news

  • Uk press is regulated by IPSO which replaced PCC after the Leveson inquiry

  • The leveson inquiry found that journalists at the ‘news of the world’ (owned by Rupert Murdock) had been hacking the mobile phones of people connected with news stories, most were celebrities but one was a murder victim in which they checked her telephone messages. This lead to ISPO being the new regulatory body and for the body to be independent but backed up by legislation (not state regulated)

For state regulation

  • press abuses

  • Intrusive paparazzi and lack of privacy

  • Lack of accountability, whereas the BBC reflects public concerns

  • Independent of the government politically

Against state regulation

  • free press

  • Journalists can expose and challenge the powerful, including government

  • Self regulation works

  • State involvement leads to greater state control and censorship

  • Politicians would be able to push certain stories for their benefit

Even though there isn’t much state interference in the UK, newspapers will often support one particular government and have reasonable relationships with government ministers. Some individuals manage to get court orders ensuring the cannot be names in certain articles in relation to certain controversies (usually celebrities), known as super injunctions. However these stories are often widely reported in other countries anyway.