AHSS*1060 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Media Ecology, Capitalism, Alternative Media
Mass Communication - AHSS 1060
Chapter 10: Journalists as Content Producers
News as Content Production
-News is produced and presented in story form.
-News stories never simply mirror reality, and news is not simply gathered.
-Seven determinants of newsworthiness (Mencher 2000): Timeliness, Impact,
Prominence, Proximity, Conflict, Peculiarity, Currency
-Journalists and news editors are gatekeepers of news production, selecting
which stories to cover.
-Gatekeeping ignores how a story is covered, how it is played, and the creative
nature of content production.
-Each news organization has its own “brand,” which also determines the stories it
chooses to publish and how it chooses to present them (e.g. tabloids vs.
broadsheets).
-Journalists “frame” reality, deciding what stories and images to present, and what
to leave out of the frame.
-News organizations are limited by time and resources in what news stories they
can present.
-News organizations have political biases that determine how they react to news
stories.
Ideals of Journalism
-Journalism is guided by a set of ideals that distinguishes it from other
communication practices.
-A primary ideal of journalism is the quest for truth - the authority of a journalist or
news organization is reliant on their credibility.
-Another ideal of journalism is serving democracy - democratic right to freedom of
info for all citizens is extended to journalists as freedom of the press; freedom of
the press calls on journalists to push boundaries and demand more information.
-Gingras (2006) - Three "confusions“
a. Freedom of expression does not guarantee political representation of
society and it does not allow for a true dialogue between civil society and
the state.
b. Freedom of expression does not speak to the quality of media messages.
c. Communication does not guarantee harmony or consensus.
-News media as the fourth estate
-Journalists as agents independent from political or private influence
-The final ideal of journalism is objectivity.
a. Positivist model of objectivity: objectivity may be impossible to attain, as
events cannot be viewed without the screen of our language, culture,
values, etc.
b. Critical realist approach to objectivity: learning the truth is a continuous
process, and truth is revealed through investigation.
Journalism as Textual Practice
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
News is produced and presented in story form. News stories never simply mirror reality, and news is not simply gathered. Seven determinants of newsworthiness (mencher 2000): timeliness, impact, Journalists and news editors are gatekeepers of news production, selecting which stories to cover. Gatekeeping ignores how a story is covered, how it is played, and the creative nature of content production. Each news organization has its own brand, which also determines the stories it chooses to publish and how it chooses to present them (e. g. tabloids vs. broadsheets). Journalists frame reality, deciding what stories and images to present, and what to leave out of the frame. News organizations are limited by time and resources in what news stories they can present. News organizations have political biases that determine how they react to news stories. Journalism is guided by a set of ideals that distinguishes it from other communication practices.
