Media theoretical framework

Question 1

What is an Injunction?

Answer 1

Stop a news outlet from publishing a certain piece of private information.

Question 2

The news meaning:

Answer 2

• A report.
• Public interest.
• Celebrity.
• A notification of current events.
• Expect the news to be unbiased.
• Can be more celebrity based than political.
• Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events.

Question 3

What is a Super-injunction?

Answer 3

One step further by doing the above and preventing the media from publishing anything about the existence of the injunction itself.

Question 4

Traditionally (pre-internet), there were 3 main ways to access the news, what are they are what do they all require?

Answer 4

• Radio
• TV
• Newspapers

They all require your participation and you to buy them ~ problematic.

Question 5

What does Bias and news values mean?

Answer 5

We might only see news that is chosen by the news editors – most of these tend to be white, middle-aged, middle-class men.

Question 6

What is Gatekeeping Theory?

Answer 6

The news we see is controlled by a few people in positions of power in news institutions ~ these news editors decide what stories make the news bulletins ~ we only see a very small proportion of what is really happening in the world, and only news that these gatekeepers think is interesting.

Question 7

News Values Analysis - what does negativity mean?

Answer 7

Bad news (Involving death, tragedy, bankruptcy, violence, damage, natural disasters, political upheaval or simply extreme weather conditions) is always rated above ‘positive’ stories (royal weddings, celebrations etc).

Question 8

News Values Analysis - what does Recency mean?

Answer 8

The recency of the news is really important because people want to know about stories as they happen.

Question 9

News Values Analysis - what does Exclusivity mean?

Answer 9

News outlets are very competitive about breaking news ~ if a newspaper or news programme is the first and only news organisation breaking a story, then they will rate that very highly.

Question 10

News Values Analysis - what does Size/threshold mean?

Answer 10

The bigger impact a story has ~ the more people it affects ~ the more money/resources it involves ~ the higher its value.

Question 11

News Values Analysis - what does Proximity (closeness to) mean?

Answer 11

Audiences supposedly relate more to stories that are close to them geographically, or involve people from their country, or those that are reported that way.

Question 12

News Values Analysis - what does Continuity mean?

Answer 12

Events that are likely to have a continuing impact (a war, a two week sports tournament) have a high value when the story breaks, as they will develop into an ongoing narrative which will get audiences to ‘tune in tomorrow’.
These stories stay in the public eye for some time and are deemed valuable.
The story may run for weeks and weeks, even if nothing new really happens.

Question 13

News Values Analysis - what does Uniqueness mean?

Answer 13

Any story which covers a unique or unusual event (two-headed elephant born to Birmingham woman) has news values.

Question 14

News Values Analysis - what does Simplicity mean?

Answer 14

Stories which are easy to explain are preferred over stories which are not (Consider the Palestinian conflicts).

Question 15

News Values Analysis - what does Expectedness mean?

Answer 15

Does the event match the expectations of a news organisation and its audience?
If a news story conforms to the preconceived ideas of those covering it, then it has expectedness as an important news value.

Question 16

News Values Analysis - what does Elite nations/people mean?

Answer 16

Any story which covers an important, powerful nation (or organisation) has greater news values than a story which covers a less important nation. The same goes for people.

Question 17

News Values Analysis - what does Personlisation mean?

Answer 17

Human interest stories that are about real people.

Question 18

Who came up with the list of news values in 1973?

Answer 18

Media researchers Galtung & Ruge.

Question 19

Which elements of the news values do you notice?

Answer 19

Proximity, negativity and continuity.

Question 20

What generic conventions do you see?

Answer 20

Serif traditional masthead - more like a broadsheet but tabloid because of the images and the sensationalising of the news. Image led, gossip.

Question 21

Does anything hint at the paper’s political leanings?

Answer 21

Serif traditional masthead ~ Conservative.

Question 22

What does Regional mean?

Answer 22

Contains some national and international news, but focus on news relating to a specific area.

Question 23

What is a feature of a regional newspaper?

Answer 23

Focus more on events in and around the community.

Question 24

What is an example of a regional newspaper?

Answer 24

The Bath Chronicle.

Question 25

What does Local mean?

Answer 25

Contains some national and international news but focus on fairly local news topics in detail.

Question 26

What is a feature of a local newspaper?

Answer 26

Cover news and events in a specific region, such as a state or province.

Question 27

What is an example of a local newspaper?

Answer 27

The Bristol Post.

Question 28

What is a tabloid?

Answer 28

Cover all national and international news. Often contain a certain amount of more ‘gossipy’ or scandalous news items.

Question 29

What are features of a tabloid newspaper?

Answer 29

• Leads with an image.
• Sensationalised often punning headlines.
• ‘Popular’ press.
• Aimed at lower social groupings (C2,D & E).
• Bold layout (e.g. colour on the masthead, very bold typeface, easy to read), with large, dramatic pictures.
• Shorter articles, more pictures, less ‘in-depth’ reporting.
• Puns and jokes in headlines.
• More focus on human interest stories, celebrity gossip.
• Use of gimmicks such as bingo games, free travel tickets, phone-in surveys.

Question 30

What are examples of tabloid newspapers?

Answer 30

• The Daily Mirror.
• The Sun.

Question 31

What is a Broadsheet?

Answer 31

The largest type of newspaper! Cover all national and international news, often in a serious or formal way.

Question 32

What are features of a broadsheet newspaper?

Answer 32

• Traditional (serif) masthead.
• Often contains supplements.
• Text led ~ longer articles.
• Aimed at higher social groupings (A,B,C1).
• ‘Quality’ or ‘serious’ press.
• Serious headlines ~ more focus on politics, international news.

Question 33

What are examples of broadsheet newspapers?

Answer 33

• The Times.
• The Daily Mail.

Question 34

What are the Social demographic gradings?

Answer 34

Money and class = separate.

Question 35

What is the difference between tabloid and broatsheet?

Answer 35

BROADSHEET:

• ‘Quality’ or ‘serious’ press.
• Aimed at higher social groupings (A,B,C1).
• Plainer layout (Little colour on the front page, smaller typeface suggests readers will make more effort to read it), and subtle, possibly smaller, pictures.
• Longer articles, more detailed.
• Serious headlines.
• More focus on politics, international news.

TABLOIDS:

• ‘Popular’ press.
• Aimed at lower social groupings (C2,D & E).
• Bold layout (e.g. colour on the masthead, very bold typeface, easy to read), with large, dramatic pictures.
• Shorter articles, more pictures, less ‘in-depth’ reporting
  Puns and jokes in headlines.
• More focus on human interest stories, celebrity gossip.
• Use of gimmicks such as bingo games, free travel tickets, phone-in surveys.

Question 36

What is the news?

Answer 36

Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events.