Topic 2 Flashcards
(26 cards)
What does the term ‘social construction of the news’ refer to?
The news is selected and processed rather than simply collected
It involves complex ideological, cultural, economic, and social factors.
What evidence did the Glasgow Media Group (GMG) provide regarding news selection?
Selection and presentation of news is not a neutral process; it reflects dominant ideologies
GMG has conducted studies over many years on this topic.
What key questions should be considered about media content selection?
- How is the content of the news selected?
- Who decides which events are worthy of coverage?
- Who decides who gets on TV?
According to Herman and Chomsky (2002), what influences mainstream news?
Powerful social interests that control the media
They propose a propaganda model of media.
What structural factors influence media content?
- Ownership
- Market forces
- Profit orientation
- Advertiser dependence
How do media owners influence news content?
- Direct instructions to editors
- Political leanings affecting content
- Journalists’ career dependencies on owners’ preferences
What is a consequence of media owners prioritizing profits?
News becomes unthreatening, unchallenging, and bland infotainment
This can lead to unethical journalistic practices.
Fill in the blank: The media’s search for _______ can squeeze out news and information.
[profit]
What can be a result of an increasingly competitive global media environment?
Squeezed news and information turned into bland infotainment
This affects the quality and integrity of journalism.
What did barnett and seymour say
In order to attract the widest
possible audience or readership, it becomes
important to appeal to everyone and offend
no one (unless offending a few helps to
generate a target audience).
Examples of social constructs of the news
philo and berry, bivens
What do people now expect?
People now
expect to be able to access up-to-date news at all times and wherever they happen to be,
through their mobile phones, tablets and laptops, or computers at home or work.
Agenda setting
The media’s influence in
laying down the list of
subjects, or agenda, for
public discussion
Gate keeping?
The media’s power
to refuse to cover
some issues and let
others be published.
SL to gate keeping?
Crime&Deviance- corporate and white collar crime remain
invisibly.
Two primary ways of norm setting?
Encouraging Conformity:
Promotes behaviours like obeying laws, helping others, and not going
on strike. Also things like advertising often reinforces gender
stereotypes.
Discouraging Non-Conformity:
Media sensationalizes violent crimes, riots, and other rule-breaking
behaviors.
Emphasizes consequences for breaking social norms, teaching
expected behaviors
What are news values?
This refers to the way in
which journalists and news corporations attach significance to a particular
story and judge its ‘newsworthiness’
.
When is emotive language used?
Emotive language may be used to
liven up a story, placing a dramatic
angle on events. For example, words
like pointiess’, ‘troublemakers’,
“thugs’, ‘rioters’, ‘scroungers’, ‘scum’,
‘terrorist’, ‘atrocity’ or ‘brutal”
encourage people to have a negative
view of the people or events
reported.
Moral panics?
False or sensationalized media reporting can lead to moral panics, which are public fears about
exaggerated threats to society.
What does cohen say?
Cohen argues that the media, through these
processes, can cause deviancy amplification: this is
the idea that the media makes crime or deviance
worse through its reporting.
What do journalists operate in ?
A hierarchy of credibility
Who are the majority of journalists
The GMG highlights that journalism is predominantly white,
male, and middle-class, which shapes the selection of sources,
perceived important issues, and presentation of news.
What did davies find?
that 80 per cent of stories in The Times, the Guardian,
Independent, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail were wholly, mainly or partially
constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public
relations industry. Only 12 per cent of stories were generated by reporters.
