INTG 415 - Media and the Self-Directed Citizen

Dr. Lee McGaan  

  Office:  WH 308  (ph. 309-457-2155);  email:  lee@monm.edu
  Home:  418 North Sunny Lane (ph. 309-734-5431)

Spring 2012 Office Hours:   MW: 9-10am, 11am-1pm & 3:15-4pm;   Fri: 11am-1pm; & by apt.  |   copyright (c) by Lee McGaan, 2006-12
 

last updated 9/1/2011

What is "the News

  • "It’s what news people decide!"

  • News is created/interpreted.

  • News is rhetoric/persuasion as well as information

  [ ] = Jamieson's view

What makes news "news" 

     (content factors)

  • timeliness [novel or deviant]

  • prominance

  • significant consequence

  • proximity

  • human interest  [personalized - about people - accessible]

    1. talking head interview on economy

    2. focus on personalities and motives

    3. flamboyance over substance

  • [ discrete events - actual/concrete not theoretical]

     (form factors)

  • visual quality

  • [drama - conflict, emotion, controversy, violence]

  • [access]

  • comprehensibility

  • fits known interpretation [ linked to issues of on-going concern to media - see below ]

    Some Interpretive [ THEMES ]    :   (p. 39)

    1. [ appearance v reality ]

    2. [ little guys v bug guys ]

    3. [ good v evil ]

    4. self-serving establishment

    5. environment and other "good" causes

    6. war v peace

    7. family values, children, motherhood

    8. [ efficiency v inefficiency ]

    9. [ uniqueness (news of the odd) ]

    10. [ hypocracrisy, abuse of power and lying ]  recent news norms include much of this.

Constraints on the News

EXTERNAL to the content itself

  1. [Access]

  2. News hole (column inches; 22 of 30 minutes) sets limits and ;yet must be filled in the 24 hour news cycle.   [time and space]

  3. News flow (the silly season)

  4. staffing  [cost]

 

INTERNAL to the content itself

  1. perceptions of audience - Review Atlas v NYT

  2. [use available material] (see access above)

  3. competition  - "pack journalism" or "consensible nature of the news"

  4. [covering visual events and newsworthy people]

  5. [avoid giving offense]

    1. executive decisions ( publisher's interests)

    2. advertiser pressure

    3. source pressure ( tearful family, politicians, photo ops, staged events, rewards to "good" reporters)

Presentational factors influencing the news

  1.  [reporter expertise]

  2. use of interviews rather than "library" sources

  3. [fairness and balance]

  4. [story length] - news hole

  5. [structure of story ]

    • narrative

    • problem - solution

    • climax

  6. [objectivity]

From Hard News to Soft News

  1.  hard news - 5 Ws

  2.  features

  3.  news analysis

  4.  signed column

  5.  editorial

  6.  new journalism

 

 

         Discussion questions for Thursday 

  1. Identify news stories/ events that illustrate each of the content factors

  2. Identify news stories/ events that illustrate at least three of the form factors

  3. Identify news stories/ events that illustrate one or two of the external constraints on the news.

  4. Identify news stories/ events that illustrate one or two of the internal constraints on the news.

  5. Identify news stories/ events that illustrate one or two of the presentational factors that influence the news.