INTG 415 - Media and the Self-Directed Citizen

Dr. Lee McGaan  

  Office:  WH 308  (ph. 309-457-2155);  email:  lee@monmouthcollege.edu
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Fall 2016 Office Hours:   MWF:  9:30 - 10am, 11am - Noon & 1 -2pm;  TTh:  2-3pm & by apt.  |  copyright (c) by Lee McGaan, 2006-2016
 

last updated 9/18/2012

What is "the News

Themes in in Considering "What is News

  • "It’s what news people decide!"

  • News is created/interpreted not just "reported."

  • News is rhetoric/persuasion as well as information.

  [ ] = items below that reflect Jamieson's views in the text

What makes news "news" 

     (Content factors - What's the substance of the information or event?)

  • 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 - What "shape" does the story or information come in?)

  • 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,     AKA Schemata ]    :   (p. 39)

    1. [ appearance v reality ]

    2. [ little guys v big 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 (Who, What, When, Where, Why?)

  2.  features  (hsitory and current context, depth)

  3.  news analysis (What's important and why?  What it means?

  4.  signed column  (Writers' opinions)

  5.  editorial (The news organization's opinion)

  6.  new journalism  (Written like fiction)

 

 

         Discussion questions for Thursday

 

1.    Identify news stories/ events that illustrate each of the content factors.  What themes did the news cast seem to introduce into the stories?

2.    Identify news stories/ events that illustrate at least three of the form factors. Think of examples of the way visual content (and camera angles, special effects etc.) influenced the presentation of the news.

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.

6.  What instances of story structure (ordering) did you see?  How did the newscast attempt to deal with “objectivity?