last updated 9/16/2014

News as Persuasion
 

I.  Dramatizing the news (technical stuff -- coding)  (Jamieson pp. 84 - 94)

1. the screen - small (interpersonal codes don't fit media)

   1.  distance = objectivity??

   2.  close-ups = intimacy / personal

   3. in your living-room / bedroom

2. the camera - "angles"         [NV distance codes]

(1)          relation to the eye of a person in a similar encounter
(2)          high above- superior
(3)          low - awe
(4)          eye to eye - equality
(5)          medium distance - objective
(6)          slo-mo - tender
(7)          extreme close-up - significant, dramatic

3. special effects

(1)          freeze-frame
(2)          captions
(3)          3-D graphics

4. EDITING

1. cut-aways (v jump cuts) disguise editing out of material

2. reaction shots

3. "re-organized" interviews

4. ambush interviews

5. "recreations" of events with actors - crime-stoppers

4. News Anchors - boost ratings and provide security but are disconnected from the story / but provide "faked" credibility

II.  Unbalanced interpretations in the story (Jamieson pp. 103-110)

• insinuation by adjectives (women's clothes)

• ideology - favoring the establishment (protest and disruption are bad), Political Correctness, power, [schemata]

• self-censorship

• fairness doctrine - equal time for fringe views

• beat reporting - reciprocity when a government source needed

• government support

• audience taste

III.  (Elements in the) Analysis of a News Item  (Jamieson, pp. 114-118)

• Newsworthiness, reporter influence, content of the story, constraints, framing, inclusion/exclusion, setting, timing, placement (in the show or publication), patterns, manipulation (by outsiders), impact.
  

Discussion Assignment for Thursday, 9/11

• View the CBS Evening News for Monday, 9/10.
  It is broadcast live on MC Cable (or broadcast) WQAD channel 8 at 5:30pm.  You can view it later on the web at the CBS World News web site.  Just click on the link (a photo link on the upper-left) for the most recent full episodes" anytime after 6:30pm Monday or watch it live on MC Cable channel 8.

• Have with you a print out of this page and the previous web page on "What is News?"
  

• Make notes on any of the elements mentioned on either page that seem to be illustrated by stories on the news cast.  Especially look for

  • What made each story "news." Consider both form and content factors.

  • How visuals affect the meaning of the story.

  • How themes (schemata) seem to be created or referenced
     

• Be prepared to answer the questions below - perhaps in teams