Activity 41: P Political party Conservative Mirror Labour Conservative 5 6 Labour 6 Voters Newspapers Discourage Healthy Democracy Negative Providing information

Activity 48 1)In the 2005 General Election the mass market tabloids tended to support _____. 2)The middle-market tabloids wanted a ________ victory. 3)The quality newspapers tended to support ________.

Activity 42 MirrorLabour victory ExpressConservative victory SunLabour victory Daily MailNot a Labour victory Daily Star No preference declared Daily TelegraphConservative victory GuardianLabour victory TimesLabour victory Independent More Liberal Democrats Financial TimesLabour victory Mass Market Middle Market Quality

How are news stories selected and presented?

Key Terms Socialisation: The process of learning a culture Agents of socialisation: Parts of society (family, education system, religion, mass media, work place, peer group) which play a part in the processes of learning norms and values.

How are news stories selected and presented? Research tells us that most people use and believe the mass media, especially TV, as their main source of news. This is not as straightforward as it seems because the media don’t just “show the facts” on which then people can then form an opinion. They: SELECT the facts INTERPRET the facts

Agent of Social Control A part of society that is involved in the process of persuading or forcing individuals to conform to values and norms.

How are news stories selected and presented? So, sociologists ask all sorts of questions about HOW the news is SELECTED and PRESENTED. 1)Why are particular issues, events and viewpoints included on the TV? 2)Why are other issues left out? 3)Is the material presented in a fair and neutral or in a biased and one-sided way? 4)Is it presented negatvely or positively?

How are news stories selected and presented? This is all done in THREE main ways: 1)AGENDA-SETTING 2)GATEKEEPING 3)NORM-REFERENCING

Agenda-Setting Task: Read P.214 and finish off the notes on P.51/52 of Booklet Part VI The mass media have the power to... This refers to the way that... In doing so they tell us... TV news programmes may not tell us what to think but they do... They do this by... In this sense, they SET THE AGENDA of... Potentially this gives them... So, in one short sentence, AGENDA SETTING means...

Agenda-Setting The mass media have the power to “set the agenda”. This refers to the way that the news media focus public attention on particular issues and topics. In doing so they tell us what the relevant and important issues are at any moment in time. TV news programmes may not tell us what to think but they do influence what we think about. They do this by discussing some issues and leaving out other topics. In this sense, they SET THE AGENDA of public discussion and debate by including some views, stories and information and excluding others. Potentially this gives them influence over people’s political views and the way they vote in elections.

Agenda-Setting The list of subjects which the mass media choose to report and bring to public attention.

Gate-Keeping Task: Read P.215 and finish off the notes on P.52/53 of Booklet Part VI Media gatekeepers are... They decide what... They can open... Or they can close... This means... So, in one short sentence, GATE- KEEPING means...

Gate-Keeping Media gatekeepers are the programme controllers, editors, journalists and owners. They decide what to cover and how to present it. They can “open the gate” to certain issues, events or points of view. Or they can “close the gate” to others. This means that media gatekeepers are in a strong position to set the agenda of public debate and to influence what topics we think about.

Gate-Keeping How the media controls public access to certain issues, including the media’s refusal to cover some issues.

Norm-Referencing Task: Read P.215 and finish off the notes on P.53 of Booklet Part VI This term describes the way in which news media... The behaviour and views of some groups or organisations are... In this way, positive images of some... Through this norm-referencing, the media...

Norm-Referencing This term describes the way in which news media outline the acceptable boundaries of behaviour. The behaviour and views of some groups or organisations are presented positively and those of others are presented negatively. In this way, positive images of some groups (nurses/fire fighters) and negative images of others (asylum seekers/teenage parents) are created. Through this norm-referencing, the media have the power to shape public opinion.

Norm-Referencing Norm referencing means that the media ENCOURAGES CONFORMIST BEHAVIOUR such as not going on strike, obeying the law, etc. and DISCOURAGING NON-CONFORMIST BEHAVIOUR such as rioting, “fiddling benefits”, etc.

Encouraging Discouraging

Activity 48: Read the written activity on P.215 to help you idenify the answers for this activity on P.53. One group that is portrayed negatively in the media is... One consequence of this is... Another consequence of this is...

Activity 49: Read the passage by Stanley Cohen on P.54 (Part VI Booklet) and answer Q.1-3 in the space provided. 1)Stanley Cohen defines deviance as... 2)One of the function’s of the mass media’s interest in deviance is... 3)a) Two types of deviant behaviour which are not regarded as criminal in modern Britain are... 3) b) Two types of deviant behaviour which are regarded as criminal in modern Britain are...

What other factors affect how news is selected and presented? 1)The owners (See Part III Booklet: The Conflict View) 2)The consumers (See Part III Booklet: The Pluralist View) 3)News values 4)The profit motive 5)Advertisers 6)The state and the law 7)Organisational constraints 8)The assumptions and activities of journalists

What other factors affect how news is selected and presented? 1)The owners (See Part III Booklet: The Conflict View) 2)The consumers (See Part III Booklet: The Pluralist View)

3) News Values The media operate by a set of values about what is considered “newsworthy”: the events, issues and personalities they think their audience will find interesting. Editors allocate their staff, space and time to different topics according to the “news values” of these topics. Some issues and personalities are considered by editors to be particularly newsworthy.

3) News Values Before her death, Diana, Princess of Wales, was considered newsworthy by the popular press. Other personalities considered newsworthy include the Beckhams, Prince William & Kate Middleton. On a TV news broadcast, items that can be filmed are more newsworthy than ones that are mainly based on interviews. As a result, items that can be illustrated with film are more likely to be included. This explains why economic and financial news is often shown using animated graphics.

4) The Profit Motive Task: Read P.216 to complete the notes on P.59. Newspapers exist as businesses and... This means... Press gatekeepers will consider possible stories in terms of... Similarly, commercial broadcasting has to... So, in one, sentence, the profit motive affects what goes on in the news because

5) Advertisers Task: Read 217 to complete the notes on P.59. Advertisers are an important... Advertisers in the press may influence the content because... So, advertisers can influence content of the news because...

6) The State and the Law Task: Read 217 to complete the notes on P.59 / 60. Complaints about media content are handled by... The Press Complaints commission deals with... The media are subject to... Examples of celebrities involved in libel cases are... During national emergencies and wars, governments... An example of this is... So, in one sentence, the state can influence news by...