Uses of the News Contextual uses: household activities Times associated with news are naturalized Informational uses: keeping up: issues Legitimating uses Tension: control and distance about issues Feeling of control: agency to do something Diversional uses: visual narrative Entertainment aspect of news

What is “News?” What constitutes “news”: Significance? Relevance: to whom? Unusual, sensational? Useful: for what? Non-threatening/non-ideological? Informational vs. analysis?

Personal News Sources Where do you access what types of news: TV Newspapers Radio Internet Late night talk shows Word of mouth conversation

Audiences for News Network news/Nightline: older audiences Problem: younger generation less interested Younger audiences: desired advertising Shift in younger generation’s interests Shift in focus/appearance of news Increased use of Internet vs. newspapers Shift in newspaper layout/topics

7 S’s for Analyzing News (see “activities: news analysis”) Stories: what’s covered and what’s left out? Sequence: what gets priority? Scope: how much coverage/time? Structure: how organized using what? Style: how presented by writer/anchor? Slant: what bias is evident? Sponsor: content shaped by sponsors?

Analyzing Bias/Slant (see activity: noting bias) Selection and omission: topics/quotes Placement Headline: determines further reading Photos, captions, camera angles Names, categories, titles Statistics/crowd count Source control: who’s quoted?

Analysis of Objectivity/Balance Objectivity: difficult to define Role of bias, subjectivity, agendas in reporting Balance: preferred criteria for journalists Use of different perspectives/sources Understanding all sides of an issue Problem of who gets to speak/status of sources

Text Design/Structure What genres (report, narrative, analysis, visual dramatization) are employed? How is language/images used to represent? Categories/labels to describe participants Syntax: active vs. passive Formal vs. informal verbal style Image selection/relationship to language

Text Design/Structure Typeface/type style Use of BOLD Typeface/styles varied (tabloid vs. mainstream) Grid: number of columns Picture size/uses Organization: categories of types of news Masthead, stories, “plugs,” sports, ads

Discourse Analysis: (see ideology and the news) Ideological assumptions operating in the news industry public figures have an obligation to answer to journalists and answer their questions the news media is the fourth estate, playing a watchdog role on government and power. the most important thing journalists cover are the arenas of government and politics. that journalists are the messenger only; that they report, rather than acting. there is an objective account of events that all reasonable observers would agree with. that journalists should tell both sides. that journalists can and should leave their biases out of their stories. that there is no staging or conspiring to improve on stories between journalists and those they cover.

Analysis of Discourses Employed What discourses are employed/included? Discourses: ways of knowing/thinking: legal, scientific, political, religious, therapeutic, etc. How are discourses employed/reported? Reporting, analysis, quotes Who employs what discourses for what purpose? “Government experts” Political/lobbying groups “Person on the street”

Differences between Newspapers National/ “major” newspapers New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal Major regional newspapers Local newspapers/free news magazines School newspapers Tabloids

Corporate Ownership and News GE: NBC, MSNBC, CNBC AOL/TimeWarner: CNN Disney: ABC Viacom: CBS Murdoch News: FOX News

Aspects of TV News Narrativization of events Dramatization of conflict/tensions Conversational interplay “happy talk” News readers as “personalities” Immediacy: “Up to the minute” Visual montage: multi-modal

Aspects of TV News Anchor as primary actor/media celebrity Personalization of news Use of direct address/simulated eye contact Correspondents as extensions of anchor Links to correspondent “on the scene” Assumption: being “on the scene” = being better informed about an event Interviewees Who’s selected and whom do they represent Framing/shots to dramatize attitudes (60 Minutes)

Aspects of TV News “If it bleeds, it leads”: focus on visual/sensational events Little contextual analysis of causes/institutional factors shaping events Issue of community significance/relevance Texas station selects events based on relevance to the community vs. sensational appeal

Aspects of TV News Flow of reports Segmentation/repetition Reordering traditional notions of time Direct address: “you” as constructed Host directly addresses audience Host conducts simulated conversation with guests Personality/ “synthetic personalization”

Viewing of TV News TV news within domestic life Ritual-like reassurance that “all’s well” Creates synthetic sense of “community” Anchors as active in supporting events Focus on visual display of events Avoid challenging audience beliefs/ideologies Need for simulated sense of community membership

Alternatives: Public TV/radio News PBS Newshour In-depth coverage of 3-4 stories Context: institutional forces Alternative ideological perspectives NPR All Things Considered Value of radio: no needs for visuals Extended interviews for balance No commercial agendas/bias

Assignment: Comparison of News Media on the Web Contrast coverage of the same story on 3 or more of the following categories: Major US newspapers (go to websites) International newspapers (go to “5000 newspapers” site) Commercial TV/radio Networks (go to websites) Public TV/radio (NPR.org/BBC.org) Local or state newspapers (go to websites) “Liberal” (Mother Jones) vs. “conservative” (The Weekly Standard) perspectives Mainstream news vs. tabloid (go to The National Inquirer/Sun websites)