Thursday, 14 June 2012

News Values

In this lecture Bruce explained News Values, pretty straightforward stuff but interesting nonetheless and with lovely quotes I intend to prettify on here.

‘The degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story’ – Stuart Hall.

News values have:
*        Impact
*        Audience identification
*        Pragmatics
*        Source influence

Newsworthiness: a set of generally agreed upon values.
ð  What makes something newsworthy?
Bruce mentions a LOT of theories. The one I agree with the most is Murray Masterson’s ‘Big Six’ – Significance, proximity, conflict, human interest, novelty and prominence. BUT, I agree with Judy MacGregor in that visual attractiveness does play a large part of making something newsworthy. Not that it wasn’t ‘newsworthy’ in the beginning, but the image of the Twin Towers with black smoke plummeting out of the top is unforgettable.

ð  Are they the same across cultures/countries?
Obviously there will be some bits of news that will crossover, but for the majority, no. Different cultures and countries have different priorities. As mentioned above, part of what makes something ’newsworthy’ is RELEVANCE. How relevant is the fact that CY Leung decided to put an end to the large influx of Mainland Chinese women coming into Hong Kong to birth their babies in Australia? Not very.

Some threats to newsworthiness:
*        Journalism /Commercialization of Media/Social Life
*        Journalism/Public Relations
*        Journalism ideas vs. Journalism realities

Something I found interesting - Jay Rosen’s quote that the people formerly known as the audience. I loved the phrase ‘the writing readers’ because that’s exactly what I am. In Hong Kong I flick to the culture/travel section of Hong Kong Magazine and question things, try to rewrite things I don’t agree with. Rosen’s quote was interesting because it really applies to bloggers and tweeters, and the use of social media in producing and passing on news. I really like the idea of a new balance of power and challenging the information we are presented with. 

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