Week 10 lecture summary: News value

News value is extremely important to the journalism.

It determines how much prominence a news story is given by a media outlet, and the attention it is given by the audience.

News values are not universal and can vary widely between different cultures and different news services.

There are a variety of external and internal pressures influence journalists' decisions on which stories are covered, how issues are interpreted and the emphasis given to them.

The following two pictures illustrate the factors affecting news value:

Here is some additional information:

l Controversy

- Arguments/debates/charges/countercharges/fights ↑the value of news

l Usefulness

- Help the audience answer questions & solve problems in their daily lives

l Educational Value

- Make readers more knowledgeable rather than merely informed

l Weight

- The significance of a particular fact or event lies in its value with respect to other facts/events

l Magnitude

- Stories → perceived as sufficiently significant either in the numbers of people involved / in potential impact.

l Relevance

- Stories → issues, groups & nations perceived to be relevant to the audience.

Hopefully, we can all familiar with these factors!;)

Week 9 lecture summary: Agenda Setting

It’s time for another lecture summary!

Topic for today: Agenda Setting.

Before we begin, I guess all of us are unfamiliar with this term.

So, what is Agenda Setting?

It means that the mass media in a certain stage of an event / social issues highlight the report, which will cause widespread public concern and attention, and thus become a central issue in the discussion of public opinion.

There are four agendas which are interrelated:

u        PUBLIC AGENDA - topics that the public perceive as important

u        POLICY AGENDA - issues that decision makers think are salient, namely legislators

u        CORPORATE AGENDA - issues that big business & corporations consider important

u        MEDIA AGENDA - issues discussed in the media

Two main types of Agenda Setting Theory:

1^st level: focus on the transfer of the salience of those issues.

→ The media suggest what the public should focus on through coverage.

2^nd level: focuses on the attributes of the issues.

→The media suggests how people should think about an issue.

The Agenda Setting ‘Family’:

1. Media Gate keeping

- The exposure of an issue (what the media chooses to reveal to the public)

2. Media Advocacy (e.g. education)

- Promotion of a message through the media

3. Agenda Cutting

- Most of the truth/reality that is going on in the world isn't represented

4. Agenda Surfing / ‘Bandwagon’ effect

‘Bandwagon’ effect means how existing public opinion affects others towards that opinion

- The media follows the trends

5. The diffusion of News

- The process → an important event is communicated to the public

6. Portrayal of an Issue

- The way an issue is portrayed affects the public's perception

7. Media Dependence (e.g. Facebook)

- ↑Dependent a person → media for information,

   ↑susceptible that person → media agenda setting/ advertising

Therefore, we can see that the media plays an important role in ‘constructing’ and ‘mediating’ individuals’ conception of reality socially.

Week 8 lecture summary: Public Media

After knowing more about commercial media, it’s time to go on public media.

What is the difference between public media and commercial media?

• public media → citizens;
• commercial media → consumers

What is Public Media?

u        Ultimate purpose is to serve the public

u        E.g. traditional publicly-funded broadcasters and networks

What are the examples of Public Media?

SBS, ABC, BBC, RTHK, etc.

Function:

²         Nation Building

²         National Heritage

²         National Identity

²         National Conversations

Social responsibility (public trust) in a Democratic society:

ü          To produce quality

ü          To make themselves relevant

ü          To engage with the democratic/political process = give voice

ü          To inform the public

ü          To be independent from funders government

Lastly, public media should avoid political bias and to present “both sides of the story”.

Week 7 lecture summary: Commerical media

I guess we will all be familiar with today’s topic – commercial media.

What is commercial media?

u        Profit-driven media production

u        Not government funded

u        Its business is generating ‘audiences’

u        Selling advertising → generate profit

What are the examples of commercial media?

Newspapers, Cable TV, Film, Magazines, etc

Channel 7/9/10, News limited, Fairfax media, etc

Form of commercial media:

²         Subscription

²         Sponsored

²         Subsidized

Function:

²         Commercial

²         Propaganda (e.g. Fox news)

²         Social

Social responsibility (public trust) in a Democratic society:

ü          truthful & comprehensive context (meaningful)

ü          a forum for the exchange of comment

ü          the clarification of the goals & values of the society

However, the commercial media can always be described as Tabloidization which means a newspaper of small format giving the news in condensed form, usually with illustrated, often sensational material.

Here is an illustration showing what The New York Times might look like if it shifted to a tabloid format:

There are two organizations to keep it under control which are Australian communications and media authority and Australian press council.

Moreover, new controls implement on commercial media.

ü          Government agency → regulating content

ü          State press subsidies

ü          Licensed journalism

I am going to talk about public media next week:)