News values, gatekeeping, framing, agenda-setting and peace journalism
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Transcript of News values, gatekeeping, framing, agenda-setting and peace journalism
Journalists as selectors:Gatekeeping, news values, framing, sourcing, peace journalism
JN2042 Journalism TheoryWeek 4, 15/18 Oct 2013
Stuff that happens
Stuff that journalists call News Q: How do you know which stuff is news?
A: Don’t know. It’s just instinct.
Stuff that journalists call News Q: How do journalists know which stuff is news?
A: They learn from other journalistsA: They follow the unwritten rules of news values
Gatekeeping
How decide: • This is news -- allowed through the gate• That is not news -- not allowed through the gate?
News values (Galtung & Ruge; O’Neill & Harcup)
News values• The Power Elite: Stories about powerful individuals, organisations or institutions.• Celebrity: Stories concerning people who are already famous.• Entertainment: Stories about sex, showbiz, human interest, animals, an unfolding
drama, or offering opportunities for humorous treatment, entertaining photos or witty headlines.
• Surprise: Stories that have an element of surprise and/or contrast.• Bad News: Stories with particularly negative overtones, such as conflict or tragedy.• Good News: Stories with particularly positive overtones such as rescues and cures.• Magnitude: Stories that are perceived as suffi ciently signifi cant either in the
numbers of people involved or in the potential impact.• Relevance: Stories about issues, groups and nations perceived to be relevant to the
audience.• Follow-up: Stories about subjects already in the news.• Newspaper Agenda: Stories that set or fit the news organization’s own agenda.
Harcup & O’Neill (2001)
Other factors affecting story selection
• A topic that won’t get the journalist arrested• A topic that can be covered cheaply• A topic supporting the national interest
Are news values …
• Neutral, objective?• Biased to the status quo and the powerful?
‘Accidental bias’ caused by working methods (Tuchman)
e.g. News Frames (journalists call them ‘angles’)2 Israeli frames for Israel-Palestine conflict:• Peace process• Security/terrorismBoth are true – which one do journalists emphasise?
http://news.sky.com/story/1153885
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshipers DeadIndian devotees fall into a river and drown after panic spreads at a spot where 500,000 people had gathered for a Hindu festival.
Possible frames:• Tragic accident• Police stupidity kills worshippers• Chaotic organisation leads to temple deaths• Deadly stampedes keep happening, no one stops them
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshipers DeadIndian devotees fall into a river and drown after panic spreads at a spot where 500,000 people had gathered for a Hindu festival.
Possible frames:• Tragic accident• Police stupidity kills worshippers• Chaotic organisation leads to temple deaths• Deadly stampedes keep happening, no one stops them
http://news.sky.com/story/1153885
Tragic accident
Oh no, not again –
another religious
stampede
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes Tragic accident
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Possible framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
‘Accidental bias’ caused by working methods (Tuchman)
e.g. News Sources
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Sources for framesToo few police Innocent worshippers
Rumours caused panic Poor crowd control2nd deadly stampede in 7 years Corruption Politicians distracted by elections Proof there is no godPolice to blame Greedy, careless temple authorities
Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Worshippers to blame Prime Minister’s sadness
Source: Survivor
Source: Prime Minister
Source: State government
Source: Police
Temple Stampede: At Least 109 Worshippers Dead
Sources for frames• Mainly official, powerful people• Easy to contact• Their version is usually the first version – ‘primary
definers’• Journalists more likely to trust official sources
Source: Survivor
Source: Prime Minister
Source: State government
Source: Police
All sources are not equal
‘Arbiter’ sources, who set terms of debate and are seen as disinterested or authoritative
‘Advocates', associatedwith a particular position
(Deacon & Golding 1994)
Journalists distinguish between …
Journalism for war or peace? Unintended consequences of journalistic work habits
Journalists need … Peacemakers need …
Journalism for war or peace? Unintended consequences of journalistic work habits
Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy Patience
Journalism for war or peace? Unintended consequences of journalistic work habits
Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy PatienceDrama, threats, violence Calm environment
Journalism for war or peace? Unintended consequences of journalistic work habits
Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy PatienceDrama, threats, violence Calm environmentSimple events Understanding of complexity
Journalism for war or peace? Unintended consequences of journalistic work habits
Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy PatienceDrama, threats, violence Calm environmentSimple events Understanding of complexityGoodies vs. baddies, ‘us’ and ‘them’
Understanding of the other point of view
Journalism for war or peace? Unintended consequences of journalistic work habits
Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy PatienceDrama, threats, violence Calm environmentSimple events Understanding of complexityGoodies vs. baddies, ‘us’ and ‘them’
Understanding of the other point of view
Journalist’s choice: To frame the story as conflict, or a search for peace(Wolfsfeld 2001)
Factors in media impact on peacemaking
(1) amount of consensus among political elites in support of peace(2) number and intensity of crises associated with the process (3) shared media, used by both sides of the conflict(4) level of sensationalism in media ecology
(Wolfsfeld 2001)
Israel/Palestine vs. Northern Ireland
Factor Israel/Palestine
Northern Ireland
Consensus for peace among political elites
No Yes
No./intensity of crises Many FewShared media No YesSensationalism Yes No
(Wolfsfeld 2001)
Powerful sources affect news framesElite consensus 1 news
frame
Elite conflict Competing news frames
Journalist as selector
Selecting bits of reality, making them news
GatekeeperNews values
This is news, that is not – creating a news agenda (agenda setting)
Selecting story elements/ frames/angles
Easy availability of sources dictates availability of frames
Q: Whose story is told first and loudest?A: The story told by people in power.
But … The best journalists seek out less powerful sources, so the stories of the less powerful are heard.