ELEMENTS OF NEWS:
- published reports of recent [public] events or occurrences
- stories about events, occurrences and, occasionally, conditions
- commentaries on the reports / stories

NEWS VEHICLES:
- newspapers
- news magazines: Maclean's, Time, Newsweek, etc.
- radio newscasts
- television newscasts

- public affairs programs
- W5, Fifth Estate, Studio Two, Marketplace
- interview shows: Morningside, Canada AM, Pamela Wallin Live

- audience participation shows: Oprah Winfrey, CounterSpin & many others
- phone-in shows: Cross Country Checkup, Radio Noon, most of CFRB & many others
- all-news radio and tv: 680 news, CNN / Newsworld

- tabloid news

WHAT DO ALL OF THESE HAVE IN COMMON?

EXPLAINING NEWS CONTENT

»1. news as a language system
- language is a system of social control
- gender roles (man = human)
- consumerism

- meanings depend on social agreement

- news reflects and reinforces central meanings of a culture
- preferred readings (common sense)
- connotations (terrorist v. freedom fighter)
- myths: provide context for news
- icons: images that stand for larger concepts
- news also has its own culture: a sub-culture of the general culture
- gives importance to certain subjects (example: politics)
- has its own language system: news jargon

IN THIS MODEL: language and culture determine meaning, but these may be influence by other factors, such as the political economy of the media

 

THE PROPAGANDA MODEL
(Chomsky and Herman)

ARGUMENT:
- capitalist democracies operate on the basis of "manufactured consent"
- the hegemony of the dominant class derives from its capacity to dominate the marketplace of ideas
- the news process is a major factor in this dominance
- helps to shape society's view of political reality
- limits the range of realistic political and social possibilities

HOW IS THIS DONE?

NEWS IS FILTERED:
»1. SIZE, OWNERSHIP & PROFIT ORIENTATION
»2. DEPENDENCE ON ADVERTISING
»3. SOURCING
»4. FLAK
»5. PATRIOTIC AGENDA

Chomsky and Herman recognize the tension between "propaganda" and "credibility," but critics say that they:

- underestimate the range of legitimate dissent
- underestimate the range of voices heard
- overlook the amount of scandal media uncover
BUT, most critics agree that media structures are biased in favour of:
- established institutions and sources
- established ideas (conventional wisdom) and that the basic cause is: the commercialization of news

NEWS CULTURE

RECOGNIZING NEWS
- what is interesting (to target audiences)
- what is important / significant

CONSTRUCTING A STORY
- where to look
- how to validate claims
- how to make it interesting
- how to give a moral

DOMAINS OF REPORTING

- legitimate controversy (balance)
- deviance (claims can be dismissed, ridiculed)
- consensus (celebration of community)

GENRE: compare political news, business news, community news, sports news

ATTRIBUTION OF CAUSE: journalists usually choose to attribute motives to individuals rather than causes to larger social forces

MODES OF RECEPTION:
how audiences read TV news

- specific recall limited
- meaning received depends upon frame of reference of viewer

BUT: despite fresh facts each day, TV news is essentially similar -- production conventions:
- repetitive narrative structures
- limited repertoire of verbal and visual symbols
- standardized dramatic motifs and themes

NEVERTHELESS, tv news triggers differential responses

Dahlgren suggests that we treat TV news as a cultural phenomenon, with specific forms of meaning production:
- information - rituals of community

NOTE: tv is complex mixture of verbal & visual

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS (not in lectures)

THREE FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
1. referential: connection with real world
2. poetic: evocation of image
3. phatic: ritual

THREE MODES OF RECEPTION:
1. archival: information (schemata)
2. associational: news triggers responses by association
3. subliminal: unconscious responses

POLITICAL FUNCTIONS OF TV NEWS

»1. news as a political genre
genre = a conventional form of expression that influences audience responses

- news = an account of political events and issues designed to keep citizens informed (representative democracy)
- news = a resource for audience political action (participatory democracy)

»2. how did respondents view news?

"Television news provides a daily forum for the viewer's reassertion of their political competence within a representative form of democracy, but it is not conceived of as a point of departure for action ... in political life." (Jensen, 73)

- news viewing = situating oneself in context of current political concerns (social, not personal identity)
- political events are seen as distant from everyday life; it offers a general sense of community (contact rather than control or influence)
- news not a resource for political practice
- news = a political form of entertainment