Another concern has to do with the degree to which reports are accurate and complete. In the PBS program Local News, the television news station staff met together on a regular basis in order to share their perceptions of an event, sharing that insured that different perspectives were applied to a story and that the information collected was accurate.

In Local News, this technique was used in several news meetings as WCNC team members shared their opinions and discussed the dynamics of the desegregation issue in each of their communities. By so doing, the team was better able to understand the hearts and minds of the people they were covering. Such meetings may also alert reporters to their own misconceptions and biases, and give them ideas about how to approach a community that may, at first, seem inaccessible. In covering ethnic communities, one of the biggest challenges is finding an angle that goes beyond the superficial. “... A journalist needs powerful tools — the strong narrative, the increased sophistication, the kind of sensitive and honest reporting that peels another layer off the onion,” says CJR.

Another related issue has to do with the degree of balance—the extent to which different perspectives or sources are include so that there is a “balanced” understanding all sides of an issue. Again, however, it may be difficult to achieve such balance when certain people with different, alternative perspectives may not have the right or the power to speak on an issue. It is often the case that in national stories, government officials, think-tank spokespersons, or familiar spokespersons (often white males) are far more likely to be quoted than people outside of institutions of power.

In Local News, the station often presented these events over others because of their visual appeal to audiences who prefer such content:

Crime reporting has risen dramatically in newsrooms across America, and some studies suggest viewers want more of these stories. Mediascope, a non-profit media research and policy organization, released a report in which it stated, “Market research suggests that stories of crime and violence increase newscasts’ ratings.” This finding drives news directors to deliver more crime-related stories to their audiences. As fascinating as crime may be for some viewers, is it right that a local news station air the gory details of a tragic event, possibly jeopardizing an ongoing police investigation, and violating suspects’ rights? How much does the public need to know?

For reporters, the struggle over how far to pursue a story may present serious ethical and even moral complications. Investigative reporting, on any level, requires asking invasive and sensitive questions of people who may not want their privacy invaded. In one episode of Local News, reporters Alicia Booth and Glenn Counts are assigned to report the story of a young boy who was murdered. Back in the newsroom, pressure was laid on staff to comb the affected community and gather leads and sound bites. The strong need among stations to compete for viewers and ratings compels news directors to push reporters to their field research limits.

One limitation of these brief, visual reports on highly visual, dramatic events is that there is often little or no contextual analysis of causes/institutional factors shaping events. Thus, audiences acquire little analysis of the influences of poverty, homelessness, unemployment, or lack of education on crime. As noted in Module 5 on media representations, audiences may then perceive urban areas as crime-ridden and dangerous.

They may also not acquire an understanding of and knowledge about a range of different issues in terms of the larger factors and forces shaping those issues — education, the environment, economic development, housing, health care, etc. As voters who need to be informed citizens making decisions about candidates’ stands on these issues, they may be more likely to respond to candidates’ personality or celebrity image than to their positions on various issues.

Events are also framed in terms of a dramatic, narrative form that highlights conflicts or tensions, the “narrativization” (Fairclough, 1995). By framing events in a narrative form, the focus is primarily on dramatizing events for the purpose of engaging or entertaining audiences.

Events are also linked to visual content, requiring reporters and editors to decide on what visual material provides the most effective representation of an event or analysis. Students could analyze how broadcasts use visual content to portray concepts or ideas, in some cases, oversimplifying these concepts or ideas. Click here for an analysis of how visuals are used in the news.

It is also assumed that immediacy and portraying an event as “live,” enhances the quality of a news broadcast or coverage of an event. News programs often promote themselves in terms of their capacity to capture “up-to-the-minute” or “breaking” news as soon as certain events occur. The assumption that immediacy necessary results in being well-informed about an event may be problematic in that often initial impressions or “live” interviews “on the scene” may not necessarily result in the most thorough, comprehensive understanding of an event. Careful investigation of an event often takes days of shifting through evidence and interviewing people.

An analysis by Wally Dean, “Branding Lite,” by the Local TV News Project – 2002, a project involving studies of local news broadcasts, examined the uses of “branding,” a practice of continually alerting audiences of “breaking news.”

Amid 24-hour cable and the news crawl, stories journalists once labeled “Developing Story” are now “Breaking News.” Indeed, the data show that stations more often give major “breaking news” treatment to events that are, in fact, commonplace.
 
In this year’s study, when dealing with spontaneous news events — as opposed to “daybook” stories — reporters were almost three times more likely to be on-scene at an everyday incident (28 percent), like a car accident, as they were to be covering significant breaking events (10 percent), such as a sniper shooting.
 
And for all that breaking news has become a marketing brand for stations and a priority for their newsrooms, genuine breaking news — covering an unplanned event as it unfolds — accounts for a tiny percentage of news content, just 2 percent of stories. That amounts to one story a week.
 
A similar kind of hyperbole is evident, though less common, in investigative reporting.
 
While three quarters of news directors say they do investigative work, a significant number of newsrooms affix the label “investigative” to such pressing public dangers as mold and dog food.
 
A look at station Web sites reveals that one newsroom dispatched its I-Team to report on “The cold, hard, facts about soft serve yogurt,” and “A camera that can see through clothes.” At another station, a five-person I-Team churned out stories on “Spray-on Makeup," “Hair Cloning,” and “Tongue Piercing.”
 
Sometimes, the “investigative” label was applied to spot news simply because a station sent a reporter from its investigative unit to cover it. One station’s Web site, for instance, boasts how its “Investigative Reporter” revealed “Twelve arrested at ‘Swingers Bar’” and “Pitbull bites boy’s diaper, kills his dog.”
 
This is branding lite.
 
The research team felt that the mislabeling of the term “investigative” is the significant exception in local TV news rather than the rule. A review of the investigative work described by news directors in the survey data and a review of those stations’ Web sites suggest that serious investigative work outweighed the faux by better than two to one.
 
But even the best journalists are affected by the false branding efforts of a few.

Real breaking news refers to something important happening right now. Genuine investigative journalism adds a dimension beyond disclosure; it engages the public to come to judgment about something that the news organization feels may be wrong, or at least important and needing scrutiny.

Click here for an article on how WCCO frequently uses the concept of “breaking news.”

Consistent with the question as to what constitutes the significance or relevance of these dramatic, visual stories, stations may consider whether or not they actually contribute to the larger good of the community. One station in Austin, Texas now considers the extent to which certain events are relevant to the community as opposed to a story’s sensational appeal.

One aspect of television news is the continuous flow of reporting carefully organized and editing according to defined segments. Audiences may therefore become caught up in the flow of on-going events, often focusing on the visual display of images, as well as a use of bulleted lists, graphics, and sound effects.

This rapid-fire delivery often leaves little or no time to reflect on the content or implications of the information provided. In conducting their analyses of the 12 minutes of local news, students also often report that they have little opportunity to reflect on the information provided to them in any thoughtful, systematic manner.

Another key component of television news is the role of the anchor person(s), frequently a male and a female. These anchor persons assume a celebrity status in the community and are often the focus of stations’ promotional campaigns. The anchors frequently address the audience as “you” and maintain direct eye contact with the audience, attempting to build a rhetorical bond with the audience. They also engage in “happy-talk” banter with co-anchors or other reporters as a form of entertainment. Audiences may also judge the anchor in terms of personality or style, as opposed to their primary function of simply reading news copy. This contrasts with the traditional role of the host on PBS Newshour, NPR’s All Things Considered, or the BBC News.

Correspondents function as extensions of anchor, who “report in” to the anchor “on the scene.” These correspondents capture witnesses or interviewee’s perspectives on events, often selecting those who provide the most effective sound-bite quotes for the brief 1-3 minute stories. This raises questions about how and why certain interviewees may be selected and who those interviewees may represent. In some cases, as in 60 Minutes news documentary shows, interviewees may be put “on the spot” by questions that they attempt to evade or not answer, creating a dramatic tension between their elusive non-verbal behavior on the screen and their words.

The Newsroom [ PBS’s Local News — requires Flash plug in ]

NewsLab.org [ Analysis of TV news ]

News interviews. The nature and quality of news interviews varies considerably. In local news, while an actual interview may have lasted ten minutes, only 40 seconds of that interview ends up in a story. This provides little sense of context, alternative perspective, or an interviewee’s beliefs and attitudes about a topic or issue. In contrast, interviews with authorities, politicians, or experts on the PBS NewsHour may last for 10 or 15 minutes, providing more opportunities for interviewees to express their ideas and opinions.

Click here for examples of extended interviews on the NewsHour.

The quality of interviewer questions may also influence the quality of the interview data. Reporters who are able to pose follow-up questions in a tactful manner may elicit more information than with a series of different, unrelated questions. Some reporters, particularly on “investigatory” news programs, may pose leading “why-are-you-beating-your-wife?” questions that box in interviewees, who may then appear embarrassed or guilty of actions they may not have committed.

For further reading:

Clayman, S., & Heritage, J. (2002). The news interview: Journalists and public figures on the air. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Module 10: Word document

Newspaper or Print News

Teaching the News Itself

Analysis of Newspaper Sections and Functions

Differences in Types and Uses of News

On-line News

Web-based Political Lobbying

Weblogs

The Web and Politics

Editorial Perspectives

Newspaper Ownership

News Bias

A Teacher Teaches about Bias

Studying and Producing Classroom / School Newspapers

Television and Radio News

Characteristics of Television News

Selecting News Stories

Accuracy / Completeness of News Coverage

Television News Development

On-line Television News

Sports Coverage

Coverage of Political Issues and Campaigns

Creating a Television News Broadcast

Teaching Activity: Analysis of a Local News Broadcast

References