Module 10: News
In studying the news, a major initial concept to examine
with students is the question as to what constitutes "news." Students
could consider different examples of recent community or school events-passing
of a school bond referendum, opening of a new business, a bank robbery, discovery
of pollution in a river, death of a prominent citizen, etc. and determine whether
or not these events would be considered to be "news" in the context
of their own personal conversations/gossip, the local radio station, the local
town newspaper, the local regional newspaper, the local television news station
broadcast, and a national newspaper. In doing do, they could consider the following
criteria to determine the extent to which these events are "news":
- significance. Does the event have some significance for
certain people? What is considered to be significant for some may not be significant
for others. Significance may also depend on the interests, needs, and knowledge
of certain audiences. An environmentalist may perceive the pollution of a river
as highly significant, but not perceive a bank robbery as significant. Students
could examine some of the most significant news stories during the 21st Century
and discuss why these events were considered to be significant:
Stories of the Century
http://www.newseum.org/century/index.htm
Webquest: creating newspaper reports on the major stories of the 20th century:
http://www.rapides.k12.la.us/pjh/newswebquest.htm
- relevance. The relevance of certain events may also depend on audiences' interests, needs, and knowledge. A group of high school students may perceive passing of a school bond referendum as highly relevant to their educational future, while perceiving the opening of a new business as irrelevant to their lives.
- unusualness/sensational. In some cases, stories of unusual
or sensational events are perceived of as "news" because they attract
audiences' attention or are entertaining to audiences. For example, stories
from the "News of the Weird" archive
http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/index.html
focus on bizarre, strange events such as the following:
For an anniversary tribute to Sept. 11 victims, the city of Jersey City, N.J., planned to release a flock of doves at a downtown ceremony, but since officials waited until the last minute to order the doves, all suppliers were sold out. Jersey City wound up having to use pigeons (which had been caged most of their lives), and observers at the solemn ceremony were forced to witness the awkward birds smashing into office-building windows, plunging into the Hudson River and careening into the crowds. [New York Times, 9-19-02]
- practical. Audiences may also consider something as "newsworthy" if it has practical, utilitarian value for them. This accounts for the increase in the amount of information on medical/health or consumer topics that audiences may perceive as useful for their own personal health or shopping, even though the information provided may not be considered as highly significant in terms of political or economic considerations.
- threatening audience beliefs. Audiences may also perceive news that challenges or threatens their beliefs and attitudes as not newsworthy . They may perceive such news as "bad news" or as news that does not belong in a newspaper or broadcast given their own ideological perspectives.
Webquest: elements of news
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~jwoehrle/webquest.html
Considering community needs/interests. In applying these different criteria, in deciding to include or emphasize a particular story, a newspaper or TV news editor may take local community needs and interests into account, asking the question, is this event significant or relevant to my community's own needs and interests? In determining whether to include a local crime story, an editor may consider whether information about that crime would enhance the community's larger needs and interests. However, an editor may also believe that a crime story will attract attention, even though it may not necessarily enhance the community's larger needs and interests, thereby considering the sensational nature of the story to be a more important criterion than the significance or relevance of the story.
Some newspapers have addressed the issue of community needs
and interests by engaging in what is defined as "civic journalism"-the
analysis and reporting on problems, challenges, and solutions facing communities.
One study conducted by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism on newspapers' practice
of civic journalism
http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/research/r_measuringcj.html
analyzed journalism projects from 1995 to 2000. The study found that:
1. Some form of civic journalism was practiced in at least a fifth of all American
newspapers, in almost every state and in every region. This figure is the most
conservative possible, and we believe the actual number may be closer to double.
2. There is a clear pattern of development in civic journalism content, as journalists
learned in what appear to be phases. Civic journalism generally started with
elections, moved fairly quickly to coverage of general community issues and
problems, and then began to address specific community issues.
3. There is a parallel development of technique. Civic journalism coverage was
"invented" through a series of practical experiments in the early
90s. It was extended through the attempt to develop daily and weekly routine
from the mid-90s on. And with the advent of the Internet, new interactive approaches
to civic news coverage emerged starting in the late 90s.
4. The goals of news organizations show a strong commitment to the traditional
public news values of informing the public and, to a lesser extent, the civic
and democratic values of problem-solving and increased deliberation.
5. New ways of reporting the news have emerged that help citizens deliberate
on important problems, address and solve them, and increase their voices in
the community and in the pages of the papers.
6. A substantial minority of papers, about 35%, continued their civic journalism
involvements for three or more years, with almost 20% practicing for more than
four years.
7. Finally, there is significant (but not conclusive) evidence of impact in
communities where civic journalism is practiced. About a third of all cases
showed some community/newspaper partnerships. More than half reported evidence
of improved public deliberation. Other results included: use of projects by
others, improved citizens skills, new civic organizations formed, and increased
volunteerism.
Activity: making editorial decisions. Students could assume
the role of editors of their local school or community papers. They must then
decide on whether they should include or exclude the previously developed events
from their paper.
Students could view the video clip from the PBS documentary program, Local News,
a series on a local Charlotte, North Carolina news broadcast. In this series,
News Director is under a lot of pressure to improve the news broadcast's low
ratings. In this clip, he is shown as having to make decisions about a story
about a local school bomb threat based both on the significance/relevancy of
the story, as well as it's appeal to the viewing audience
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/insidelocalnews/behind_news.html
The news director constantly monitors local news on competing stations, comparing it with his or her reporters' coverage, and continually re-evaluates what viewers need and want to hear about. Amidst the drive to find breaking news no other station is covering, and to best the investigative work of other stations' reporters, the news director must be sure his station doesn't miss anything relevant and appealing to local viewers. "We've got a lot to prove," begins Keith Connors, WCNC News Director, as he delivers an inspirational speech to his team. "You know the world is watching all that you do! We've got to connect with that audience."
In LOCAL NEWS, reporters are switched and fired, stories are
slashed, and relationships with investigative sources are challenged in an attempt
to keep ahead of the competition and give viewers compelling reports. When a
hurricane hits the North Carolina coast, it leads the news for hours, because
ratings charts showed viewers felt very threatened by the storm and wanted to
see what was coming.
The news director's role -- while deciding which stories to air -- is to inspire
and drive his team to go the extra mile to get that report. Aside from the basic
instinct of reporters to dig for news, they must also be mindful of what the
viewers want and feel is appropriate. If the reporters, the news director, and
station management fail in this task, viewership will decrease, precipitating
a drop in advertising that could crush a local station. So the news we see on
television is usually a complex mix including responsible coverage of current
events and headline-grabbing sensationalism.
In the LOCAL NEWS episode "To Work a Miracle," WCNC
holds a staff meeting to discuss how they should cover a reported bomb threat
at a local school. They debate whether to go on-air and talk of the treats,
possibly raising public alarm, or to hold off and wait for more concrete information.
This is the process that most big news stories go through before they make it
into our homes. Reporters and management have to think carefully about the impact
of their work, and they must decide what level of priority to assign each story.
"Journalism is the process of editing what is acceptable and unacceptable.
What happens in situations like Columbine happens because nothing has been thought
through. There is no plan," says news director Connors. "You want
to win on a big story. When they find what could be an explosive at a school
the week after Colorado, it's a big story."
Reliable sources are particularly important in ascertaining what news is fit
to air. The fire department may report that there is a fire on a particular
block. At first, it may seem like a good piece of breaking news, until it's
revealed by a source that it is just a small kitchen fire. It is the reporter's
sources who can confirm the importance of stories.
At the end of the day, however, the news selection process is a difficult balancing act between what the public wants to know and what it needs to know. "If this was only all about a number, to have a rating, to get a dollar, well then it's a shallow, vacant, meaningless pursuit," says Connors.
In responding to this clip, students could examine whether
they agree with the News Director's judgment regarding the station's coverage
of this event as "news."