CMNS 1301

News Manufacture

Review of The Third FilterElements of News PersuasionThe News CycleLegal & Professional Controls on News Manufacture

CMNS 1302

Goals for this lecture

1. What are five main news values and their impact on news culture?

2. What is the political news cycle? 3. Identify two direct and indirect state

controls over news manufacture in Canada.

CMNS 1303

Political Media Nodes in Canada

News editors, parliamentary gallery, political journalists on the local, municipal, provincial, federal and international desks

News wire agencies ( Canadian Press)

Daily newspaper(100) TV (CBC TV, CTV, Global) and Radio

CMNS 1304

Trends in Political News Gathering

But, gallery is outnumbered by communication specialists in government 2 or 3 to one

Press directly used in Question Period Often linked to Opposition: leads to adversarial

mentality ( dismissal just another special interest) Media do not appear in parliamentary hearings as

intervenors but only as observers Senior politicians meet with editorial boards informally

and off the record Journalists keep links with government sources:

network, network, network.

CMNS 1305

Elements of News Persuasion

Top 10 criteria for newsworthiness Impact on News Culture Some fast news facts

CMNS 1306

Top Ten Newsworthy Values

1. Timely: NEW

2. Immediate: SPONTANEOUS, CURRENT

3. Unusual: ODD, NON NORMATIVE

4. Conflictual: CONTROVERSY

5. Simple: EASILY LABELLED

CMNS 1307

Newsworthy Values

6. Personal:DAY TO DAY RELEVANCE

7. Proximate: UP CLOSE, WELL KNOWN

8. Superlative: BEST, FIRST, WORST

9. Celebrities: POWERFUL10. Compressible: REDUCIBLE

CMNS 1308

News Scripts

A set of expected scripts• Elections– horserace or focus on game• EG 2004 election: Martin and story of

father• Dominant focus on strategy:

• Political journalism is more focused on style of politics and the performance aspects of political communication. It is more focused on the mechanics of news and public relations, the game, and it is more analytical and interpretive than in the past….( Brian McNair, 171)

CMNS 1309

Ideological Bias

Favouring of status quo Fishman: journalists’s view of society is bureaucratically

structured and bureaucracies reflect the establishment ( CC 106)

System works/disruptors deviant Types of liberal news scripts:

• Social problems are the fault of individuals and not the system• People who win are smart or lucky• Individuals solve problems, not collective efforts• The free market system is sound• Professionals are more interesting than blue collar workers• Everyone is equal and if you are not, prove it

• Source: Fleras, 121

CMNS 13010

News Culture

Values tend to reinforce emotion over rational statements

Events over issues Individuals over groups Negative over Positive Action over Contemplation Lowest Common Denominator over

Sophisticated Understanding

CMNS 13011

Fast News Facts

Half of print news is government news 40% of news is from unedited PR releases( Fleras:116) One in two articles have at least one factual inaccuracy (

Pew-Columbia Journalism Review) News still very very important as a democratic resource:

2/3 of Canadians watch the news (21 million) 55% say very interested in keeping up with the news One quarter of all time spent is with the news Adults spend 47 minutes a day reading a paper YET– only 1 in 2 actually functionally literate Only about 30% are involved in civic activites, actively

consume news

CMNS 13012

Other Fast News Facts

One in three Canadians believe that news reports are inaccurate ( lower than in the US)

CMNS 13013

Sociology of the News Gatherers Trend to higher education Specialist journalism degrees Still not the same cachet as lawyers, accountants Self styled left leaning on social issues in Canada Libertarian theory of the press not as wide as in the US

Fraser Institute and Alliance here Historically watchdog role implies a lobbying presence, which

is more open in the US system than the Parliamentary one which stresses executive unity, cabinet secrecy

Analysis of ‘access to information requests’ show watchdog role– abuses of patronage etc. really only about a third of activities

Social Responsibility One in two Canadians think the media help society to solve

problems( versus 31% in US). • Source: Canadian Media Research Consortium

CMNS 13014

Canadian Professionalism of the News Canadian Association of Journalists (www.caj.ca) Code of Ethics strongly prohibits conflict of

interest with sources and arms-length relationship The ideal type is to ‘speak truth to power’ Watergate myth of the crusading journalists Various agencies:

Local press councils Canadian Broadcast Standards Council Radio and

TV News Directors Code of Ethics

CMNS 13015

News Codes: the Ideal

CAB Code of Ethics(2002) Clause 5 - News It shall be the responsibility of broadcasters to ensure that

news shall be represented with accuracy and without bias. Broadcasters shall satisfy themselves that the arrangements made for obtaining news ensure this result. They shall also ensure that news broadcasts are not editorial.

News shall not be selected for the purpose of furthering or hindering either side of any controversial public issue, nor shall it be formulated on the basis of the beliefs, opinions or desires of management, the editor or others engaged in its preparation or delivery. The fundamental purpose of news dissemination in a democracy is to enable people to know what is happening, and to understand events so that they may form their own conclusions.

CMNS 13016

Code Cont’d

Nothing in the foregoing shall be understood as preventing broadcasters from analyzing and elucidating news so long as such analysis or comment is clearly labeled as such and kept distinct from regular news presentations. Broadcasters are also entitled to provide editorial opinion, which shall be clearly labeled as such and kept entirely distinct from regular broadcasts of news or analysis.

Broadcasters shall refer to the Code of Ethics of the Radio and Television News Directors of Canada ("RTNDA") for more detailed provisions regarding broadcast journalism in general and to the Voluntary Code Regarding Violence in Television Programming for guidance with respect to the depiction of violence, graphic reporting of delicate subject matter or the use of explicit language in news and public affairs programming on television.

Commentary

CMNS 13017

Code Cont’d

Clause 6 - Full, Fair and Proper Presentation It is recognized that the full, fair and proper presentation of news, opinion,

comment and editorial is the prime and fundamental responsibility of each broadcaster. This principle shall apply to all radio and television programming, whether it relates to news, public affairs, magazine, talk, call-in, interview or other broadcasting formats in which news, opinion, comment or editorial may be expressed by broadcaster employees, their invited guests or callers.

commentary Clause 7 - Controversial Public Issues Recognizing in a democracy the necessity of presenting all sides of a public

issue, it shall be the responsibility of broadcasters to treat fairly all subjects of a controversial nature. Time shall be allotted with due regard to all the other elements of balanced program schedules, and the degree of public interest in the questions presented. Recognizing that healthy controversy is essential to the maintenance of democratic institutions, broadcasters will endeavour to encourage the presentation of news and opinion on any controversy which contains an element of the public interest.

Commentary (www.cbsc.ca)

CMNS 13018

News Adjudication

Complaints Problem: not well known and 55% of

Canadians believe news will not act on complaints

Two monitoring agencies: Canadian Media Research Consortium (

www.cmrc.ca) McGill Observatory on Public Policy Fraser Institute Not as many institutes on left and right of

spectrum monitoring media output

CMNS 13019

Accountability: Cases

CTV case on W-5 Detaxers

CMNS 13020

The Political Press Cycle

ReportageInterrogationInvestigationIntepretation

CMNS 13021

Reportage

Framing Moulds public understanding of problems and

merits of alternative solutions Hackett and Zhao:

• Persistent patterns of cognition, interpretation and presentation; of selection, emphasis and exclusion, by which symbol handlers routinely organize discourse.

Framing becomes important because of theories of agenda setting

CMNS 13022

Agenda Setting

Media may not tell us what to think, but they do tell us what to think about

A product of political science surveys which ask “what is the top problem facing the nation today?:

Public opinion polls produce answers which closely track the issues that hit front page or headline coverage discovered in content analysis

CMNS 13023

Interrogation

Watchdog Ideal Holds journalists must keep an eye

trained on government in order to expose and prevent abuse

Two ways to do so:Cultivate inside sources with

conscience who may leak storiesLobby government to get

embarrassing legislation

CMNS 13024

Investigation

Policy initiation, inquiry, analysis Third party– independent of government Eg: organized crime series in Vancouver

Sun Costliest part of reporting cycle, and most

serious litmus test of how seriously an organization takes its obligations to inform the public

Lack of time and money and expertise are major constraints

CMNS 13025

Key Enabler of Investigation Government Access to Information Legislation

Compels disclosure of information in public interest Small fee Used by Canadian reporters at the rate of 1000 a month or

so, but still relatively underused compared to other countries Best practices

- Toronto Star story took 2 years- Accessed police arrest records and analysed them- Headline on racial profiling of police- Black activists called for immediate action- Toronto’s police chief issues denial and union sues for Libel

demanding 2.6 billion in damages, still before the courts.- Other papers: Globe, Winnipeg Free Press, La Presse, CBC,

frequent award winners

CMNS 13026

Media Protections: Freedom of Information Legislation ( 1982)

Protects citizens and media from arbitrary concealment of information

Freedom of Information legislation may compel governments to release information if requested by press or public– depending on terms and conditions of the legislation

Freedom of Information Ombudsperson may help 30 years later, ‘apprehended insurrection’ grounds

found false in the cabinet deliberations of the War Measures Act

Other cases: Pharmaceutical cases etc. FOI desperately needs reform helpful as long as there is a vigilant/investigative

press

CMNS 13027

Interpretation

- Commentary, editorials, documentary public affairs shows or hot docs.. The Corporation, Fahrenheit 9-11.

- Focus on background, depth, context and causality- Increasingly shifting in tabloid, talk radio etc to opinion,

without analysis- Good interpretation is value based

- Requires regular monitoring to decide the quality of interpretation

- Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has found since 2000, 5 drugs released

- 68% of stories mention only drug benefits, no risks- Of those that mention risk, one in 4 misleading or wrong- Issue important because a survey of doctors finds that news

inflates demands for treatment.

CMNS 13028

Legal Controls and Freedom of Expression Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 2b) guarantees freedom of thought,

belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication

but Section 1 ( the preamble) states that: The guarantees (of ) the rights and freedoms

set out in it are subject only to such reasonable limits by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society

CMNS 13029

Constitutional Bottom Line

Canada’s law does not guarantee absolute freedom of the media from State Control or Judicial Review by the Supreme Court of Canada Freedom of Press is conditional A delicate balancing act:

• Between primordial State role in guaranteeing national security ( collective rights) and individual freedoms

• Between individual/media right to FOE and ‘rightness’ of selective censorship

CMNS 13030

Constitutional Limits

What are the limits?The Notwithstanding /Preamble Clause Section

1) if law can be demonstrably justified Entrenches equality rights Section 15:

• Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination…based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability

Multiculturalism :Section 27: • Consistent with the preservation and enhancement of

the multicultural heritage of Canadians

CMNS 13031

First Legal Controls: Protections of National Security

Powers over security: imposition of acts to restrict civil liberties

When security threatened, State may censor to protect itself

Also exercise sweeping emergency powers and powers of arrest and detention without parliamentary approval

CMNS 13032

Second Legal Grounds: Social Cohesion and Domestic “home land” Security The War Within: cultural and /or violent Common in Highly Culturally Pluralistic

States Different tribes, cultures, languages Cleavages of race,religion,class, language Internal wars of secession Addressed in Criminal Code

CMNS 13033

Criminal Powers

State introduces classes of criminal expression: Incitement of ‘violence against state’ ( seditious

libel) Incitement of cultural genocide: S. 319 of the

Criminal Code (1970): prohibits advocating killing of members of an identifiable group

S 117 : Prohibits intentional spreading of false news which may cause harm ( fire!)

State may compel journalists to release their sources in a criminal investigation

CMNS 13034

Other Indirect Controls: Induce Media to Set Up Standards/Self Regulate For Example:

After the Kent Commission, a set of regional Press Councils was set up to hear complaints about bias or unfair news

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council another

Articulate values of Press independence, prohibition of conflict of interest, fair comment, now consonant with the Charter

• ( see overhead of the CBSC code)

CMNS 13035

Direct / Indirect use of economic clout Governments are very large buyers of advertising:

economic clout As a consequence, newspapers or media may resist

biting the hand that feeds them… private press may self-censor (eg. Resist coverage hostile to Bush’s invasion of Iraq)

Governments may potentially own/ produce news agencies (eg. CBC News and Newsworld) which compete for ad money with the private media sector– and keep it ‘honest’

Governments may also potentially regulate competition of the industry (eg.News) but have not done so in Canadian printed press or have done so rarely in TV ( Lorimer,p. 47.)

CMNS 13036

Regulation during Elections Political Advertising is strictly

regulated ( See Week 6)

CMNS 13037

Rivalry of Press and Governments

Where political power is very concentrated in democracies – in the executive or the media--there is a risk of abuse

Press struggle with a ‘love-hate relationship’ with the State

In theory: provide a counteractive force to potential abuse by the State

In reality: mutual co-dependence

CMNS 13038

Bargaining Power of the Media Media act as Gatekeepers Their political capital resides in their

independence, reputation and public trust Obvious cases of disrepute and dirty tricks

are therefore unlikely, or are likely to self-correct

CMNS 13039

Limits on Media’s Political Power But --Capacity of the media to perform their

democratic responsibilities in the affirmative model are limited by the market

EG: what happens when democratic responsibilities conflict with the need to make a profit? fewer overseas bureaux, deskilling of journalists, fewer permanently assigned to the

Parliamentary Press Gallery– hollowing out of adversarial intelligence to government despite rise of competition ( See week 7)

CMNS 13040

Trends in Politics and the News Rise of TV as most credible news sources Focus on Leadership/Celebrity image politics Shortening of News Clips Search for the ‘visual bite”: 24 hour news Infotainment: merger of news and entertainment Rise of Horse Race Journalism Advertising methods now widely used in packaging

political campaigns Even the elected representatives of the people are

using mass persuasion techniques( See film: 60 second democracy)

CMNS 13041

Trends in Political Effects

Declining voter turn out ( 60% in Canada, 25% among those under 25 years of age)

Declining trust in institutions: Declining trust in government/ in motives behind

government actions: deception, exclusion• In 1960s, 80% of Canadians said they

trusted government most or all of the time• Today, that figure ranges between 20 and

30%

CMNS 13042

Trends 2

When asked what is top problem: voters rarely talk about stories other than those that dominate the headlines: do the media set the public’s agenda?

When analysts study the impact of heavy TV viewing on citizens: heavy viewers tend to middle of the road views: mainstreaming ideological effect in the theory of cultivation

Studies of political literacy suggests levels are declining. Variously, studies of the public’s power to recall items of the news commentary, or ability to suggest what they mean, is low. Power to frame or plant views is stronger where there is no direct prior knowledge.

CMNS 13043

Sources

A. Fleras, Mass Media in Canada. 2003. pp. 90-96. William A. Hachten and James F. Scotton, The World

News Prism: Global Media in an Age of Terrorism. 2003.

John Keane, Media and Democracy 1991 Allan, Stuart. 1999. News Culture. Buckingham: Open

University Press. Paul Nesbitt Larking, Politics, Society and the Media:

Canadian Perspectives 2001 Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, Weapons of

Mass Deception.2003.

CMNS 13044

Sources Cont’d

Bennett, W. Lance. 1996. News: The Politics of Illusion. White Plains NY: Longman.

Canadian Association of Journalists. 2004. “Special Issue: Handcuffed: Investigative Journalists in Canada fight to remain free of interference from politicians, police and courts”. Media, Spring 2004, vol. 10 #3.

Canadian Media Research Consortium. 2004. Report Card on Canadian News Media.www..cmrcccrm.ca/English/reportcard2004/01.html.