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


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




Politicians distracted by electioneering More than 100 dead Judicial inquiry launchedGrief Bridge rebuilt after 2007 stampedePrevious deadly stampedes TRAGIC ACCIDENT
































‘Accidental bias’ caused by working methods (Tuchman)

e.g. News Sources


Sources for framesToo few police Innocent worshippers




Source: Survivor

Source: Prime Minister

Source: State government

Source: Police


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 …


Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy Patience


Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy PatienceDrama, threats, violence Calm environment


Journalists need … Peacemakers need …Immediacy PatienceDrama, threats, violence Calm environmentSimple events Understanding of complexity


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


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.

Education

News values, gatekeeping, framing, agenda-setting and peace journalism