Ch 13- Com sci
WHAT IS NEWS?
Objectives:
Give an example to illustrate & explain Postman & Powers' argument that "news is more often made rather than gathered"
What are Postman's and Powers suggesting by saying " we see what we expect to see; often, we focus on what we are paid to see"
Define news according to Postman & Powers
OVERVIEW
1992 -> helpful in understanding that financial & organizational considerations has a major influence on what gets placed into TV news programs and what does not
Argue that an objective definition of news is impossible
Important:
Need to think about, and discuss what definitions of news - electronic or print - might be best for society.
News is what news directors & journalists say it is. Most frequent answer: News is 'what happened the day'.
Rather silly definition: Unaccountable number of things happen during the course of a day. That could hardly be classified as news.
Most will add that the news is 'important & interesting things that happened that day'
- There are more than 40 wars & rebellions going on somewhere in the world. Not even the New York Times which claims to be the 'news-paper of public record' report on them all.
"Importance" is a judgement people make. Of course there are some events, the assassination of a president, an earthquake etc- that have near-universal interest & consequences. But most news does not inhere in the event.
It can get complicated. Is a story about killing in Northern Ireland more important than one about killing in Morocco?
For example: many journalists believe that what is called the intifada is newsworthy.
Intifada = arabic word means 'shaking off'.
Popularly translated into English as 'uprising', 'resistance' or 'rebellion'.
Every news story is a reflection of the reporter who tells the story. Answers to all questions depend entirely on the point of view of the journalist.
- What are facts? the problematic nature of facts: how can 2 trained journalists see events differently?
Journalists from Wall Street Journal is supposed to highlight the contrast between the primitive Russian economy & the sophisticated American economy.
Each of our senses is a remarkably sharp censor. We see what we expect to see; often we focus on what we are paid to see.
Camus's idea: interests, prejudices and quirks of media owner = Z
The prejudices, quirks and private interests of the journalist Y, Z times Y would give you X (the probable amount of truth in the story)
His idea might be applied to TV programs that went on immediately after each TV news show with background on the station & the journalists that have reported.
We think this kind of info would be helpful to a viewer. Such info would not give an estimate of the truth probability of stories but it would suggest possible patterns of influence reflected in the news.
Question ' What is news?'
-For there to be answer a viewer must know something about the political beliefs & economic situation of those who provide the news -> helps the viewer to judge why certain events are considered important by those in charge of TV news and may compare those judgements with his or her own.
Journalists also try to determine what audiences think is important & interesting
A viewer must always take into account his or her relationship to a larger audience.
TV is a mass medium, which means that a TV news show is not intended for you alone. It is public comm and the viewer needs to have some knowledge & opinions about the public (Swiss person wanting to see Swiss news)
Judging the public mind is always risky.
Liz Taylor's adventures in marriage do not constitute significant events but that they ought to be included in a news show precisely for that reason.
-We have heard people say that getting through the day is difficult enough - when they turn on the news, they want relief, not aggravation.
Also said that because news are instructive: they reveal a great deal about our society - its mores, values, ideals.
Mark Twain once remarked that news is history in its 1st & best form.
The American poet Ezra Pount defined literature as: News that stays news.
Pount meant that the stuff of literature originates not in stories about the world bank or an armistice agreement -> but in those simple, repeatable tales that reflect the pain, confusion or elations that are constant in human experience.
e.g. death of Robin Williams. Questions that fill the audience: Why? What are we to make of this? Why him?
~The kind of story that stays news must be given prominence. OR so some people believe.
-What about the kind of news that doesn't stay news? fires, rapes and murders... who has decided that they are important and why?
Cynical answer is that they are there because viewers take comfort in the realization that they have escaped disaster.
Doesn't matter who in particular was murdered - the viewer wasn't.
Different answer: it is the task of the news show to provide a daily accounting of the progress of society.
Some news are abstract (a report on society), some of them concrete (gruesome murder)
Daily facts from which the audience is expected to draw appropriate conclusions. What kind of society am I a member of?
Question is: Is the news an accurate portrayal of where we are of society? Which leads to another question -> Is it possible for daily news to give such a picture? Many journalists believe it is possible.
Journalist Lincoln Steffens proved that he could create a crime wave anytime he wanted by simply writing about all the crimes that normally occur in a large city during the course of a month. He could also end the crime wave by not writing about them.
Besides, murders, (or regress) of a society. Why are there so few TV stories about symphonies that have been composed, novels written, scientific problem solved? -> were TV news to be filled with these events, we would not be frightened. We would, in fact, be inspired, optimistic, cheerful.
One answer: these events make poor TV news because there is so little to show about them.
Difficult to televise a theory. Would not make for good TV & too much of it would drive viewers to other stations. Could only give the scientist 20 seconds of airtime.Time is an NB commodity.
*Another possible answer to the question 'What is news'? -News may be history in its first & best form, or the stuff of literature or a record of the condition of a society, or the expression of the passions of a public, or the prejudices of journalists.
It may be all of these things - but in its worst form it can also be mainly a filler, a come-on to keep the viewer's attention until the commercials come.
Purpose of this chapter ----
Arouse your interest in thinking about the question. Your answers are to be found by:
✅ Knowing what you feel is significant & how your sense of the significant conforms with or departs from that of others.
✅ In your ideas about the purposes of public communication, and in your judgement of the kind of society you live in or wish to live in
✅ In your knowledge about the problems, limitations, traditions, motivations and yes, even the delusions of the TV news industry. That's where we can help you to know how to watch a TV news show.