Media Writing

• Speech and Body Lang, Wall Paintings; Creation of Symbols, and Writing Systems are the 3 Examples of Pre-Mass Media
• The Printing Press was a device made in the 15th Century by Johannes Gutenberg that helped mass production of uniform printed matter, mainly text in the form of books, pamphlets and newspapers, become possible.
• The examples of Mass or Legacy Media are Telegraph/Print, Radio, Television, Internet
• Mass Communication uses new technology to instantaneously disseminate messages to many people.
• Development Communication is purposive and not strictly for mass media, it aims to influence the development process to help people help themselves.
• A mass medium is a business
• The Development of Mass Media (Potter, 2016) is Innovation, Penetration, Peak, Decline, Adaptation
• Technological Innovation is the creation of new transmission channels that make information transmission possible.
• Penetration highlights the increasing acceptance of a medium as it grows its audience from a few innovators by attracting early adopters to the majority of a population and finally to everyone. Its rate is determined by how fast the public regards the new medium as being able to satisfy their existing needs better than any alternative.
• The Peak is reached when the medium commands the most attention from the public and generates the most revenue compared to other media. This then puts pressure on older media to adapt.
• Marketing Innovation is the creation of a "business" that would use technology in a way that was successful in attracting audiences and conditioning those audience members for repeated exposures.
• Maximum Penetration happens when a very high percentage of people have accepted a medium and the medium cannot grow in penetration any more.
• In the Decline stage, the medium is characterized by a loss of audience acceptance and therefore by a loss in revenues. A decline in audience size results not from a decline in the need for a particular kind of message but by those message needs being satisfied better by a competing medium.
• A medium enters the Adaptation stage of development when it begins to redefine its position in the media marketplace.
• To see, sense, say are the Three S's of a good writer according to Lawrence Powell
• Triangulation refers to the process of gathering data from different sources to cross-verify them.
• The qualities of a good media writer are (1) values accuracy, accountable, service-oriented (2) inquisitive, intelligent, imaginative, informed (3) industrious, resourceful, has initiative, persevering.
• The skills of a media writer are gathering data, validating and clarifying information, organizing information, writing clearly and effectively, and proficiency in using communication tools and devices.
• Recency, Impact, Proximity, Human Interest, Prominence, Conflict, Currency, and Oddity are all news values that drive top stories
• News are usually shorter, objective or impersonal, makes use of the 5Ws and 1H guide, time-bound, and factual without any interpretation coming from the writer.
• Feature is usually longer, has more human interest and interpretation, often timeless, and also factual.
• The three methods of data gathering are Observation, Retrieval, and Interview
• The strength of Print is that it is portable and permanent. However, its limitation is that it has limited space and the content is static. Moreover, in terms of the information to gather, specifics are very important.
• The strength of TV and Radio is that it is immediate and personal as well as a lot of info can be transmitted over a short period of time. However, its limitation is that it is a passive medium and has time limit. Moreover, in terms of the information to gather, both can optimize audio and video supplementary materials.
• The strength of Online is that it is posses the immediacy of TV and Radio as well as having the space to give details like in print. However, its limitation is that it is costly to put together. Moreover, in terms of the information to gather, it should encompass more than what other media have already included.
• The 12 News Values according to Galtung and Ruge are: (Impact) Threshold, Unexpectedness, Frequency, Negativity, and Ambiguity; (Audience Identification) Meaningfulness, Reference to People, Reference to Elite Persons, and Reference to Elite Nations; (Pragmatics of Media Convergence) Continuity, Consonance, Composition
• Recency is crucial because news is a perishable commodity.
• Impact refers to the more involved, the stronger the story.
• Proximity is when news hits close to home both physically and psychologically.
• Human Interest is when news strikes a chord with the audience and stirs their emotions.
• Prominence drives top stories because the famous are news. The bigger the name, the bigger the attention.
• Conflict makes a subject newsworthy because drama generates interest.
• Currency is important because trending stories generate public interest.
• Oddity makes a topic newsworthy because the unusual entertains.
• Primary sources are the first-hand sources or the people directly involved.
• Secondary sources include the documents or existing media that support or explain information from primary sources.
• Unobtrusive observation happens when the interviewers do not interfere with the subjects under study. It uses an objective perspective.
• Participant observation happens when the researchers immerse themselves in a particular group or social setting. This is best applicable for feature articles.
• Face-to-face and Mediated are two approaches/examples of an interview.
• Threshold is a factor about scale (superlatives.) It refers to the fact that the more intense a story, the more likely it becomes news. (Galtung and Ruge's 12 News Values)