Selection and presentation of the news

• Benson argues the use of the new media as a source of news may not be revolutionary. Most news consumed is provided by the traditional news outlets such as the BBC. Only difference being instead of picking up a newspaper or watching the news, people are accessing it though an app.
• An ofcom report found that television broadcast news is seen as more trustworthy to the great British public. Ofcom say it is a 'window to the world' offering accurate and trustworthy accounts of real-life events.
• Most people recognise different newspapers side with different political parties. For example: The Guardian supports the labour party, while The Times supports the conservatives.
• News


  A social construction. The media cannot report on all events and issues happening every day in the world. What 'counts' as news is constructed by a range of social influences.
• Newsworthy


  The more newsworthy the story is, the more the audience will be engaged. This is not a neutral process and can show biases through a sequence of socially manufactured messages produced within the dominant ideology of society.
• News is socially constructed

  What is presented to audiences through media is often taken for granted as being events that are seen to be newsworthy. The selection and presentation of the news can be argued to be socially constructed, based on the subjective opinions of those that produce the news stories.
• Gatekeepers


  Media professionals who decide and make choices and judgements about what events are important, what to cover and how to cover them.
• McQuail believes the news is socially constructed. He believes the news is influenced by the selection made by journalists and editors and how they represent the selected event. Things happen all the time and it would be impossible to report it all. The reality is the news is socially manufactured by journalists, editors and media owners. They make the decisions about what events are important enough to report on based upon their organisations news values. The content of news largely depends on the decisions made by media professionals and reflects their biases.
• Pluralist view


  Editors will select news stories that will appeal to the interest of their audience. Many news stories come pre-packaged (churnalism). 80% of stories being placed in local and national newspapers come from briefing packages sent by governments. This suggests that the presentation of the news comes from practical factors rather than ideological ones. This supports the pluralist argument of an objective media that responds to its audience.
• Practical factors of the pluralist view

  • Focus on the logistics of presenting stories to the audience in a timely and comprehensive manner
  • Cost is increasing as the world becomes more interconnected. The cost of journalism has increased, which has led to the cost-effective presentation of churnalism
  • With 24hr news, news stories break at a rapid pace and audiences demand instant updates. Stories are selected based on their simplicity as stories with complex narratives are confusing for the audience
• Churnalism


  The reporting of global events is purchased and presented by smaller outlets in a pre-packaged format.
• Marxist view


  News is selected based on the preferences of powerful owners and editors who look to represent the views of the elites in society. The media transmits a dominant ideology to the masses and so selects news stories that are aligned to their values.
• Bagdikian's Marxist view


  The media ownership is the most important factor in the selection and presentation of the news, transmitting information that supports a dominant ideology in society. This can be seen through focus on the economy in news reporting rather than social inequalities and the impacts of poverty on the masses.
• Chomsky's Marxist view


  The media is utilised by the ruling classes to manufacture consent for the activities of the elites in society, for example taking action against industrialised disputes or presenting the disruption of strikes.
• Personal biases in the media

  • Editors reporting on events that fall into their own sphere of interest
  • 80% of those working in the media come from middle class backgrounds which means stories selected for publication often reflects the interests of these classes
• Spin doctors


  Government intervention has been used to employ spin doctors to give the media a ready-made narrative that is often uncritically published. Governments can appoint spin doctors whose role is to meet with journalists in order to 'manage' news stories, so they are favourable to the government.
• Advertising


  Newsgathering is largely shaped by advertising. Newspapers are run like businesses and make a profit from offering businesses adverting space. Newspapers will bend their content in order to support large businesses and the capitalist system.
• News values


  General guidelines or criteria that determine the worth of a news story. News values define what journalists, editors and broadcasters consider as newsworthy. What may be newsworthy on one platform, may not be newsworthy on another, which is why the audience and readers would be considered before reporting an event.
• Harcup and O'Neill's 10 news values


  • Power elite
  • Celebrity
  • Entertainment
  • Surprise
  • Bad news
  • Good news
  • Relevance
  • Magnitude
  • Follow-up
  • Media agenda
• Brighton and Foy criticises Harcup and O'Neill's list because their compliers assume that there is consensus or general agreement among both journalists and audiences as to what is newsworthy. Cultural expectations about the news also vary from country to country – what the typical Mexican regard as newsworthy may be quite different from the typical Briton.
• Churnalism


  News stories are characterised by uniformity, which reduces the choice available to the news reader. There is little opportunity to see the other side of the story. Journalists should be renamed as 'churnalists' because they are largely engaged in churning out 'facts' or stories given to them by government spin doctors and by PR companies working for celebrity interests.
• Citizen journalists


  Anyone who posts even one story or photograph on a mainstream news site. Supporters argue it is useful for monitoring those in power and authority because of its whistle-blowing potential. Challenges the idea that news is shaped by news values and supports the post-modern notion that mass media content is now characterised by diversity.
• McChesney argues that democracy is undermined by extremely powerful media owners who are able to influence socially manufactured news by shaping editorial approach of the new media. This effects the choice of stories available to present. The owner does have to exercise day-to-day control over the news as compliant editors who value their jobs know what their employers expects.
• Galtung and Ruge's news values

  The way in which journalists attached significance to a particular story and judge it on its newsworthiness. Different journalists will prioritise stories based on a number of different criteria. News values implies that the criteria of newsworthiness that they identify are objectively used by journalists and editors in their role as gatekeepers of what counts as news.
• Stuart Hall's views


  • News is supportive of capitalist interests because those in powerful positions have better access to media institutions than the less powerful.
  • Journalists often report what prominent people say about events rather than the event in itself. Powerful people 'make news'.