2-4

• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• The Wealth of Nations was written

  1776
• Rational


  (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Rational agents


  • Consumers
  • Producers
  • Workers
  • Governments
• Consumers act rationally by


  Maximising their utility
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by


  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by

  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Groups assumed to act rationally


  • Consumers
  • Producers
  • Workers
  • Governments
• Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
• Marginal utility


  The additional utility (satisfaction) gained from the consumption of an additional product
• If you add up marginal utility for each unit you get total utility
• What is 'news'
• Discourse analysis
• Dog bites man is not news, but man bites dog is news
• China winning 10 gold medals in the 1990s is not news, but China expected to win 20 gold medals in 2016 is news
• News


  Reports of recent events in the newspapers or on the radio or television
• Hard news


  Time plays a key role, the story must be reported as quickly as possible, generally on the same day as the event takes place, e.g. major world events, political facts, legal cases
• Soft news


  Not affected by time, not particularly related to a major event, may deal with scandals and gossip
• Characteristics of news language


  • Brevity
  • Speed
  • No repetition
  • Evidence
• Factors that make news newsworthy


  • Negativity
  • Recency
  • Proximity
  • Consonance
  • Unambiguity
  • Unexpectedness/Unusualness
  • Personalization
  • Eliteness
  • Facticity
• Sibilance, rhetorical questions, wordplay, metaphor, and alliteration are linguistic devices used in news writing
• News writing strategies include using linguistic devices and graphics
• News texts can be analysed at three levels: meaning, use of linguistic/rhetorical devices, and reflection of target audience, ideology and values
• Genres of news


  • News stories
  • Advertorials
  • Features
  • Sport
  • Celebrity news
  • Editorials
  • Letters to the editor
• Essential elements in accident stories


  • Names and identification of dead and injured
  • Time and location of accident
  • Types of vehicles involved
  • Cause (quote official sources)
  • Source of information
  • Names and identification of drivers and of others in vehicles if relevant
  • Where dead and injured were taken (hospitals)
  • Condition of injured
  • Funeral arrangement information, if available
  • Arrests made or citations issued
• Essential elements in fire stories


  • Deaths, injuries
  • Full identification of victim(s)
  • Location
  • Type of structure
  • Official cause
  • Investigation of cause
  • Source of information
  • How victims were injured or killed
  • When and where fire started and how and when it was brought under control
  • Rescue attempts
  • Where injured and dead taken
  • Damage to structure; cost; insurance coverage
  • Number of units and firefighters; amount of water used
  • Responses
• Essential elements in crime stories


  • Full identification of victim(s)
  • Nature of crime and description of how it was committed
  • Date, time, location of crime
  • Violent crime: official cause of death or injury; weapon used; motivation; background of victim, if relevant
  • Property crime: value of loss, method of theft or entry
  • Suspects (no names unless charges filed); clues
  • Unusual circumstances
  • Quotes of witnesses, victim(s), police
  • Source of information
• Essential elements in obituaries


  • Name, age, address and occupation of the deceased
  • Time and place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Date and place of birth
  • Survivors (e.g. wife and children...)
  • Funeral and burial arrangements
  • Accomplishments and achievements; education
  • Membership in organization, religious groups
  • Military service
  • Anecdotes of friends and relatives
  • Marriage
• Essentials for crime cases


  • Full identification of victim(s)
  • Nature of crime and description of how it was committed
  • Date, time, location of crime
  • Violent crime: official cause of death or injury; weapon used; motivation; background of victim, if relevant
  • Property crime: value of loss, method of theft or entry
  • Suspects (no names unless charges filed); clues
  • Unusual circumstances
  • Quotes of witnesses, victim(s), police
  • Source of information
• Essentials for obituaries


  • Name, age, address and occupation of the deceased
  • Time and place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Date and place of birth
  • Survivors (e.g. wife and children…)
  • Funeral and burial arrangements
  • Accomplishments and achievements; education
  • Membership in organization, religious groups
  • Military service
  • Anecdotes of friends and relatives
  • Marriage
• Essentials for sports coverage


  • The score
  • Names of teams; type of sport
  • When and where the game took place
  • Key incident or play
  • Outstanding player(s)
  • League
  • Scoring
  • Effect of game on league standings
  • Strategy
  • Crowd size; behaviour, if a factor
  • Statistics
  • Injuries
  • Winning or losing streaks
  • Duration of game
  • Record(s) set
  • Postgame quotes
• When the reporter arrived in the newsroom, he knew he wouldn't be out on his beat for a while. Piled on his desk were announcements and press releases, a couple of notes from the city editor, telephone messages and emails. The reporter set to work on the stack in front of him.
• Types of stories the reporter worked on


  • Briefs
  • Precedes
  • Personals
  • Brights
  • Localizing stories
  • Rewriting releases
  • Follow-up stories
  • Sidebars
  • Roundups
• Newsworthiness factors


  • Negativity
  • Proximity
  • Eliteness
  • Timeliness
  • Superlativeness
  • Oddity
  • Consonance
• Female runner, 52, dies after running 10km event in Hong Kong marathon
• Information inputs in the news article


  • Hospital Authority
  • Other deaths in the past marathons
  • Organiser of the marathon
  • Environmental Protection Department (Air Quality Index)
  • Dr Gary Mak Yiu-kwong, head of the Hong Kong Association of Sports Medicine and Sport Science & consultant for the marathon organisers
  • A 2014 study by Baptist University
  • The Amateur Athletic Association expressed condolences
  • Standard Chartered Bank expressed condolences
• Chinese boy who arrived at school with icicles in his hair stirs poverty debate in China
• Donations pour in after 'Ice Boy' frozen trek to school moves China
• Details of Primary School


  • Wang Fuman, a primary school student in southwest Yunnan province
  • Zhuangshanbao primary school in a rural area of Zhaotong in Yunnan province