Imagine these scenarios:
Your cousin gives birth to twin girls, and the Duchess of Sussex gives birth to a baby girl on the same day. Which one makes national news?
The COVID-19 statistics of the second year of the pandemic are published and Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, passes away. Which one makes 'breaking news'?
Sir David Attenborough is knighted for the second time. Russia invades Ukraine. Which event generates more news coverage?
What determines certain events more newsworthy than others? We will discuss news selection and presentation in detail.
- In this explanation, we'll discuss the topic of news selection and presentation.
- We'll first explore the selection and presentation of news in sociology, followed by an overview of news selection criteria.
- After this, we'll examine factors affecting news selection, with reference to cost, time, accuracy, audience and ethics.
- Next, we'll explore the objectivity of news.
- Then, we'll touch on moral panic theory as a biased news presentation example.
Selection and presentation of news in sociology
Why study the selection and presentation of news in sociology?
Denis McQuail (1992) stated that news is socially constructed and is not an objective way of viewing current affairs. News is influenced by the selection made by media professionals (such as editors and journalists) and how they represent the selected event.
It follows that the content of news largely depends on the decisions made by media professionals, reflecting the biases of the creators. Events that do not get reported are not determined as 'newsworthy ' as they have little or no news value. The higher the news value, the more prominence will be given through media coverage.
Fig. 1 - Sociologists argue that news is presented based on newsworthiness.
News selection criteria
Not everything makes it onto the news - an event or story is reported if it is newsworthy. As such, networks often have strict news selection criteria. Let us consider a definition of newsworthiness:
Newsworthiness is the criteria that helps media professionals select and present news content based on news value.
The more news value a subject has, the more coverage it gains over a medium, for example, a newspaper or news program. In turn, this can help the medium attract more readers or television viewers.
Factors that determine 'news value' with examples
Spencer-Thomas (2008) noted that media professionals use news value(s) to determine whether a story is newsworthy. What may be newsworthy for one media platform may not be newsworthy for another; the readers and/or audience would be considered before reporting an event or story.
Readers of the Financial Times are unlikely to be interested in the article on the death of a celebrity. Whilst the event may be highly newsworthy in a tabloid newspaper, it is likely to have low newsworthiness for the Financial Times.
Galtung and Ruge (1965) suggested the following categories of news values that help determine an event's newsworthiness. We will go through each of these in turn.
Extraordinariness and news value
Extraordinariness is how unpredictable, unusual, or rare an event is. An event with an element of surprise is more likely to gain coverage than a routine event.
The death of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 was covered extensively due to the unpredictability of her death.
A more recent case is the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, which was a 'breaking news' event (even though it was not necessarily unexpected) because she was arguably the most significant member of the royal family. The British media began showing extensive coverage of her life and memorable moments in the days and even weeks following her death.
Threshold and news value
The bigger the event, the more media coverage it is likely to get.
Wars, conflicts, or natural disasters are good examples of news likely to be covered nationally and across all media platforms.
Negativity and news value
News that is dramatic or causes agitation or excitement is generally considered more newsworthy than positive events. This is because it is more likely to grab the attention of larger audiences.
Stories of violence, death, illness, tragedy, or political tension are good examples of newsworthy negative events.
Unambiguous news and news value
The simpler and easier to grasp an event is, the more likely it is to be included in the news agenda over complex news stories.
Personalisation and news value
Personalisation is the breakdown of an event as occurring due to the actions of individuals. This is so the audiences may be able to identify with the event, which increases its newsworthiness.
The headline 'Queen refuses to pass Parliament's controversial Bill' is more likely to attract attention than 'Parliament's controversial Bill to be revised'.
Factors affecting news selection
Organisational or bureaucratic factors which affect news selection are logistical considerations that affect which news events are covered and which are limited.
Aside from the news value, other factors can influence the selection and presentation of news content. This includes the way the newspaper or television channel is organised.
Financial considerations of news
Financial considerations change the type of news companies produce. For example, investigative journalism and overseas reporting are considered expensive news-gathering processes.
As entertainment plays an increasingly important role in selecting news content, media platforms can provide 'infotainment' as it achieves larger audiences, which brings more advertising revenue and income.
Time considerations in news
The news content needs to be tailored to fit the time and space allotted in the magazine or newspaper article, or news channel.
In a 30-minute news segment, if a news item provided a slot of 10 minutes cannot be covered in the given time, it is likely that it will not be included in the news agenda.
A newspaper column or magazine will include an event only if the article fits the provided space or word limit.
According to neo-Marxists, time slots often limit the number of perspectives that can be given on a news item by restraining audience readability. This contributes to the biased news agenda.
News deadlines
For newspapers and magazines, the events reported usually happened the previous day. There is usually a daily or weekly publishing deadline (a cut-off point) by which a news story must be submitted. Otherwise, it cannot be included in the next release. This is less significant for television channels, as they can usually update news stories.
Immediacy and accuracy as news criteria
A news item is more likely to be included if it can receive live coverage and if famous or respected individuals can comment or offer sound bites on the subject.
Audiences of the news
The content of the news can be altered or changed to reflect the interests of its audience.
The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, aims at a less educated audience, whereas, The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, aims at an audience that has received a higher level of education.
News content and writing style can also change depending on the audience's age group, for instance.
Journalistic ethics in the news
Ethics also constrain the type of new content and its process in reporting or presenting.
Newspapers signing up to a code of conduct means that journalists will restrain from publishing inaccurate information or misrepresenting people and respect people's privacy and dignity.
Objectivity of news
Aside from the practical aspects of news selection, sociologists also seek to examine the viewpoints that news represents - alongside the impacts that these representations can have on wider audiences. This calls into question the objectivity of news.
News agendas
News companies often depend on advertisers for revenue, so the news does not generally criticise the capitalist system - choosing to remain in its favour.
A large portion of news content is devoted to business and economics, where corporate experts and business professionals are positively represented. Newspapers include sections that favourably portray business interests and economic growth but rarely address issues regarding poverty or inequality, thus validating capitalist society.
Owners' influence over the news
According to Marxists, the content of news primarily reflects the views and interests of the elite and middle class. They believe that the owners play a role in shaping the content by setting company policies and influencing the news's nature and structure.
The owners deliberately first appoint senior professionals who share similar ideologies as them, as well as lower-ranking media professionals. The lower-ranking media professionals avoid publishing content that might annoy the seniors for fear of risking their jobs.
Hierarchy of credibility in the news
Stuart Hall argues that elite and high-ranking professionals like government officials, academic experts, CEOs and celebrities are often invited to express their views on news items rather than those who are 'ordinary' members of society. As a result, they become the 'primary definers' of the agenda.
Journalists consider the elite and people with higher positions in the professional world as more credible sources of authority than those belonging to the lower or working classes.
Social classes of news journalists
About half of journalists are from middle-class backgrounds and have been educated in private schools, which implies that these journalists identify with middle-class ‘establishment’ views.
Consequently, they prioritise middle-class issues and highlight them as general issues or opinions of the mass audience.
Churnalism and the news
Churnalism refers to a process where journalists over-rely on 'facts' without checking or doing independent research while producing news content.
These types of news are based on information, or sources churned out by government spin doctors, public relations consultants, and other experts.
Davies (2008) claimed that 80% of news stories in two leading British newspapers were sourced through churnalism for more than two weeks in 1997, where only 12% of the content was produced through independent research by journalists.1
Fig. 2 - Marxists believe elite and middle-class interests greatly impact news media.
News presentation example
If we want to turn to a sociological news presentation example, we might examine how that piece of news is biased. Let's take a look at moral panic theory.
The term 'moral panic' refers to an outburst or exaggerated public reaction to an issue related to the morality or behaviour of a particular group. Let us go through the study below to understand the theory better.
In 1972, Stanley Cohen, influenced by labelling theory, studied the fights that happened during one bank holiday in the UK between two youth subcultures: the Mods and the Rockers. His primary focus was on the media's response to that event.
According to Cohen, the media presented extremely exaggerated reports about the event. Cohen argued that the media's narrative featured the Mods and Rockers as folk devils, the target of exaggerated public outbursts and concerns.
This generated panic among the public. Cohen reported that the media created a story that increased public fear - a moral panic. The police then responded strictly to conflicts involving the future Mods and Rockers (such as arresting youths for deviant behaviour), causing further disputes.
News selection and presentation - Key takeaways
- News is socially constructed. Events that do not get reported are determined as not 'newsworthy' in terms of news value.
- Factors that determine news value are extraordinariness, threshold, negativity, unambiguity, and personalisation.
- Organisational and bureaucratic routines such as financial cost, time, deadlines, immediacy and accuracy, audience, and journalistic ethics influence the news content.
- According to Marxists, the content of news primarily reflects the views and interests of the elite and middle class.
- The term 'moral panic' is defined as an outburst of emotions, a reaction over an issue related to morality.
References
- Davies, N. (2008). Churnalism has taken the place of what we should be doing: telling the truth. Press Gazette, 1.
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