lecture 3_the professional organizational approach

8/18/2019 Lecture 3_The Professional Organizational Approach

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The Professional-OrganizationalApproach to the Media

American Studies, MA I


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Lecture Outline

News – social reality

The gathering of news

The processing of news

ate!eeping

Agenda-setting "iscussion of newspaper sur#eys $y students

%n#estigati#e &ournalis' as professionalachie#e'ent


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The Professional-Organizational Approach

)e&ection of *deter'inistic stress on the politicaland econo'ic factors of &ournalistic production+

,ocus on *the professional, cultural andorganizational structure underpinning theprocess+

*the i'ple'entation of the o$&ecti#ity ethic+ *the li'itations i'posed $y the news for'. deadline

pressures and other ele'ents of routine &ournalisticpractice+

/McNair. 200( (


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What is news?

*News is current or fresh knowledge a$out ane#ent or su$&ect that is gathered, processed,and disseminated via a medium to asignificant number of interested people4+

/"e,leur and "ennis. 2002 5(-3. theire'phases


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%s news a 'irror of social reality or awindow on social reality6

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aye Tuch'an /1859 – classic study on &ournalis'

*News is a window on the world4 Throughits frame. A'ericans learn ofthemselves and others, of their owninstitutions, leaders, and life styles,

and those of other nations and their peoples.+


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*The view through a window dependsupon whether the window is large or s'all.

has 'any panes or few. whether the glass isopa:ue or clear. whether the window faces astreet or a $ac!yard4 The unfolding scenealso depends upon where one stands. far or

near. craning one;s nec! to the side. or gazingstraight ahead. eyes parallel to the wall inwhich the window is encased4+ /Tuch'an.1859 1. 'y e'phases

5


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The gap $etween theory

*%deally. the news ought to pro#ide the pu$licwith accurate and relia$le infor'ation thatassists the' in $etter participating in ci#iclife in a responsi$le and infor'ed 'anner4+

/Ott < Mac! 2013 5


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and practice=

*%n reality >=? the news is produced li!e anyother co''odity. not disco#ered or found4To understand the sizea$le gap $etweenthe ideal and the actuality of whatconstitutes the news. we 'ust e@a'ine thespecific professional con#entions thatgo#ern how news is gathered andreported4+ /Ott < Mac! 2013 5

8


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The news process

/1 New gathering – *sur#eillance of theen#iron'ent+

/2 election and processing of news

/( "isse'ination of news

/"e,leur and "ennis 2002. a'ong others


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(! "ews gathering # $surveillance ofthe environment%

)eality is *observed, understood,interpreted, and recorded $y reporterswhose tas! is to prepare initialco'prehensi$le descriptions for pu$licconsu'ption4+ /"e,leur and "ennis. 2002

57


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“Categories for surveillance”

$&eographic territories% /local. regional. nationaland international

$Specialized topics% /politics. the econo'y. science.health. education. sports. fashion. weather.entertain'ent. cri'e etc4

$'rganizations% /the Bhite Couse. the Pentagon.Dongress – national le#elE the police depart'ent. thecity hall. the local uni#ersity. the local court – localle#el


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ournalistic beats – *the places and institutionswhere the news is e@pected to occur on anygi#en day. such as police stations and

courthouses4+ /Ott < Mac! 2013 5

)ive beats – national news in the FA

*incu'$ent presidents. presidential candidates.leading federal officials. state and local officials.and alleged and actual #iolators of laws and'ores4+ /Ott < Mac! 2013 5


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aye Tuch'an – casting *the news net+ and *i'posing order on the social world+/18592(ff4

*news events = occur at some locationsbut not others+ /geographic location. socialclass


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a hierarchical s*stem of informationgatherers /the status of reporters 'atters inthe selection

*Gditors prefer stories b* salaried reporters tothose b* stringers. paid less well and on apiecewor! $asis. si'ply $ecause the news

organization has a financial in#est'ent in thesalaried reporter4 = i'ilarly. editors prefer topu$lish or telecast 'aterial prepared b* theirstaff rather than b* centralized news

services4+


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*the cooperation of the comple+bureaucrac* associated with the

dispersion of reporters+ /interactions –reporters. editors. newsroo' hierarchy


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News sources

eople- reporters. eye-witnesses. e@perts/o$ser#ation of this type is su$&ect to hu'an errorand conse:uently can $e flawedE

ress releases and political pundits- pro#ided $yorganizations and co''unication consultants.which put forward their official #ersion of e#ents/often $iasedE

ocuments- reports of $usiness. educational. orgo#ern'ental groupsE technical &ournalsE censusreports etc4E

ublic records- court. ta@ agency. or propertyownership recordsE

"ews agencies


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(/! Selection and processing of news

&atekeeping – selection of news stories to appear in the

daily editions of newspapersHnews $ulletins etc4according to a co'ple@ set of criteria /professional.organizational and e#en personal – see the *newsnet+ a$o#e

News stories are then further processed and *repac!aged+ so as to 'eet the standards that 'a!ethe' suita$le to $e read $y the ideal audience – *encoding strategies+ /"e,leur and "ennis. 2002 584


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Two 'ain encoding strategies are news values and thenews story format 4

"ews values # criteria for &udging the newsworthiness ofstories The i'pact of a story

Ti'eliness

Pro'inence

Pro@i'ity The $izarre – the *'an $ites dog+ principle

Donflict

Durrency


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Story formats

The Bs for'at – Who did What, Where, When and

Why

The inverted pyramid format – the structuring ofinfor'ation follows the criterion of i'portance/the 'ost i'portant infor'ation co'es first

*%nfor'ational $ias+ – *how a story is structuredand told+


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,our infor'ational $iases /Iennett. :td4 in Ott <Mac! 2013 50

14 Personalization /focus on indi#iduals in thenews

24 "ra'atization /*the narrati#e presentation ofinfor'ation+ J sensational aspectshighlighted

(4 ,rag'entation /*the tendency to treat storiesin isolation+ – readers cannot 'a!e conte@tualassociations

34 Authority-disorder /the news participants are

presented *as in conflict or tension+


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ournalistic styles The sensational or ta$loid &ournalis' style /fro'

the late 1900s to a$out 1820E still used todayE

The *o$&ecti#e+ or i'partial &ournalis' style /fro'the 1820s onE challenged in the 180s and 1850s– *separates fact fro' opinion+. gi#es *ane'otionally detached #iew of the news+. and ai'sat *fairness and $alance+ /the dialogicality of news

– $oth sides presentedE The ad#ocacy styleE

Precision &ournalis' – $ased on :uantitati#estudiesE

Di#ic or pu$lic &ournalis'4


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The professional-organizational approachto the sociology of news ad#ocates theidea that news 'ay $e unintentionally

distorted $y all the factors in#ol#ed inthe gathering. selection and processingof news4

News is not truth4 /Balter Lipp'ann


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*=news does not 'irror society4 %thelps to constitute it as a sharedsocial phenomenon. for in the processof descri$ing an e#ent. news defines andshapes that e#ent. 'uch as news storiesconstrued and constructed an earlyperiod of the 'odern wo'en;s'o#e'ent as the acti#ities of ridiculous

$ra $urners4+ /Tuch'an. 1889 193

a social constructionist perspecti#e on &ournalis'


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ominant 1onceptions of "ews

The media as watchdogs of the publicinterest # the adversarial approach

The press – a chec! on go#ern'ent /freedo' of

speech the fourth estate

"ews as a product # the marketingapproach /the *profit 'oti#e+


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%n#estigati#e reporting

*a !ind of newsgathering in which the

reporter pro$es deeply into a situation andasse'$les e#idence that discloses whether ornot there is so'ething unusual. unethical. ore#en outrageous going on+ /"e,leur and"ennis. 2002 994

The situation that 'a!es the o$&ect of suchin#estigation should $e a matter of publicconcern4


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The concept of muc!ra!ing

,a'ous cases Gliza$eth Dochrane;s in#estigation of

Ilac!well;s %sland. a 'ental institution inNew Kor! Dity – for the New York World /oseph Pulitzer. in the 1900sE

The disclosure of the Batergate scandal.in the 1850sE Darl Iernstein and )o$ertBoodward – the Washington Post 4


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)eferences

"e,leur. M4L4 and G4G4 "ennis4 20024 UnderstandingMass Communication: a lieral arts perspective /5thed44 Ioston and New Kor! Coughton Mifflin4

Ott. I4L < Mac!. )4L4 20104 Critical Media !tudies: "n

#ntroduction4 Malden. O@ford. Dhichester BileyIlac!well4

Tuch'an. 4 18594 Making News: " !tudy in theConstruction of $eality 4 New Kor! The ,ree Press.London Dollier Mac'illan Pu$lishers4

lecture 3_the professional organizational approach

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