News Impact on Democracy
News has a unique role in democratic societies as it is expected to inform citizens to enable them to make sound democratic decisions. Therefore, it is important to interrogate news and its societal implications (Fleming 2014; Hobbs 2010b) News media education is designed to teach individuals how to apply core media skills (i.e., analysing and evaluating content) to news (Ashley et al. 2013; Maksl et al. 2015; Mihailidis 2014; Vraga & Tully 2015 & McIntyre, 2016).
News is information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by the news media. There are several criteria that are typically used to determine whether something is newsworthy, including:
- Timeliness/Proximity: News that is timely, meaning it is recent and relevant to current events, and proximity, meaning it is relevant to the local community or audience, are highly valued.
- Impact: Stories that have a significant impact on a large number of people, or have far-reaching consequences, are often considered newsworthy.
- Prominence: Stories about well-known individuals, organisations or institutions, or events involving these entities, are often considered newsworthy because of their prominence.
- Oddity: Stories that are unusual, strange, or unexpected are often considered newsworthy because they are different from the norm and capture people’s attention.
- Conflict: Stories that involve conflict, such as disputes, disagreements, or controversies, are often considered newsworthy because they are inherently interesting and generate strong emotions.
- Currency/Relevance: Stories that are relevant and important to current events or to the public’s overall interests are considered newsworthy. This includes stories that are timely and relevant to a specific audience or community (Source: “What Makes News? )
Harcup and O’Neill (2001) identified ten elements that journalists look for when assessing the viability of a story where relevance is common and celebrity coincides with prominence:
- The power elite: stories concerning powerful individuals, organizations or institutions.
- Celebrity: stories concerning people who are already famous.
- Entertainment: stories concerning sex, showbusiness, human interest, animals, an unfolding drama, or offering opportunities for humorous treatment, entertaining photographs or witty headlines.
- Surprise: stories with an element of the unexpected and/or contrast.
- Bad news: stories with negative overtones such as conflict or tragedy.
- Good news: stories with positive overtones such as rescues and cures.
- Magnitude: stories perceived as sufficiently significant either in the numbers of people involved or in potential impact.
- Relevance: stories about issues, groups and nations perceived to be relevant to the audience.
Follow-ups: stories about subjects already in the news.
Media agenda: stories that set or fit the news organisation’s own agenda.
Danish TV journalist, Schultz (2007) cites further four constructs which extend the traditional scope of news values that dominate:
- Human Interest: Stories that evoke strong emotions or concern for the well-being of individuals, communities or society are considered newsworthy such as stories about people in difficult circumstances or those who have achieved something remarkable.
- Unusualness: Stories that are unique, strange, or surprising are considered newsworthy including stories about events that are out of the ordinary, or about people who are exceptional in some way.
- Consequence: Stories that have significant consequences for individuals, communities, or society are considered newsworthy including stories about events that have far-reaching impacts, or about decisions or actions that will have long-lasting effects.
- Emotion: Stories that evoke strong emotions, for example sadness, happiness, anger, or fear are considered newsworthy stories about tragic events, acts of heroism, or events that elicit a strong emotional response from the public.
Schultz’s (2007) criteria stresses the importance of human interest, emotional impact, and the consequences of events in determining what is newsworthy. By considering these values, journalists and news organisations can provide a more nuanced and well-rounded view of current events, and engage audiences with stories that are not only relevant and timely, but also emotionally resonant and meaningful. It’s worth noting that these news values overlap or interact with each other in complex ways. (Schultz,2007)
These are just a few examples of the criteria that are commonly used to determine whether something is newsworthy. However, it should be noted that different news organisations may have their own criteria for determining what is considered news.
News values can be limited in its ability to fully explain the motivations behind journalistic news decisions. While examining news outputs may shed light on the treatment of news, the intentions of journalists must also be considered according to Staab (1990). Staab (1990) and Harcup and O’Neill (2001) argue that an exploration of news values can only provide a partial explanation of the decision-making behind journalism.
Donsbach (2004) asserts that news values are inherently subjective and cannot be objective criteria. Staab (1990) proposed a functional model that takes into account the intentions of journalists, while Hall (1973) suggested that news values are part of an ideologically constructed way of perceiving the world that favours powerful elites, a view echoed by Herman and Chomsky (1988) in their propaganda model and McChesney (2000). The ideological role of news selection and treatment may inform future research into potential ideological impacts. Despite limitations, it is still important to understand the criteria behind the selection of news, as it “goes to the heart of what is included, what is excluded, and why” (O’Neill and Harcup, 2009, 162). Westerhahl and Johansson (1994) also note that the selection process can be “more important than what ‘really happens'” in determining what becomes news. News values serve as a precept to aid rightful analysis and understanding of this significant aspect of journalism.
The study of news values by scholars has been approached differently. Some focus on the apparent newsworthiness of events or actors to determine why a story was selected, and others consider the impact of organisational, cultural, and economic factors. Galtung and Ruge (1965) hypothesise selection criteria while studying the reporting of foreign events in the Norwegian press, while Golding and Elliott (1979) and Harcup and O’Neill (2001) use their experience and analysis of news outputs. The key news values has been summarised by Harrison (2006), O’Neill and Harcup (2009), Caple and Bednarek (2013), and Harcup (2015), while ethnographic observations and interviews have been used by Schultz (2007) and Dick (2014) to understand the judgement made by journalists when selecting news.
Schultz (2007) based on her observations of Danish TV journalists identifies six news values: (a) timeliness, (b) relevance, (c) identification, (d) conflict, (e) sensation, and (f) exclusivity – dominate news selection whereas Schultz identifies three types of news values – undisputed, taken-for-granted and rarely articulated (doxic) and explicit news values but O’Neill (2012) suggests that there may be a hierarchy of news values with celebrity at the top.
Arbitrary factors such as luck, convenience, and serendipity can also play a role in news selection, as can journalistic routines, competition for exclusives, influence of proprietors and advertisers, external influence from public relations professionals and “spin doctors”, the belief systems of journalists, and the influence of peers within the workplace. The same newsworthiness model has been found to be applicable in different countries (Shoemaker and Cohen, 2006), with little difference between genders (Lavie and Lehman-Wilzig, 2003).
News values are seen as a reflection of organisational, sociological, and cultural norms combined with economic factors, rather than as a reflection of citizens’ information needs. Allern (2002) suggests that a set of commercial news values exists, with sensationalist stories most likely to be pursued, stories that are costly to pursue less likely to make it into the news, and well-prepared press releases and photo opportunities more likely to be taken up by resource-starved journalists.
Commercial pressures can result in the selection of news stories based on perceived appeal to target audiences rather than their newsworthiness or importance, particularly relevant for online news (Niblock and Machin, 2007; Stromback, Karlsson, and Hopmann, 2012). An analysis of news in the five largest newspapers in the Netherlands established that audience clicks affected news selection (Welbers et al. 2015), a conclusion supported by a study of over 300 editorial gatekeepers in the United States (Tien Vu 2014). (Harcup, Tony & Deirdre O’Neill, 2017). [NEXT -Constructivist Learning Theory and Its Application]