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70 views20 pagesWhat Is News
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Available Formats
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/ 20
vue ook closely atthe news values that guide Ournaise T
ae ek te newsworthiness of ever: Tese owe: #5
+ tmpact importance, Most stores all into is NeN0Vy
‘Timeliness.
«prominence of the people involved.
+ proximity to the audience.
+ Conflict
«eit y-The sudden interest people have in an onde
ing situation.
sonny atuation the journalist fees compeled f°
reveal
Ken Kltabach,
“Argus Leader
impact... Timeliness» Proximity
Some Answers Past and Present
se knw that some subjects draw people the mots “The weather is one oF
Aha Poses want to kno ow 0 dress thei cH or school and themseles
Ca prendre pt the shopping mall Te Ts Radio gives us the foe
for Mery 10 mines and some NEWSDSPETS ste as much asa fll page tote
‘weather report
athe PO etng abou the people wh look a TAS? the radio, read
enet for the news, Women over the
pers and magazines and use te I
ree of 80, for example, ae vi followers OF ‘hows about health. The reslt: 8
see a day and nightie radio and eable Fate bout illness and cues
TY, ay a i p,aostexusvey the sos SSA The mom
| ewspaper has a large spots see sg raoening radio and TV are hear 8
serie before men eave for wosk anim hs or hen they are at bose
| SS ts befor meng about the news habits of those Th So. Half of them OS
cen evtaievngre te Ieret orem ews online. We know they want th i news presented it
phy. Dig tightly written sections. We have known for a long time what interests people and what they should
know about the events that affect them. Realizing that Roman citizens needed to
know about official decisions that affected them, Julius Caesar posted reports of
government activities inthe Acta Diurna. In China, the T'ang dynasty (618-906
A.D.) published a gazette—handwritten or printed by woodblock—to inform
court officials ofits activities, The more immediate predecessor of the newspaper
\was the handwritten newsletter, containing political and economic information,
that circulated among merchants in early L6th-century Europe,
Wars, Dragons and Business
‘The first printed newsbook, published in 1513 and titled The trewe en-
counier, desribed the Battle of Flodden Field ia which James IV of Scotland
was killed during his invasion of England, The Anglo-Seottsh wars that fle
lowed provided printers with material for mote newsbooks. The elements of
cur modern-day journalism were ineluded in these accouats names of officers
inthe wars and their deeds. Adventure, travel and ceime were featured, along
with accounts of disasters
‘As one prinier-pamphieteer pati, people are interested in “and most earnestly
moved with strange novelties and marvelous things." These early day journalists
favored stories of monsters and dragons, not unlike our own day's tales of the
‘Abominable Snowman andthe Loch Ness monster
Dring the 17th century, news sheets spread tothe business centers of Europe,
reporting news of commerce. In this country, as historian Bernard Weisberger
has pointed out, the newspaper “served asa handmaiden of eommerce by empha-
sizing news of trade and business.”
Day and Bennett
The newspaper editors of the 19th century understood that to stay in business
they had to appeal to a large audience, and this realization led to definitions of
news that hold to this day. The papers inthe lage eties were printing news for
the newly literate working class, One ofthe frst penny papers—inexpensive
‘enough for working people—contained the ingredients of popular journalism, In
1853, the firs issue of Benjamin H. Day's New York Sun included a summary of
police court easee and stories about fires, burglaries and a suicide, Other stories
Contained humor and human interest.
Several years later, James Gordon Bennett—described by historians as the
Drginstor of the ar, science and industry of news gathering—used the recently
Azveloped telegraph to give the readers of his Herald commercial and political
hes to go along with his reports of the everyday life of New York City, its sins
‘nd svandals. His formula of news for “the merchant and man of learning, as
well asthe mechanic and man of labor” guides many editors today.
Pulitzer
Day and Bennett followed the tastes and appetite oftheir readers, but they also
vested and taught their readers by publishing stories they deemed important.
Chapter 3 Wha leew? 55
Definition
“Journalism isin fact,
history on the run. isi
tory writen in time tobe
‘acted upon; thereby not
‘only recording events but
_at Yes influencing them,
Journalism is alo the r=
cording of history while
the facts ae natal in.”
thomas Guifith, 6 Part Three Wit the Ses
Joseph Pulitzer
Pioneer
in response te critics
of the Journal’ fabrica-
tions, Heart fan a front:
page editorial about
Socalled news from Cubs:
“he Joumalreaized what
is frequently forgotten if
journalism, that if news
‘wanted, foften has to Be
ent for, the public
is even more fond of ef-
tertinment than iti of
information.”
“tie blend of entertainment, information and Pobie ST sas stressed Dy
Je Politzer, who owned newspapess in St Lot ‘and New York. He, t00, gave
pus readers what he thought they reryed— sensational news and features. But
Mis er also used is news staf for his campaigns 1 ‘curb business monopolies
rare ac heavy ines on incre andiertanee, Ik 1883, Pulitzer charged the
aot his New York World with this command
“aways ight for progress andrafor. never wens or corruption,
an eel dag of al pres. eve blo 9, vas oppose
‘erage clases and public plunder Deve pathy ih the pot a
mea ved be pubic wei Beer wih merely pining
sa Te sell independent, neve be afd @ ask TN whether
Te predntoy platoraey 0 predatory NEY
Hearst
utace and Wiliam Randolph Heart were Locked circulation war for
cnr when Cuba rebelled agaist Span rulers. Spain was se
Ne er essing the insrretion andthe New York newspapers seized 08 the
ee etpess Cubans trying fee themselves ruthless oppressor.
Formal was pail imaginative ARE Pe ‘United States declared
naar gop andthe troops wee slow in making it 40 CH Hearst wrged them on
‘With inventive news stories
pont week,” weites Arthur Labow in The p01 Who Would Be
ing, “he Journal reported an exciting e507 ‘of landings, bombardments and
ing call airaly detailed all ntrely Bouton “The Jounal was Sli
ecko ts apocryphal scoops that ts Tes Tear to play the same
“pons flen rein te secounts of he create Journal writers”
‘Today's Editors
ern mass media editors oveseing newsrooms NAPA swith the atest
on ten apy many 1-entry onees oP TE ‘woul de-
electron pe mena id Puliczet—8 tars Of ONT entertainment
ain public service. They would also aBree ‘wih the definition of news offered DY
sn a an he Ne nk Sn or 1869 TATE So said news
Coa aetna large ps fe communi and Ns ever beet
tought to is attention before”
ch eis, Jos B. Bogart, comsbuted he efrition
cepa ites ana, hats not Es, nus it MAPPERE hen. But if
shan bites a dog, is nes.”
me 2 enon of no wa ones Sy AOE Texan
ont aa to suceed as ety editor of The NOW 0 eral Tribune int
Foe dns was ase on etre W's “Women TT and won
122 sb eat cw wa CONDE A an cine
doing apt dsr know abot Atay Wake ormmla is a old athe
tops Pe? Caesars Ata iar 2,00 Ye 9, SD. ong with informatio
eo au fre nes Fas ean sews ‘ves is News?
‘A Riverside Road woman reported to police Septem- The dog later got up, and
ber25 at 10:37 a1, thata dog was ying onthe ground police sid
ear Underhill Road
“The woman didn't know if the dog was dead, and
she wis afraid to aporoach it
Definition Changes By the mid-1970s, the United States had been through
ihree crises: a war in Vietnam that wound dawn with guilt and defeat for many
Americans; the Watergate scandals; andthe failure of some politial, social and
‘ceonomic experiments of the 1950s and 1960s that had been hailed as solutions
{o international conflict, racial tension and poverty.
I was not surprising then, to see a shift in the criteria used to determine the
news. Av Westin, the executive producer ofthe American Broadeasting Com-
‘anys “Evening News” program, said Americans wanted their news to answer
‘he following questions: Is the world safe? Are my home and family safe? If they
are safe, then what has happened inthe last 24 hours to make them better off? Is
‘ny pocketbook safe?
People not only wanted more pocketbook stories but escape stories as well.
Reflecting the interests of their readers, editors asked for more entertainment in
‘he form of copy about lifestyles, leisure subjects and personalities.
‘Inthe 1990s, editors devised the “reader-fiendly” story. Readers, they argued,
‘sant to lear how to diet, how to raise their children, where to invest their money,
‘The news agenda was being shaped to conform to te interests of middle-class
teaders and viewers who bought the products of media advertisers. Also, editors
‘iecame aware that a major segment ofthe female population consists of working
‘women, Coverage followed this awareness
News im the New Ceutury The 21st century opened with proof of Walker's
‘vampum and Westin’s pocketbook theories of news, Stories abounded of the
4igh-lying economy and its new dot-com millionaires, In short order, the news
‘acus shifted to an economy in retreat, dot-coms collapsing, jobs lost, corporate
‘rime, pensions disappearing, Pessimism replaced optimism, Wars in Afghanistan
‘nd rag sent amputees and body bags home.
Subjects once given major play no longer held the public's attention, and those
‘sully ignored made it tothe top of the news. A study by the Projet for Excel-
‘ence in Journalism found significant declines in crime news and considerable in-
‘eases in domestic news, Religious issues became big newss—the disclosure that
'nmany dioceses ofthe Catholic Church pedophiles were protected and the con-
Ioversy over gay marriage.
CChapter3 What sNews? 57
‘moved toa shader spat,
Hinton (Con) Bee
‘Three Views
"Anens sense isteally
a sense ef what impor
‘an, har isa what has
calor and ife—what peo-
ple are inerested in, Tats
jouraalsn.
burton tatcoe,
‘hieage Mibu, 15205
“Marieting should be
‘the king eal exits. They
should forget what urive-
Siy profess stuffed into
thet heads find ut what
readers relly want and
‘ive tt them.”
stuart Garner, Thomson
Newspapers 19805,
News is truth that
matters.”
=Gonry Goldin,
The Provienee Journal
19308 sso pore Thvee Wein e Ser
Alert
"sNever, never neslect
an extraordinary appeet"
ance or hapoering, tt may
pea fale dar and ead ©
othing, tit may. onthe
‘ther hand, beth de o>
‘ide by at to Yad OU 72
Some important advance
alexander Fening.
Gacovererof penn.
pu whatever the particular events that merited news average,
guidelines ae constant
two general
ews i nfrmation about wreak fem Ne rors flow of events, af
tion in th expected, a deviation om he nom
iter
«News is information people can use 10 Rep heTD make sound decisions about
their lives.
How does aepoter oreo determine What VP so unusual and what
‘nfeon nso necessary that public souls Be ‘aformed of ther? Journalists
inom osod some guides call news values [or ‘apswering these questions
News Values
‘The following
ities and ideas
sigh factors detenine the newswortines of = personal-
4, Timeliness
eve that ar mediate, recent. The cally news
nen eervies and te hourly newstast seek 6 ES? readers and listeners abreast
nev Ths, broadcast news is rie inthe ‘and most leads 08
ecpaper stories cota the word today. NOT how significant the event
nesreP rin the people involved NEWS val ‘diminishes with time, Andre
‘Gade, the French novelist, defined journalism 8 everything that will be 185 8
teresting tomorrow than tod
eating jn are commercial eaterprses hat #2 SPs and time on the basis of
nyt reach people ack wih a perishahhs ‘commodity. The market=
pace revards a fast now caret, AltbOugY Mrewspapers place less emphasis ob
ea than do the electronic medi, 2 Nea hat offers its readers 100 much
speed ms wil nor survive. Radi Which wos Wo prepared for is funeral
rehash ison captured a large segment of he TSlenN8 audience, staged 9
Comeback with the allenews station
ee Journals provides Teret safes 8 running report on eXe=
tig ons hourly tok matket priest tafe 4% and the scores of eames
Me ogaizing the importa of inelines, He ‘associated Press and onliNe
and eaouost news providers pump out steady SP fofmews, As we Saw i
aaa the AP me the pubic’ ned for Is ET information wih an O08
Show of material on the World Trade COE ‘bombings. Sometimes
ing to isinformation. For aise at He row the media encountered
reg the 2000 presidental election, see Calling ‘Bush or Gore in
cable TY, the online
NRW Pls
“there is another side to our need 1 MGT
‘uk Tinliness is importa ina eres People need to know about
ae ofthe fia as son a ossibles0 80
activi Senders ar pving Toi were heya PERE ed, citizens eam
‘Timely Information Essential bofore actions become irreversible. In extreme cases, the public can rid itself of
‘an inefficient or corrupt official. Officials also want quick distribution of infor-
‘mation so that they can have feedback from the public, This interaction is one of
the reasons the Constitution protects the press. Without the give-and-take of
‘ideas, democracy could not work.
‘Timeliness is also the consequence of advertising necessities. Because most
businesses are based on the quick turnover of goods, advertisements must appear
soan after goods are shipped to stores, The news that attracts readers tothe ad
vyertisements must be constantly renewed,
2. Impact
Events that are likey 0 affect many people, Journalists tlk about events that
ae significant, important. Tey talk about giving high priority in their coverage to
situations that people need to know about to be well informed. The more people
‘hat are affected by the event, the bigger the story. An increase inthe postal rates
“willbe given major attention because so many are affected An increase ina town's
propery tx will receive considerable playin that town and nowhere else, but a
change inthe federal income tax rate will receive national attention
Journalists may take the initiative in digging up situations that have consider-
ble impact David Willman, a reporter in the Washington bureau ofthe Los Ange-
Jes Times, suspected thatthe federal Food and Drug Administration ad lost ts
effectiveness asthe guardian of public health. He speat two years examining the
FFDA’s work and discovered it had approved seven prescription drugs that were be-
lieved to have caused the deaths of more than 1,000 people, Despite warnings from
its ovn specialists about the drugs—among them a painkiller, a diet pill and a
‘heartburn medicine—approval had been granted,
ln Chapter 1, we saw how reporters for KHOU-Houston found repeated gross i-
‘competence inthe police department’ lab test. The impact ofthe stations reporting
‘yas considerable—enses were retried, prisoners freed, the lab sytem replace
3. Prominence
vents involving well-known people or institutions, When the president trips
sisembarking from an airplane, itis front-page news; when a city councilmember
‘issicps, itis uot wou line oF print or a moment of ar thme, A local banker’
‘emipezzlement is more newsworthy than a clerks thievery, even when the clerk
hnsstolen more. The more prominent the person the bigger the story, Names make
news, goes the old adage, even when the event is of litle consequence,
‘Two events that probably received the most massive media coverage of the
1990s were the result of prominenco—the pursuit, arrest and trials of O.J. Simp-
Son and the sexual affair of President Clinton with a young White House intern
‘Never mind thatthe economies of several large countries were crumbling, that
‘he Middle East and Northern Ireland saw carnage amidst peace efforts, that n=
lear proliferation arose and that ethnic warfare killed hundreds of thousands and
‘made refugees of many more, Names made news, big and bigger news,
Chapter3. WhrlsNeus? 59
‘wan Cates,
Ventre County Star
Flooded Out
Sudden changes in
weather affect large num-
bets of people and are given
‘major ply by journalists. 0 PartTivee Wher de Sins
‘Prominence applies o organizations as wel and even to some physical obi
‘Tncrepairofs major bridge in Akron is give coverage that ity snp
eae een te Golden Gate Bridge sis down tha aston merits masons
coverage
yeigs4, the American poet and journalist Fugene Field was
{journalism of personalities to write
[Now the Abound of Swat fs vague sort of m0
‘Who ives ina country far over the se
Dray tell me, good reader, tel me yu ean,
‘Whats the Atksond of Swat to you folks ors?
Despite Fields gente poke, journalists continue to eater to what they preeve
‘as the public’ apporite for newsworthy names
4, Proximity
Event shat ave geographically or enorionaly clase o people interest thm Bn
chapter 1 we read about the tornado ths spel par the smal town of PONE
Si the legs Leader, the state's major newspaper, sent porters and PROBE
hers 0 mies west to cover the story and used 1-inch Pe on Page ot
aoe Lubbock, Texas, the newspapet didnot cover the story, but a radio Sa-
Join Minneapolis, 300 miles away, gave it 60 seconds airtime:
"a2 people dein an aiplane cash inthe Andes and one ofthe passengeT
arate oF Lie Rock, the news story i Lisle Roek wil emhnsize ee Head
3 resident person This is known as localizing the news. When two tou buses
aaiged in Wales, injuring 7S people, USA Today began is account thls W3
‘Teen-agers fiom Lancaster, Pa, Hous:
fon and St. Louis were among 75 people
Ina wen wo cour buses return rom
‘rela ellded in Wales
moved by the
‘Emotional Closeness People are intrested in evens ant inividsls tha! 5
canoe them, The tie may be religious, ethnic, racial. Newspapers and SOHO
si lenge Catholie or Jewish populations give considerable space and Hrs ©
arto the Vatican or the Middle East ARer the space shutle Cha eng!
Dloded and sen seven crew mernbers totic deaths, the dorian News.
mest at Now York witha predominantly blak readers, heahnes on page |
The death of the black astronaut who was aborrd
5. Conflict
“sf, antagonism, warfare have provided the bass of stories since ear) Fee,
pla depres on ter cave walls oftheir confrontation wth he Pease hat
eared thom, Beople and thei tribes and thir countries have eon 28
ero Mth heanslves, since history has been kept nd the 4
That resulted hve been the basis of saga, drama, story and news
“(journalists today, conflict has a nore avanced meating. “The 90% fte=
tive doe ve road” sys Peter St-Onge, a stat writer for The Charlo ob
Live ors aed ondary people confonting the challenges of daily ie"
5
i
|
{ Although crities of the press condemn what they consider to be an overem
phasis on conflict, the advance ofeivilization can be seen as an adventure in con-
flict and turmoil. Indeed, one way to define, and to defend, journalism is that it
provides a forum for discussion of the conflicts that divide people and groups,
snd that this peaceful debate makes confit resolution possible.
6. The Unusual
Events that deviate sharply from the expected, that depart considerably from
the experiences of everyday life make news. We know that. But bere we are talk=
ing about the truly different, the bizarre, strange and wondrous.
‘When a dog bites a man, it isn't news, But when a police dog, a tried and true
‘member ofthe K-9 Corps, sinks his teeth into the arm of his police handler, that's
unusual, and it's news. We've all seen big watermelons in the supermarket, but
‘ho 165-pound monster makes page 1 ofthe B section of The Freeport News when,
‘he farmer offers it to the First Baptist Church for its annual picnic.
Domestic Violence Domestic pats are not news, unless they are so violent mur-
4er is committed, But when Lorena Bobbit tired of her husband's mental and
pliysical attacks and cut ofPhis penis. . . . Yes, that was news for several weeks
The wide coverage of the Bobbitt family surgery led Peter Kann, publisher of
‘The WallStreet Journal, to condemn “media fascination with the bizarre, the pet=
‘verse and pathological-~Lorena Bobbitt journalise.”
But it was over ina few weeks, and today few people can identify Lorena Bob-
bit or recall the reason for her 15 seconds of media attention, The bizarre has the
lifespan of firefty’s momentary fash
‘To some, though, the attention was important and worthwhile, forthe incident
‘nade people think about domestic violence and its victims, and in its wake some
sovernors pardoned women imprisoned for killing husbands who had for years
‘ormented and beaten them, Cause and effect? Possibly.
Symbol The young man who stood alone before a column of tanks on their
‘say to bloody Tiananmen Square struck everyone who saw the photograph and
read the accompanying story as so amazing, so wondrous tha the act quickly be-
same a symbol. (See next page.) To some, the act showed defiance of tyranny. To
athens, it was, asthe waiter and critic Ian Duruma wiote,« sysabol “of te Fulity
of empty-handed opposition to brute foree”
7. Currency
Occasionally, a situation long simmering will suddenly emerge as the subject
2f discussion and attention. Historians might describe the situation as an idea
hose time has come, When it does, the media catch up.
In the early 1960s, President Kennedy called attention tothe plight af the poor,
Thon President Johnson declared a “war on poverty.” Newspapers responded by
‘overing health and welfare agencies and by going into poor areas oftheir cites
in search of news. Television produced documentaries on the blighted lives of
‘he poor. More than 40 years late, poverty, although as pervasive, receives less
attention
Chapter 3 Wher leNows? 61
ike Roemer
Political Conflict
“The opsonents of bor.
tion do bate with placards,
parades and polities This
Fengeranning conflict
erupted invilence, G62 art Three Write Sry
ALone Man's Plea
[As the tanks headed,
down Cangan Boulevard in
fhe governments show of
Strength in Boling, @ youns
Ian darted in front ofthe,
alum. The tanks stopped.
‘The man looked up 2nd
Tailed out othe solders to
Stop the kiling. The tanks
Hato weave around him,
‘aaing him aside He cred
‘Sut again, pleading for ne
move violence Bystanders
{inaly pulled him away.
{ooriag he would be crushed
Under the treads
ee
“The plight of women and members of minority groups in ache CET
Fe Nae lente was ong ignored. Vitis of the gas ling and 10S
ton fo activ suits Chey faly broke throught the mei and beeae
the subject of coverage
ie fy jouralss have not been i the vanguard ofthese secoet
Sonttayes though journalists will desie that a station needs #087 and
Somatic, erty. We sw afew pags ack how «Las Angele Pina
aver, David Willman, revealed thaa federal gency approved the sale of
erstiton és that wor kiling people He stayed wih he story Fortwo years
Pefore the agency pulled the drugs from the market.
fore the ae liman also falls in an eighth category, a category hat tem
from the porters feelings that he or she must act.
8. Necessity
~The seven previous categories of newsworthiness involve PeOpiG 161 and
situntons that eal ut for coverage—mestngs speeches, 26 deaths,
sires andthe Like. This fal category is ofthe ourala's Ns "That is the
seipalit has discovered something he or she Jel it noses) disclose
ton or event the person o dea mayor may Hot come UNE ofthe
Trosious seven categories of newsworthiness. The essential ‘element is that he |josralist considers the situation tobe something everyone should knew about,
ed usually its situation that noeds to be exposed and remedied
“This i journalism of conscience. The journalists who report and write these
stories are onthe staffs of small and Inge publications, network and local sta~
tions, specialized publications and magazines.
Here are some examples of their work:
Pensacola News JournalExposure of cultare of corruption that fed othe
indicament of fur ofthe ive county commissions
Fe tlanty Business Chroncle—Sarah Rubenstin and Walter Woods found
querionale connections between sat oficial and landowners whose property
aaeried for igh-of ay acquisitions foe a $22 bili highway projet. Aer
publication, the project was ton hod
“Natoma! Pubic Radio" Wet ho only industrialized nation tat cant see 10
ina everyone though we spend one-third more pe capita. on heath han the next
iiausrt spender” eported Susan Dent, heh corespodent or “The NewsHiowr
im Lahr” Denes interviewed several ofthe uninsured among the 40 milion
Vi said are roveving“scconrate, tia and even 20 cae”
“ihe Boston Globe Despite a veil of secrecy, the newspaper uncovered
sexe ase by Roman Catholic priests n many parishes. Press were transferred
ser han dismissed. The Globe daclosures led other media around the country
to investigate
WIAD, Chicego—TheTV sation revealed tat US, Customs ofers at
Covi Inernational Aiport were using racial and gener profiling o target lace
cen for invasive stp searches. The story led class-action sit and an inves-
aaron bythe Customs Service of procedures at ol intrational iors
“Donan Prese-Hferald-Baxbara Walsh examined Maines care for mentally il
chien and found the system was chao, After hundreds of interviews, and an
CAteunatn of thousands of documents, Walsh wrote that chien ad owt
‘hone and years for hep, tat some children were paced in juvenile lockup for
arent an adequate plement program. The governor and legislators vowed reform.
WIVE-TV_Despite a uget crisis and the ages tax increase in the state’
histor, Tennessee was awarding contract to firs without competitive bidding
tnd hg companies had close est the governor. Bryan Staples and Pil Wiliams
aie Nash station also lard thet companies had overcharges the tate. The
fivemnor retaliated, impeding the reporters from checking records and paling
$0,000 sn hia safety advertising fom the station. Despite attacks onthe
pri” coin, the FRI and IRS desided investigate
The Overlooked For many of these storie, reporters dug into situations that
‘one eporter described as afecting “the least of them: the men, women and chil~
tien that journalism usually overlooks. Noreen Turyn, an anchor at WSET in
Lynchburg, Va., heard about an old state law still on the books that allowed the
forced stertization of men and women. The law had been adopted during the hey-
ay of eugenics, a social movernent that used pseudo-science to bring about what
it calle the “improvement ofthe ace” Under the law, youngsters who had minor
offenses and those whose parents said they could not control them were shipped
off to Lynchburg Colony where they were forced ino sterilization “without any
Chapters har tsNewss 68
Labor of Love
Investigative reporting
fant glamorous, says Pit
Jwillam, "There are long
hours of ecu —heter
ies lssecting computer
fates, uanbing hooeh
records and hing inthe
back ofa van for hous on
survllce without bath
oom break. If that sounds
Tike 3 great job to you,
then itcan be." | 64 pore Three Whig he Sry
OO —CisS
understanding of what was happening to them.” T
| rat fents, among thera a World War It Bronze
repeal the lw afer Turyn'sseries was aired
eathorinr Roo of The Washington Post describ
trough she shadowhands ofthe disadvantaged ad sr
through Soo disclosed the horrible conditions in which
Tan fd died, She documented beatings, robberies, rapes 2
earded for slave labor in so-called training Pros
Abortions for All When Hei Evans ofthe Dail)
por every woman who went toa cask-only abortion
vias pregnant, Evans raced over to the clinic the ne
my arm to have the procedure right then
The folowing day, I sent another reporter wi
colleagues. The urine also tested positive” Aer
‘Shick she showed how poor, mostly inmigrant we
. the ein.
‘environmental degradation —hog lagoons.
‘Raising hogs is big business, and the bi
"Wate fromthe Rogs— sh
Chis Seward ‘do humans is piling up in open fields
Tho News & Observe!
“The series on the hog farms contamination won Pitas Priz.
Hazard
wen Hurricane Floyd nit QUes
wrath ek of serves forthe
Sracsmaiy pana bewe cen
Sieteetsate Dune Coss 7h Ct
Teese, youn Tere ran Me el
hhealth hazard and had ‘revealed that 34 people with ‘mental disabilitic
be incinerated,
cd. Taryn interviewed
‘Medal winner. The sta
1s this reporting as traveling
franchised" In tW0 SED=
ity’ retarded
News was told by a caller
Tinie was informed that she
¢ day with a urine sample of
fold me I was pregnant and tugged at
Evans said,
ha sample from one of
‘wo more weeks of reporting, it
yomin were herded by the elnie
wii he uc room where a fly-by-niht doctor operate, the Sake
Hog ene In Raleigh, The News & Observer examined an unlikely souree of
jer the hog farm the better the busi-
ena ete slaughterhouse canbe next doo, eliminating expense of
Traling the hogs tothe meat caters. But the bi ho
waa —o the folowing, the newspaper reves:
Contaminate Ground Water
“Through the emission of ammonia g28
into the atmosphere that is returned with
‘hin, streams ae Being choked with lene
ch produce as
much as four tines as much waste per hos
able Deaths 10 Noth Carolina, disability advocates ha complained
onentumierscesnds aout the state: mental healt $Ye% "The governor didn’t listen. Parents come
iidren. Legislators weren't inlet
‘Observer listened a
tha five-part series
jes_-maniy of them youns—4
seyjor questionable cirumstances while nthe care of The
unde ue ded fom side, murder, Sain, ils” Cenzipes = “They suffocated, starved, choked, drowned.” Most ofthe deaths were never investi-
gated because the state had not been tld of them.
‘The stories led to increased mental health funding, money for hiring 27
spectors for mental health facilites and two laws to correct the dangerous flaws
Cenziper had described.
‘See Broken Trust in NRW Plus
Does It Work? _Inall these stores the common element is that something was
‘ot functioning properly, that something was wrong with he system. David Burn-
ham, a former New York Times reporter, says the increased bureavcratization of
public life calls for a new approach to news. The media need to spend more time
asking: How are the bureaucracies that affect our lives working? Are they deviat-
ing from our expectation tht they are thereto serve us?
1s the police department engaged in crime prevention; isthe power company
delivering sufficient energy ata reasonable price; are the high schools graduating
college-enty seniors?
Dying Lakes The Times Union in Albany, N.Y. felt it necessary to track the
progress if any, being made to cope with the effects of acid rain in the nearby
Adirondacks Park the largest wilderness area east of the Rockies. What it found
{id not make for optimism.
Reporter Dina Cappiello found that 500 of the 6-million-acre park's 2,800
lakes are dead. Unless something is done, she wrote, within 40 years a thousand
‘or lakes wil be los to acd rain, lakes empty of plant and animal lite
See Dying Lakes in NRW Plus
News Is Relative
‘These eight news values do not exist in a vacuum. Their application depends
‘on those who are deciding what is news, where the event and the news medium
are located, the tradition ofthe newspaper or station, its audience and a host of
other factors
Economic Pressures
‘The media area business, a profi-sceking enterprise. Most stations and news
papers are no different from General Motors, Microsoft and Home Depot. Theit
‘operations are designed to maximize profit,
Advertising is the engine that drives the media, This can be seen quickly
{enough when the newspaper has 48 pages because the department stores are ad-
vertising white sales. The result is large news hole, wit plenty of space for sto-
ries, On days whien the advertising is slim, the newspaper may run to 32 pages
‘and stories are cut tothe bone, or not run at al
‘More broadly, when times are good and advertises clamor for space and time,
staffs are large, coverage deep. When there is a hitch in the economy, foreign
‘bureaus are closed, staffs are cut. Some events simply are not covered.
Chapter Watts Naw? 65
°
All-Out Coverage
When terersts stuck
New York City and Wash
ington, newspapers tured
away from the bottom line
and ordered rabust cour
age. Arthur 0, Susberger
Jr, publsher of The New
Yok Times, said that a-
though cancellations ofa
vertsing during September,
‘when the hacked planes
Stuck, would cost the Times
“lions of dolls,” cover-
age would be al out. "hs
made a deadtul franca
year more dreadful, But
‘ho cares?” Tony de,
chaiman of Kright- Ridder,
who had been Blamed for
asking his papers to return
igh profits by cating tat,
told his edters: “Pease
leave no stone unturned in
pursuing this story Do the
right thing by readers” 66 Part Three Whiting Story
‘More Than Money
“a newspaper isa bus
sess that mist produce 2
facent profit or eventually
fail But a newspaper 5
ore than usta business—
itis a public trust wh re-
ponsibtis tots eaders
do ts community that
tend well beyond produc
ing pots.”
ames Gannon,
Termer esto,
(the Det Malnes Resistor
Mike Roomer
Changing Times . . . Changing Beats
“zcennry ago, 50 percent ofthe workforce in the United
9a ving from agrclture, Frm news was BD
Stats a yt perantso employed arm news
Toy icltra areas only whan the cost of fond
portant ont beginning ofthe 200 century, Fewer a
gossup. Ag etndod college and jouratists pad le
115.000 stu Today, more tan 50 times 2 many are
seg and higher education is 2 major beat
ncreasingly, meta outlets are ovmed by Tage compaies whose Se traded
oc ket Theres The pressure to maximize stockhel As S00 has
oa ore interes Lary Jinks, for more than 40 yeas 20 eXC6
ec pe Rider "That affecs how news gue and sen
A a sicet nalyst pu the mater unl "Some reports do ‘understand
hseney work fora company that sels avertsing, Tey e in he ats us
that he ouralim usiess. They dont gett, Without > HS line
Ta Jone have jobs, Tey ina business andthe busines 2 ‘ads and make
soe popl that own the company ae te shacholers nt I= PH
hut the report of
ly a month goes by with
ertising be
Advertisers Musele the Media Har
‘deciding to hold back on ad
some advertiser or commercial BrOUP
feanse of news coverage
york sores of ates inthe Day News ported set than
1a iN oe supermarkets al inspections Beeause of vermin, HY) and voting
etn of the masks was swift Al batone pulled her ising
see vs batting defining revenue and serious circulation Iossy apologiz Chapter 3. Wher ie News! 67
Conflicting Goals: Sales vs. Truth
Advertising fs the principal source of revenues that
Supports our media system. That dependence ceates an
incongruity between the public's preferences andthe ci
teria employed bythe people in charge. Ae consumers
cf communication, we judge it by is value and mesring
for us; advertisers judge it by ts eficency in dseminat
ing what they call "exposure epportunties."
Media content has been driven pimariy by the need
te maximize audiences for sale rather than bythe dese
to communicate the tuth about cur world or exoress
and fm have vied with each other in pursult of violence
and vulgarity The largest of our mass media, the dally
ess, traditional the forum for contention and irever-
lence, has undergone a steady attrition of competition
and a genera retreat tothe safety a the middle groune,
Left to ts own devices, the public persistent ents to
‘ard amusement rather than enilghtenment, avoiding
confrontation wit the pressing, perhaps overwhelming,
problems that confront the nation and the world
deep thoughts and feelings. Yo ths end roadcstng so top
ina forage advertorial designed bythe business department of he neWSPSP6, gg
ead and Rip
Te maeral, The New York Times reported, was “effsivelyeomplimentar,
. se hiraisey When ownersof a wade
Asked ifthe section righted matters, the manager of one of the market chains
replied, “I'l go back if they fre the reporter and the editor.” That, said the News's
‘executive editor, was not going to happen,
At The Washington Post, Leonard Downie had been looking into an arrange
‘ment between corrupt real estate speculators and local savings and loan institutions
to gouge inner-city residents. The bankers got wind of Downie’ checking and told
show did't like an atide
in Home Accents Today
about the company’s debt
restructuring and made its
dlspleasure known to the
publication, staffmembers
‘he managing ctor that ithe Post ran the series, they would pull hee advertising. fempndedly easy Poor
Downie, who later became the Fos"'s executive editor, recalls Benjamin C. teleout of copes tat hod
Bradlee, his editor, eling him about the visit andthe threat. Bradlee looked at rot yet been detted
Downie and suid simply, “Just get it right.”
‘The reporting continued, the series ran and the banks pulled their advertising,
costing the newspaper $750,000 in lost advertising revenue
The Influence of Owners
In addition to putting their imprint on their produets by deciding how much
‘money fo take out of the enterprise, owners can exert a powerful tonal influence.
Some are cautious, unwilling to dig into news that might stir controversy. Theit
‘Papers and stations cover the surface ofthe news, what we describe in Chapter 11
8 Layer | news, the stenographie report of what people say and do. Some go fur-
‘ther, imposing a particular political point of view and slant on the news. And
Some combine avarice and politcal slant.
‘Cave In When the Chinese government was upset by the British Broadcasting
Corporation’ news coverage of human rights abuses in China, it made its displea-
‘sue known to Rupert Murdoch, the owner of a massive global media conglomerate part Three Wing ie Sins
Cause and Effect ‘with Competing Daily Newspapers
pew Brad Pl ave was
Mfoatnsome,” “absolve
indefensible” “ceporable
fon every level” The rove
seven the srr Nees
ar, The Holywood Fe
porte, sid the movie. "5
fet the Kind of product
that avrakers oul t=
(get for beng social ie
sponsible The
prorisction company, 2089
Century Fo, stoned a
reve akerisigin an ob
‘us atte The New
Sines repo," darane
she tadepape finance”
= |
‘Murdoch's Empire
Nadoch esse
kings, whic nes a
oe remade
Se wor
erase
ee ying competion ,
reece nem tn er we ee ia tnnrel
a oe eum of itt ee ea eas
Cpchecaa Skimmer om ee ae en
‘eine Bem eareone me ae
amerereerintel
se eons
Sa ego inctdes ag talnsa
‘ane demonstrated the dar ‘had been airing the BBC newscast
oem te ‘being Murdoch acted quickly, He elt
= jn few hands it ‘considered the provider of the finest bro
China, Murdoch's Hong Kong broadeast oprat08
ri tinted Chinese Communist Par) Ie
aoe Seopudize bis business in Chia
seamen made te news with a move mosined by posiness inte
ree eon ehina HarperCollins, a book publisher owned PY ‘Murdoch, pla
feuow
