The following list is adapted from their work:
Immediacy: has it happened recently?
Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain?
Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
Frequency: does the event happen fairly regularly?
Unambiguity: is it clear and definite?
Predictability: did we expect it to happen?
Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event?
Continuity: has this story already been defined as news?
Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?
Negativity: is it bad news?
Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death.
1. Come up with a news story from the last 12 months for each of the categories suggested by Harriss, Leiter and Johnson:
Conflict http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37869457 (Syria conflict: Ceasefire for Aleppo rebels ends)
Progress http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37872111 (Paris climate deal enters force as focus shifts to action)
Disaster http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/11/08/regulators-close-more-disposal-wells-after-oklahoma-quake.html (Regulators: Close more disposal wells after Oklahoma quake)
Consequence http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-37920175 (US election 2016 result: Trump beats Clinton to take White House)
Prominence http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/celebrity-news/brangelina-split-no-end-in-sight-as-brad-pitt-files-custody-response-20161108-gskzog.html (Brangelina split: No end in sight as Brad Pitt files custody response)
Novelty http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37910584 (Austrian man wins right to take family name Zebra)
3) What example news story does the Factsheet use to illustrate Galtung and Ruge's News Values? Why is it an appropriate example of a news story likely to gain prominent coverage?
The news story that was used in the factsheet was and appropriate example for the following reasons:
Proximity: Despite it being in Afghanistan - It was a British soldier that makes it closer to home.
Intensity: The first female soldier to be killed is more unusual which means it is more newsworthy.
Continuity: The war in Afghanistan is a continuous event however the 'deaths, even though inevitable, are not Predictable.
4) What is gatekeeping?
Gatekeeping is where someone controls and filters information and/or stories.
5) What are the six ways bias can be created in news?
Bias through selection and omission:
Bias can be created through the refusal to cover a story or ignoring details within a story
Bias through placement:
The placement of a story within the news agenda may influence the audiences belief on the importance.
Bias by Headline:
Headlines can be misleading in order to be appealing to an audience (Clickbait)
Bias by photos, captions and camera angles:
Pictures can being read in many ways depending on how it has been shot, the reading may not necessarily be true. Which changes the public's perception of the event.
Bias through use if names and titles:
Names and titles that are used to describe people - they can have different connotations and denotations. i.e one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
Bias by choice of words:
The use of positive and negative words and those with ambiguous connotations can influence the tone of the story.
6) How have online sources such as Twitter, bloggers or Wikileaks changed the way news is selected and published?
Some critics suggest that e-media is challenging the way media institutions 'gatekeep' the news. A high-profile doesn't necessarily guarantee reliability. Online, there is said to be a lack of professionalism. Sites such as Wikileaks suggest that their own agenda is to 'bring about "transparency" and "freedom of speech".
Regardless of the beliefs in the facts behind a story or any suggested reliability, it is ultimately to the journalist to pick and choose what stories make the top news stories of the day.
7) Give an example of a news story from the last 12 months that was reported as a result of online technology - Twitter, Wikileaks or similar.
The UCLA shooting on the 1st June 2016 - broke on periscope - where students and locals live streamed the events as and when they were taking place.
8) Complete the task on the last page of the Factsheet regarding Sky News and Twitter:
What does this reveal about how Sky views Twitter as a news source?
What does it say about how news is being produced?
What role does the audience have in this process?
Why might this be a problem for journalistic standards?
The statement shows that sky thinks that twitter is a source in which they can find their breaking news stories and also find UGC that they can use alongside their reports.
This means that news is initially being produced by social media - then being expanding by news institutions.
The audience are now the ones doing the initial investigation and providing the evidence for the journalists to review.
This might be a problem for journalistic standards as USG - given the fact that it is typically recorded on phones - isn't professional quality. Furthermore they cannot control what people are going to record or say.
Final tasks
9) In your opinion, how has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?
I personally think that new and digital media have changed Galtung and Ruge's news values in terms of how stories fit in them - NDM in a sense has given news more dimensions rather than the single one that is show by the news.
10) How would you update them for 2016? Choose SIX of Galtung and Ruge's news values and say how each one has been affected by the growth of new and digital technology.
Immediacy - This is more important and more easily achievable - however the immediacy isn't always achieved by news themselves.
Elite Nations and People - This has definitely changed as there is more interaction with these people and nations. It also means that the desire for celebrity news is heightened.
Familiarity: I think is less important as people are actually becoming more interested in things globally rather than only acknowledging something that can be related back to them.
Unambiguity: Things are being simplified so that they can be consumed online - stories that can be quite complicated are made simple and are therefore published and reported on.
Continuity: Is more easy and prominent - people can be updated instantaneously on stories rather than the information have to be processed and approved for broadcast.
Negativity: There is the suggestion that news institutions aim to have a somewhat balanced news agenda, however this isn't the case online - people are plagued by negativity on a daily basis.
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