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Group No 7

Vinodhini Patil:9419

Meenakshi Seetharaman:9412

Tejal Shringarpure:9424

NEWSPAPERSNEWSPAPERS

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This Chapter Speaks about…This Chapter Speaks about…

The Buying Public – by Tejal ShringarpureThe Buying Public – by Tejal Shringarpure

The Constant Reader- by Vinodhini PatilThe Constant Reader- by Vinodhini Patil

Nature of NewsNature of News

&&News,Truth and Conclusion.- by Meenakshi S.News,Truth and Conclusion.- by Meenakshi S.

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Chapter XXI: The Buying PublicChapter XXI: The Buying PublicOrigin of TruthCivil liberties-

Convinced that the wisdom was there if only you could find it, democrats have treated the problem of making public opinions as a problem in civil liberties.

Unseen environment – In spite of its fundamental importance, civil liberty does not guarantee public opinion in the modern world. For it always assumes, that the means of securing truth exist when there is no external interference. But when you are dealing with an invisible environment, the assumption is false.Universally it is admitted that the press is the chief means of contact with the unseen environment. And practically everywhere it is assumed that the press should do spontaneously for us that every day and twice a day it will present us with a true picture of the outer world in which we are interested.

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Attitude of readersEconomic prejudicesThis insistent and ancient belief that truth is not

earned, but inspired, revealed, supplied gratis, comes out very plainly in our economic prejudices as readers of newspapers. We expect the newspaper to serve us with truth however unprofitable the truth may be.

Casual and one-sided relationshipThis casual and one-sided relationship between

readers and press is an anomaly of our civilization.One cannot compare journalism with law, medicine

or engineering, for in every one of these professions the consumer pays for the service. A free press, if judged by the attitude of the readers, means newspapers that are virtually given away.

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Newspaper: A business?Newspaper: A business?Circulation

Circulation becomes an asset only when it can be sold to the advertiser, who buys it with revenues secured through indirect taxation of the reader.The real problem is that the readers of a newspaper, unaccustomed to paying the cost of newsgathering, can be capitalized only by turning them into circulation that can be sold to manufacturers and merchants.

AdvertisementsThe kind of circulation which the advertiser will buy depends on what he has to sell. It may be "quality" or "mass."

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The economic support for general news gathering is in the price paid for advertised goods by the fairly prosperous sections of cities with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants. This buying public is composed of the members of families, who depend for their income chiefly on trade, merchandising, the direction of manufacture, and finance.

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Buying public to constant readerBuying public to constant reader

Loyalty of readers

The object of every publisher is, to turn his circulation from a medley of catch-as-catch-can news stand buyers into a devoted band of constant readers. A newspaper that can really depend upon the loyalty of its readers is as independent as a newspaper can be, given the economics of modern journalism

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Chapter XXII: The Constant ReaderChapter XXII: The Constant ReaderThe reader is the sole and the daily judge of his loyalty and there can be no suit against him for breach of promise or non support.

The constancy of the reader depends on how he happens to feel or on his habits.

The most important is that each of us tends to judge a newspaper by its treatment of that part of the news in which we feel ourselves involved.

Therefore most men tend to hold the newspaper most strictly accountable in their capacity, not of general readers, but of special pleaders on matters of their own experience.

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Rarely is anyone, but the interested party able to test the accuracy of the report.It is interesting to know that a general reader of a newspaper has no standing in law if he thinks he is being misled by the news.The law embodies the tradition that general news is not the matter of common concern expect as to matter which is vaguely described as immoral or seditious.If the body of the news, though unchecked as a whole by the disinterested reader, consists of items about which some readers have very definite preconceptions.

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There are newspapers, even in large cities, edited on the principle that the readers wish to read about themselves.

Begin with a clear conception that the subject of deepest interest to an average human being is himself; next to that he is most concerned about his neighbours. [James Melvin Lee, _The History of American Journalism,_p.405]

There are also great number of people who find their own lives dull, and wish, to live a more thrilling life.

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The function of becoming, as Mr. Lee puts it , “the printed diary of the home town” is one that every newspaper no matter where it is published must in some measure fill.

In the great cities “the printed diary of the home town” tends to be printed dairy of a smart set.

The newspaper ,therefore, takes to itself a variety of other features, all primarily designed to hold a body of readers together, who so far as big news is concerned, are not able to be critical.

In order to differentiate themselves and collect a steady public, most papers have to go outside the field of general news.

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They go to dazzling levels of society because they have find some way of holding on to that alleged host of passionately interested readers.

The newspaper editor holds a very strange position, as his enterprises depends upon indirect taxation levied by his advertisers upon his readers; the patronage of the advertisers depends upon the editor’s skill in holding together an effective group of customers.

The quality of the general news, especially about public affairs, is not in itself sufficient to cause very large numbers of readers to discriminate among the dailies.

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This somewhat left –handed relationship between the newspaper and public information is reflected in the salaries of newspaper men.

Reporting, which theoretically constitutes the foundation of the whole institution, is the most poorly paid branch of newspaper work, and is the least regarded. For straight reporting is not a career that offers many rewards.

Mr. Upton Sinclair speaks for a large body of opinion in America when he claims that in what he calls “The Brass Check”.

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The Brass CheckThe Brass Check

“The brass check is found in the pay envelope every he brass check is found in the pay envelope every week- of week- of Those who write and print and distribute our newspaper and magazines.”Sinclair criticizes newspapers as ultra-conservative and supporting the political and economic powers that be, or as sensational tabloids practicing yellow journalism.To stimulate circulation, newspapers sensationalize trivial stories and destroy lives and reputations. Sinclair recognized that a grass-roots response (mass meetings, demonstrations, circulating pamphlets, etc.) was not adequate when the mass media spread misinformation or ignored the truth.

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Lippmann's standLippmann's standIt is that fair body of truth would be inviolate in a press not in any way connected with Big Business.For if it should happen that a press not controlled by, and not even friendly with, Big Business somehow failed to contain the fair body of truth, something would be wrong with Mr. Sinclair’s theory.There is such a press in proposing, a remedy Mr. Sinclair does not advice his reader to subscribe to the nearest radical newspaper.Mr. Sinclair can not do this, is shown by the fact that while in his diagnosis he traces everything to capitalism, in his prescription he ignores both capitalism and anti-capitalism.

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Which ultimately leads to the heart of the Which ultimately leads to the heart of the Question -where is the fair body truth, Question -where is the fair body truth,

What is NEWS?What is NEWS?

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Chapter XXIII: Nature of NewsChapter XXIII: Nature of News

Lippmann says, Reporters are not clairvoyant. They don’t keep an eye on all mankind.

They make decisions on their own discretions.

What makes news?

The event should be noticeable enough to become news.

It must assume a definable shape.

It should be a “Crudely overt act”.

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News is not a mirror of social conditions, but the report of an aspect that has obtruded itself.

Unless events are fixed, objectified, measured, named, there cannot be any news.

With a good recording machinery, the modern news services are precise.

A direct relation is formed between the certainty of news and system of record.

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When events are not objectified, Newspaper occupies the position that of the umpire in the unscored baseball game.

There are many events which are debatable in nature. The journalist usually decides on his own the nature of the event.

The data may be censored or hidden, thus making it more debatable.

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Press AgentsPress Agents

So here comes the existence of the Press Agents in the society.Press Agents help the journalists by showing them a the clear picture of the situation.Although he shows the situation, he is the Censor and Propagandist.Many-a-times news is filtered by the press agents before reaching the newspapers. They have to give shape to the events.If there are no news they have to start something on their own to gain publicity.

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Hence journalism is not a first hand report of the raw material, it is the report of that material that has been stylized.

The most important point for the journalist is the Reader’s response to the story.

The news is an account of the overt phases that are interesting, and the newspapers has to adhere to this routine.

The editor works under enormous pressure to keep his newspaper ahead in the competition.

At such times sensationalization of news works.

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What will secure the attention of the readers?What will secure the attention of the readers?

Self-identification with the news provoke interest in the readers.

Participation of the audience.

Readers should enter the news.

Use of stereotypes.

Thus the power to form opinion is developed.

The reader will defend his opinion.

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Chapter XXIVChapter XXIV : :News, Truth and ConclusionNews, Truth and Conclusion

Lippmann arrives at the conclusion that news and truth are not the same thing.

The function of news is to Signalize an event.

The function of truth is to bring to light the hidden facts.

Editors are most responsible for their judgement of the reliability of the source.

The angle in which the news is covered depends on the reporter's discretion.

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He has further mentioned that: A journalist can never force his readers to accept the

news as truth. A journalist usually has to follow his employers’

order instead of his own conscience. They are too frail to carry the burden of popular

sovereignty. Press is forced to create a mystical force called Public

Opinion Press is the servant and guardian of institutions.

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So in a nutshell…So in a nutshell…Lippmann says,Buying Public: The bewildered herd must pay for understanding the unseen environment through the media.

Constant Reader: The reader judges the newspaper on the basis of his pre-conceived notions. He cannot be coerced to accept the truth.

Nature of News: Newspapers publish those news which are already conformed; thus to avoid any debatable issue.

News, truth and conclusion: The news and the truth are two different concepts. Both help in forming the public opinion.

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THANK YOU!THANK YOU!