TV NEWSNEWSGATHERING

NEWSGATHERINGTHE NEWS AGENDATHE NEWS PROCESSNEWS VALUES & GATEKEEPING

NEWSGATHERING: SOURCES News Agencies Own Correspondents Press releases Press Conferences Public Relations (PR) Companies (Max Clifford) Institutions such as NHS, OFCOM, Trade Unions Spin Doctors The Monarchy & Parliament Anniversary Stories Court cases or Trials Other Media News. Newspapers, Twitter etc

NEWS AGENCIES.

These organisations sell their stories to news producers

worldwide. Each agency has their own reporters,photographers and broadcast crews. The PressAssociation transmits an average of 1500 stories and

100pictures every day. They sell both footage and editedpackages ready for transmission.

Associated Press (International organisation) Reuters (International organisation) United Press International (International

organisation) Press Association (Main British News Agency)

WORLDWIDE TV NEWS AGENCIES

The following are specialist TV news agenciesthat developed from traditional press basedagencies. These are dominated by westernbased companies whose values are rooted inBritish and American ideologies. So isinternational news guilty of media

imperialism?

Reuters TV BBC News ITN APTN Associated Press Television News

NEWS AGENDA: News Categories

HARD NEWS

Politics Economy Foreign Affairs Home Affairs Disasters

SOFT NEWS

Human Interest Entertainment Sport

How news producers construct & prioritise news stories and set their own news agenda

THE NEWS PROCESS 1

Producing a news programme means defining and predicting the news. Editors (editorial staff not video editors) will be overseeing the planning and preparation of the news all day long liasing with their teams.

What follows is an example of a typical day. BUT remember a late breaking important story can mean all the planning goes out of the window and everything has to change to roll with the news story OR new developments.

THE NEWS PROCESS 2 Evening before editorial meeting & rough running

order Editorial conference about news agenda (BBC: 9am) News stories assigned researcher & reporters

briefed Crews sent out to start news gathering Graphics and studio work organised Video editors & producers prepare short items Sub-editors write up stories Library researchers get back up footage for stories Video editors produce news packages for days

stories

THE NEWS PROCESS 3

News presenters prepare and rehearse scripts Sub editors write final scripts Programme is rehearsed & final story selection

made Autocue script is typed up VTR inserts are cued up Programme editor & studio director can change

agenda Presenters have to be able to change running order Director oversees process in control room Crew: Vision Mixer, OB crew, VT, Sound Mixer etc

etc

NEWS VALUES 1: Galtung & Ruge 1973

Immediacy: Has it happened recently? Familiarity: Is it culturally close to us in Britain? Amplitude: Is it a big event that affects large

numbers? Frequency: Does the event happen often? Unambiguity: Is it clear and definite? Predictability: Did we expect it to happen? Surprise: Is it rare or unexpected event? Continuity: Has it previously been defined as news? Elite Nations/People: Big countries or celebrities? Personalisation: Is it a human interest story? Negativity: Is it bad news? Balance: ”and finally” fun story to balance bad news…

NEWS VALUES:Setting the News Agenda

Using worksheet 3 look at the top stories on 2 different news programmes.

Fill in the grids and add comments to see how the news values for each programme vary.

NEWS VALUES 2: Jeremy Tunstall 1971

Galtung & Ruge’s news values primarily deal with news stories in newspapers but can be applied to TV news also. Tunstall took a step further and argued that the following factors also greatly shaped TV News.

Importance of the visual. If good footage is available the story may become more important in TV news agenda.

News stories with “own reporters” conducting IV’s or commentating are preferred.

TV News covers far fewer stories than newspapers. The stories are also shorter and generally in less depth.

Hard news or actuality is preferred.

NEWS VALUES 3: Dennis McShane 1979

Dennis McShane identifieds the following 5criteria as being used by journalists in theirselection of news stories.

Conflict. Hardship & Danger to the Community. The Unusual. Scandal. Individualism.

NEWS VALUES:Identifying News values

Using worksheet 5 first split into groups and be either Newsround, The BBC News at 10, OR Channel 5 News.

From the selection of news stories decide upon your running order identifying your top 6 stories and then from this your top 3 and write a headline for these.

NEWS VALUES: Time, Economics & Ratings

Time: Only a certain number of stories can be covered in a 30 minute news programme. So decisions have to be made which are not only due to news values but economics and ratings. News is rarely allowed to overrun. Examples?

Economics: It is impossible to have a news crew atr every story across the world. TV News is expensive to make so resources have to be allocated carefully.

Ratings: Are important to broadcasters and it is essential that the news can hold or even attract an audience.

NEWS VALUES: GATEKEEPING 1

Gatekeeping was a term coined by Galtung & Ruge to refer to the decisions made by news producers when selecting or rejecting potential news stories.

A select few people are shaping the news stories that are reported daily to millions of audience members and they are shaping and determining what is news.

Consider why some events, issues of groups are presented in particular ways such as assylum seekers. Also why some message and ideological views are rarely seen or heard on the news such as the BNP….

NEWS VALUES: GATEKEEPING 2

Everyone involved in the creation of TV news acts as a gatekeeper in some way as creating representations while they re-present the news. This includes producers, camera-people and also video editors etc. Their decisions depend upon the following.

The news values of the institution

The news values and priority of them to the show

The expectations of their audience

Their own ideological values

Their education, class and upbringing

NEWS VALUES: GATEKEEPING 3

News agendas vary in different TV news shows. Nick Robinson worked at BBC for 16 years and then became political editor at ITN.

“ ITN is quite ruthless, in a way that the BBC isn’t always, at boiling a story down to it’s key elements and getting rid of extrenuous detail. Stories about celebrities like Winona Ryder are just as important on the ITN news agenda as stories aboiut the Conserative Party Leader.” (The Guardian, 25/11/2002)

Stuart Hood (1972) argues that the majority of media gatekeepers practice “middle-class consensus politics” that affects their news agenda decisions.

NEWS VALUES:Scripting a Story

Using worksheet 7 in your groups plan how you would approach the story given for either of our local regional Anglia Tonight or Look East news programme.

You need to write a short script, mention GV’s you may use and any IV’s you think would be appropriate and any other footage OR sound you would need.