‘Debate Whether Galtung and Ruge's (1967) Model of the News Value Is Still Relevant in an Age of New Media, Citizen Journalism and User-Generated Content.'

In an era of global technology, instant news, infomercials, electronic town meetings, and “Made for TV Documentaries,” the borderlines between news and analysis, news and entertainment, news and fiction are constantly shifting.

Clay Shirky who wrote Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable (1993) argues that society doesn’t need newspapers society needs journalism to save society. Shirky supports this argument by giving a historical background to the problems newspapers face and how the problems have developed over time and the solutions society has came up with. The blogger concludes that in order for journalism to go farther new models must be created in place of past molds. Shirky directs this blog toward the current and future generations in attempt to motivate new models and methods of journalism.

Comparing two newspaper articles, one from a tabloid and one from a broadsheet will convey the different techniques that tabloids and broadsheets use to present stories. Media in general, aim to inform and interest the audience which consist of many different types. Diverse emotions and ideas are created by the media; foremost tabloids. Tabloids are papers like ‘The Sun’, ‘The Mirror’, ‘The Daily Mail’, ‘The Express’ and ‘The Star’. In contrast to these are broadsheets like ‘The Times’, ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Daily Telegraph’. Broadsheets are often known as the ‘quality press’ being more informing and formal in the manner they convey information and news stories.

The purpose of this report is to analyse journalism practices employed in newspaper reporting across different outlets and to analyse if the practice was in line with the media

Newspapers and other forms of news are very vital communication methods in the world today. The goal of news is to sell us their ideas by being biased and talking about how their idea is best. News can give us biased information although, the viewer could do further research on the

Ever since the 17th century, the newspaper has been produced and blown out of proportion, known as mass media. George A. Krimsky shines his own opinion in his essay, “The Role of the Media in a Democracy.” Krimsky provides many examples, reasoning, and rhetoric devices to expand his argument even more, his argument being that; the press should send out straight facts, let people interpret them, and allow the free press to hold the government accountable.

Augie Fleras and John Lock Kunz further the argument, pointing out that what appears as mainstream and unbiased is, in actuality, socially constructed. Fleras and Kunz point out that news items (i.e. the events or issues that are covered) are chosen by personnel (such as editors) on the basis of personal, institutional, corporate, and commercial priorities. 7 In other words, the news media is market driven. The mainstream news media, therefore, are not merely

News has spread around through different means and has rapidly evolved in just the past few hundred years, from newspapers, to news channels, and now also through online media. The purpose of these news outlets is to inform the population on current events locally and internationally. Many people feel as if the news does a good job in captivating audiences and influencing them, but wonder if they are actually reporting the news accurately. In their article, “Pictures in Our Heads,” Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson thought the same, and made statements stating that the media does effectively influence the population and insinuating that the media does not always portray their coverage accurately; this

The “roots” of bias in the media date back to the nineteenth century, and criticism about bias partly reflects a controversial idea about what exactly is the media’s role and purpose. Newspapers and television alike are suppose to exist to relay objective, factual information gathered and communicated by journalists and reporters.

The disbursement of accurate information is vital for the sustenance of a healthy democracy. It ensures that its citizens are equipped to make responsible, informed decisions pertaining to matters that affect their daily lives. In the United States, the media is referred to as the fourth estate or fourth branch of government (alongside the legislative, executive and judiciary branches). The media has been used as a conduit to broadcast local, state-level, federal-level and international government and social affairs. It may also be used to endorse campaigns, report misuses of

Hard news and soft news are said to be the extreme ends of standards in news value. The former includes coverages of serious topics which are timely in orientation, while the latter is applied to matters of human interests, entertainment, sports, and similar subjects. In response to declining news readership, the fine lines between these two differing formats are being obscured as the more serious hard news would employ entertaining styles and the less-serious soft news would inform in a traditional manner. Considering this blur, should it be of matter if one would prefer a specific format in reference to their features, i.e., to choose either from news that is relying on information or entertainment? Seeking legitimate and accurate information would not be the term for choosing either hard or

Nowadays journalists have the responsibility to report facts as accurately, objectively, and disinterestedly as is humanly possible. ‘’The, honest, self-disciplined, well-trained reporter seeks to be a propagandist for nothing but the truth’’ (Casey, 1944b).

In order to recognize the reasons behind the assumption that the Fourth Estate is dead, its principles and codes needed to be made clear. The term “Fourth Estate” was used by conservative Edmund Burke in the eighteenth century as a way to mock the press as they always seek to expose and disclose information that are not “desired” to be known. (Hirst) However, over time, it has become important description of the objectives that are assumed to be a must for the press. In specific, “Fourth Estate” describes the role of the press as “watch dogs” in society. The definition our society attached to the press varies. For instance, Pippa Norris stated in the book “Driving Democracy:”

In watching the news, viewers seldom realise that so many different factors influence the individual bulletin. Stories are often not a clean-cut cross section of the day’s top stories, and there is no specific ‘ultimate guide’ to creating a news bulletin. According to Boyd et al (2008, p150), item order eventually becomes instinct rather than the work of a formula. It is all-dependent on situation, as well as the individual company, their method of approach and even the individual producer of the day. There are obviously several key factors that influence elements of a bulletin, however, with each station prioritising theirs according to audience and company values.

The belief that journalism is in decline has triggered major alarms, because society needs an informational environment that is easily available to all citizens such as newspapers. There is a large body of journalist that suggests that if television has taken over from the press as our main source of news this may limit our capacity to learn about public affairs; newspapers are believed to be far more effective than television at conveying detailed information necessary to understand complex and detailed issues. There is also widespread concern that if journalism fails as a profession it will not be able to reach large sections of the community, particularly younger or less educated readers. This may reinforce a growing gap among citizens between the information that they receive.