NDM: News Values

1. Come up with a news story from the last 12 months for each of the categories suggested by Harriss, Leiter and Johnson:

• Conflict

Syrian war

• Progress

Donald Trump being voted Republican presidential candidate 

• Disaster

Italian earthquake

• Consequence

Brexit vote on UK's economy

• Prominence 

Prince dying

• Novelty

Harambe 

1. 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?

They used the story where the first female British service person was killed in action in Afghanistan. This made the news because it was unusual to see a female being killed and also because she was British, there for the story would've gained cultural proximity as the British people would have seen this as more relevant to them than if a French soldier was killed in action,

1. What is gatekeeping?

Gatekeeping is job performed by the editors and journalists of a news organisation. They put news stories and pictures/videos of a process to determine what is and isn't news worthy. They don't do this based on there opinion. It must meet a criteria that lists certain news values, for example immediacy may be one for a lot of news organisations as people don't want to see old news.

1. What are the six ways bias can be created in news?

The six ways bias can be created in news are:

• Bias through selection and omission, when selecting or editing a story the editor can be bias by choosing whether or not to use a specific story and what bits are shown of the story as this could paint another picture if things are left out.
• Bias through placement, so where a story is placed online or in a news paper usually shows it's significance and if an important story is placed in the middle or towards the back then they maybe less appealing because people are accustomed to finding the most important stories at the front of the site/paper.
• Bias by headline, the Headlines are one of the first things that someone reads on a newspaper, however headlines can be misleading, convey excitement and express approval/disapproval.
• Bias by photos,captions and camera angles, the way a picture is taken or the way a video is shot can make a person look better and show them in a different way, either positively or negatively.
• Bias through use of names and titles, different names and labels can be given to people to make them appear different in other peoples perspectives, for example 'Terrorist' can also be labelled as a 'freedom fighter'. 
• Bias by choice of words, people can be influenced by the use of positive or negative words which carry with them certain connotations.

1. How have online sources such as Twitter, bloggers or Wikileaks changed the way news is selected and published?

To give an example, Wikileaks has become the supplier of the news 'market' and its up to the news organisations to differentiate themselves by filtering the news stories they find from Wikileaks and blogs/Twitter by adding their own news values.

1. 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 Paris attacks were largely talked about on Twitter

Hillary Clinton's private email server was leaked to Wikileaks

1. 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?

They're saying that Twitter has become a place where news breaks first and that is where people come to voice their opinion and share events first instead of calling up a news organisation and reporting it to them.

• What does it say about how news is being produced?

News is being produced by the people. User generated content (UGC) is becoming much more prominent and normal/ordinary Citizen journalist are more then capable of reporting news.

• What role does the audience have in this process?

The audience plays the role of editor now as they have the medium available in-order to publish what they find and voice there own opinion. Audiences are definitely more empowered. 

• Why might this be a problem for journalistic standards?

If Audiences have the tools to publish there own content for other people to see and make judgement on, there will most likely be a reduction in professional jobs available in journalism because they are not needed.



9) In your opinion, how has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values? 

It hasn't made any significant differences as of yet, however some of the more noticeable changes are how much more relevant some of the values have become, for example Amplitude is a much larger factor as near enough everyone has access to a newspaper, TV and or the internet. Also immediacy has changed slightly, we already had 24 hour news but now we have live feeds online that are also updated 24/7 so yes new and digital media is having a positive impact on Galtung and Ruge's news values.


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.


Unambiguity- We can link this with what we've been learning recently as some audiences may see or not see citizen journalism as clear and definite. Citizen journalism is only around now because of new and digital media as near enough anyone with a phone can video an event and upload it.

Elite nations and people- Because just about anyone can start there own blog or develop and app and upload there own news we have been introduced to celebrity news. News and gossip which is all about them in there everyday lives.

Continuity- News isn't always defined as news anymore as there are so many sources that claim different things, and this is a problem that new and digital media has caused with introducing the likes of twitter which has caused numerous hoaxes, news no twitter does not go through the same process of that which is seen in newspapers or on TV.

Frequency- News is now available 24 hours a day on television and online. There are now also live feeds which constantly update stories and upload pictures and videos. Also the volume of news has increased as a lot more people can create content (UGC) with the introduction of new and digital media.

Predictability- News is now more unpredictable as people can see stories from all around the world.  NDM can create new trends which people never knew would happen, for example when the media reported on the shooting of Harambe the gorilla, tags and memes were made about him.

Balance- News is a lot more balanced because of the audiences they get are able to form their own opinions on the matter and therefore to not appear badly in the public eye, News must be balanced so as to no upset the wrong group of people,