News Values: A definition - 'The degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid by the audience'
Some say 'news values' are the values of a particular story that are appealing to audiences. However, it could be theorised that the type of stories that appeal to audiences are in fact determined by what type of stories are given prominence in the news.
So, what values does news value?
Anything with impact is generally favoured - anything that hits close to home with the audience, is genuinely interesting, or that relates to current issues within a particular culture, whatever that culture may be.
Pragmatics is the study of the ways in which context contributes to meaning. In terms of news values this means that context (everyday current affairs, ethical values or facticity of a location or community) will determine what is valued in the news in any situation. The PR connections of a media outlet may also influence what news values they hold.
'If it bleeds, it leads'
This phrase was once upon a time considered the biggest determining factor of what kind of stories news outlets valued, meaning any story with tragedy involved was foregrounded.
As described by Urban Dictionary - 'Basically it means that the media loves violence. Television, radio, and film will for the most part have much higher ratings if it's about a bunch of people getting murdered rather than something nice, like somebody saving a cat from a tree. Ultimately, it's a statement about society's fascination with violence.'
'If its local, it leads'
This phrase describes the current attitude of most commercial media outlets in Australia. They are highly focused on stories that hold local appeal as they have lately been trying to market themselves as local moguls to appeal to audiences.
It could be said that there are no formal codes to what is news worthy and what is not - as journalists we learn these things by experiencing the workings of newsrooms first hand. However it is important to note that different types of media outlets may hold different news values - ill expand on this a little later.
Many different theories have been developed over time about what exactly news values are, including the set listed below-
So, in the end, who really decides what is newsworthy? Is it media outlets, or their audiences?
The best answer to that question would be that it is a combination of both. Co-Constitution theories of communication would support this - they state that media shape culture just as much as culture shapes media. It is a two way street. We as a society influence and use the media, even as they regulate and shape us.
Looking at things in this light, it then becomes clear that news values differ greatly across different media outlets. For example, commercial vs. public media. Public media tends to gather a different audience than commerical media - its audience values international affairs as well as local affairs, so just because a story does not have a 'proximate' value to it, that does not mean it won't be screened on a Public Media news outlet, such as SBS World News.
Threats to news values in the future include some of the points below -
We as journalists have some degree of control over what news values are. We must fight for the integrity of news values in the future, in order to shape our societies to be critically aware of events that are truly important, not just locally, but throughout the world.
Anything with impact is generally favoured - anything that hits close to home with the audience, is genuinely interesting, or that relates to current issues within a particular culture, whatever that culture may be.
Pragmatics is the study of the ways in which context contributes to meaning. In terms of news values this means that context (everyday current affairs, ethical values or facticity of a location or community) will determine what is valued in the news in any situation. The PR connections of a media outlet may also influence what news values they hold.
'If it bleeds, it leads'
This phrase was once upon a time considered the biggest determining factor of what kind of stories news outlets valued, meaning any story with tragedy involved was foregrounded.
As described by Urban Dictionary - 'Basically it means that the media loves violence. Television, radio, and film will for the most part have much higher ratings if it's about a bunch of people getting murdered rather than something nice, like somebody saving a cat from a tree. Ultimately, it's a statement about society's fascination with violence.'
'If its local, it leads'
This phrase describes the current attitude of most commercial media outlets in Australia. They are highly focused on stories that hold local appeal as they have lately been trying to market themselves as local moguls to appeal to audiences.
It could be said that there are no formal codes to what is news worthy and what is not - as journalists we learn these things by experiencing the workings of newsrooms first hand. However it is important to note that different types of media outlets may hold different news values - ill expand on this a little later.
Many different theories have been developed over time about what exactly news values are, including the set listed below-
·
12 NEWS VALUES – as identified by Professor Johan
Galtung
o
Negativity
o
Proximity
o
Recencey
o
Currency
o
Continuity
o
Uniqueness
o
Simplicity
o
Personality
o
Expectedness
o
Elite nations or organisations
o
Exclusivity
o
Size
So, in the end, who really decides what is newsworthy? Is it media outlets, or their audiences?
The best answer to that question would be that it is a combination of both. Co-Constitution theories of communication would support this - they state that media shape culture just as much as culture shapes media. It is a two way street. We as a society influence and use the media, even as they regulate and shape us.
Looking at things in this light, it then becomes clear that news values differ greatly across different media outlets. For example, commercial vs. public media. Public media tends to gather a different audience than commerical media - its audience values international affairs as well as local affairs, so just because a story does not have a 'proximate' value to it, that does not mean it won't be screened on a Public Media news outlet, such as SBS World News.
Threats to news values in the future include some of the points below -
o
Incompetent journalism
o
PR influence resulting in tabloidization
o
Use of illegal news gathering techniques
o
Media falsehood and distortion
o
Anything untrustworthy, incomplete,
irresponsible or misleading
o
Hyper Commercialisation of news – there are only
a few major outlets worldwide
o
Use of press releases without writing,
rechecking or analysing.
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