McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. THE DYNAMICS OF MASS COMMUNCATION Joseph R. Dominick University of Georgia--Athens

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Specific Media Professions

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Chapter 12 News Gathering and Reporting  Deciding What Is News Deciding What Is News  Categories of News and Reporting Categories of News and Reporting  The News Flow The News Flow  Technology Technology  The Wire Services The Wire Services  Media Differences in News Coverage Media Differences in News Coverage  Readership and Viewership Readership and Viewership  News Online News Online  News Gathering and Reporting News Gathering and Reporting Chapter Outline

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Five elements of newsworthy events Timeliness Proximity Prominence Consequence Human interest Deciding What Is News

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Economic factors also determine coverage –Cost of covering stories –Fit within the organization’s look –Conflicts of interest Deciding What Is News

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Three categories of news –Hard news Who, What, Where, When, How Public events Significance for large numbers of people Print media –Inverted pyramid form –Hard lead Broadcast media –Square format –Hard or soft lead Categories of News and Reporting

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. –Soft news, or feature news Interests the audience Informs, entertains, instructs, inspires Uses most formats except inverted pyramid E!  People  60 Minutes Categories of News and Reporting

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Categories of News and Reporting Investigative reports unearth significant information about matters of public importance through the use of time-intensive, non-routine news- gathering methods.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Print Media –Sources of news – staff reporting and wire services The News Flow General-assignment reporter City editor Copy desk Managing editors The Flow

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Broadcast Media –News sources– wire service, news services, and reporters The News Flow Tape editor Newscast The Flow Assignment editorNews producer Field reporter and camera crew Newswriters and production assistants News anchor

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Advances have changed mobile live news coverage significantly –Small, lightweight digital video cameras –Satellite dish-equipped vans or trucks –Laptop computer video editing –Videophones stream audio and video over a satellite phone connection Technology

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Provide newspapers with external coverage Primary U.S. wire services –Associated Press (AP) –United Press International (UPI) The Wire Services Local event story Local bureau chief State bureau chief National Wire WIRE SUBSCRIBERS

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Competition for AP and UPI –The New York Times News Service –Los Angeles Times News Service –Washington Post News Service –Gannett’s News Service –Britain’s Reuters –France’s Agence-France-Press The Wire Services

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. The news media – unique strengths and weaknesses –Print: in-depth, more coverage, handles details difficult to get by voice, good at facts and information, permanence –Broadcast: greater immediacy, personal, credibility, presentation of impressions, public, no interaction required –Online: links to other information and activities, audio and video possible, credibility an issue, good at presenting facts and information, permanence Media Differences in News Coverage

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Print, Online, and Broadcast Journalists –Broadcast news anchors achieve star status Appearance and personalities important to the public Print and online reporters remain relatively anonymous News Consultants –Most noticeable in broadcast –Introduced the audience survey to news coverage –Have homogenizing effect on local news Media Differences in News Coverage

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Similarities Among the News Media Media Differences in News Coverage Honesty Accuracy Objectivity Balance Integrity Journalistic principles

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Pew Charitable Trusts Research Center Survey (2002)  Internet is a significant news source  35% of Americans go online for news 1+ times/wk  Number of people who get their news from broadcast or print  Readership and Viewership

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Readership and Viewership Source Credibility TV Major online news sites News on portal sites Print media highest lowest

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Types of online news sources –Mainstream general CNN.com usatoday.com –News aggregator Google Yahoo –Specialized news focus ESPN.comBlogs W.S. Journal: Online Journalism

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. News Online Journalist’s perspective New tools for reporting More access for less work CAR required Backpack journalism Audience’s perspective More news sources Customizable news alerts Searchable archives Profession’s perspective Problematic entry requirements Threat of shoddy journalism Economic threat of sites with little to lose       

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Jobs scarce even in an improved economy Newspapers & magazines reduced hiring Most radio stations reduced or eliminated news Fierce competition for TV positions Online journalism positions down Some hope for producers and videographers Start small and local, then work up and out News Gathering and Reporting