Summary Notes for Selection and Presentation of the Media- AQA A-Level Sociology *Notes from a GRADE A STUDENT*
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Selection and Presentation of the Media
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AS/A2 Level Sociology AQA Complete Revision & Practice
Summary of key ideas and perspectives surrounding selection and presentation of the media. Includes Marxist, Neo Marxist and Pluralist Perspectives, as well as criticisms and key terminology, as well as researchers and key statistics.
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Selection and Presentation of the Media 12/09/2022
Trends in News Readership:
● Less people are reading physical newspapers
● 18-24 year olds get most of their news online or through social media
● The most popular way of accessing news is through the TV, especially in the 55+ age
group
● Companies are spending less money on advertising in physical newspapers and
more money advertising online
TV News vs. Newspapers:
● OFCOM surveys suggest that people trust the TV news more than any other news
source- they regard it as a “Window to the world”
● In contrast, despite millions of newspapers being read every day in the UK, most
readers recognise that their newspaper is not impartial but identifies with a particular
political and ideological position
● Dominic Wring and David Deacon (2010) identified the following patterns of alleged
“partisanship” in UK national newspapers:
➔ Express- Very Strong Conservative
➔ Daily Mirror- Strong Labour
➔ Sunday Times/Telegraph- Strong Conservative
➔ Independent- Moderate Liberal
➔ Times- Weak Conservative
Why is the TV News So Trusted?
● Chandler (1994) gives 4 reasons:
1. Newsreaders are presented as neutral observers, are smartly dressed and make eye
contact with the audience
2. Their body language is reduced by sitting behind desks (denoting authority) or they
stand presenting visual information
3. Although the content of the news may be far from reassuring, the newsreaders
manner is always friendly, reliable and reassuring
4. The orderly hi-tech studio symbolises scientific lengths to which the broadcaster has
gone to find the truth and reinforces the image of formal and objective authority
Other Factors in News Presentation:
● Physical position of story in newspaper/TV/online (order, size, photos etc.)
● images/film may portray subject in a biased way
● Language used may be particularly emotive or sensationalised to grab the attention
of the audience and encourage them to make a particular interpretation of an event
, Selection of the News:
● The news is a social construction
● The media cannot report on all events and issues happening everyday in the world
● This means that rather than simply being out there waiting to be collected, what
counts as the “news” is “constructed” by a range of social influences
● This is not a neutral process but as the GUMG (Glasgow University Media Group)
has shown over many years of research it is a sequence of socially manufactured
messages produced within the dominant ideology of society.
The News is Socially Constructed:
● The news is selected and presented by media professionals who often are called
“gatekeepers” as this group decides and makes choices and judgements about what
events are important, what to cover and how to cover them- this is known as Agenda
Setting
● McQuail (1992) argues that the news is “loaded”- it is a special form of information,
myths and fables
The Construction of the News:
● News values and newsworthiness
● Organisational constraints
● Ideological factors
News Values and Newsworthiness:
● General guidelines/criteria that determine the worth of a news story and how much
prominence it is given by newspapers or broadcast media- (Galtung and Ruge
1973)
● These values will vary from newspaper to newspaper because of the different
audiences they are aimed at
● Also varies between newspapers and TV channels
● Ultimately it is what us regarded as interesting enough to appeal and to attract
significant readership or audience
News Values:
● Immediacy- Has it happened recently?
● Familiarity- Is it culturally close to us in Britain?
● Amplitude- How many people does it affect?
● Frequency- Does the event happen often?
● Unambiguity- How easy is it to understand?
● Predictability- Did we expect it to happen?
● Surprise- Is it a rare or unexpected occurrence?
● Continuity- Is it the continuation of a previous news story?
● Elite Nations/People- Big countries/celebrities?
● Personalisation- Is it a human interest story?
● Negativity- Is it bad news?
● Balance- Fun story to balance the news
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