Notes of the lecture clips uploaded by Ansgard Heinrich, for the course Introduction to Journalism Studies I. This is a mandatory course for the minor and pre-master in Journalism/Journalistiek.
This document consists of my lecture notes from the course Introduction to Journalism Studies I,
taught by Ansgard Heinrich at the University of Groningen in the year 2020-2021. This is, due to the
corona pandemic, an online course that was made up of various lecture clips each week. The way this
document is organised, there will first be a header signifying the week the lecture clips are from,
followed by numbers that signify which notes are from which clips. (These headers are marked, so
you can use the navigation screen to skip between weeks.) Sometimes, there’s text in italics. This text
are questions or notes that I thought up myself, so they’re not part of the lecture’s content, just my
response to Heinrich’s encouragement to participate in the course.
,WEEK 1: COURSE INTRODUCTION
1.1
To pass the course, you have to submit a set of 2 questions related to the lecture clips on every
Thursday 12:00. You have to hand in a total of 5 sets between weeks 2-7, so you can skip one. You
need to have done the reading before attending a lecture (obviously).
1.2
Exercise: what do you think of when you hear the word journalism? I think of papers, online news
outlets, I think of Vice, non-fiction books about a certain topic, blogs, correspondence abroad, I think
of local news such as Dagblad van het Noorden, or even smaller, De Nieuwe Ooststellingwerver, I
think of news readers on the radio, anchors on TV, interviews.
What is the role of journalists? Making information, new information, accessible for the reader.
Making the world understandable for the reader. Maybe even inform people on activist notions, such
as the background of the BLM-movement.
‘…the purpose of journalism is to provide people with the information they need to be free and self-
governing.’ Everything we see or hear contribute to the picture of the world we have in our heads.
Public Opinion is a shared belief system in a society. For example, most Dutch people are against the
death penalty. But where does public opinion come from? Journalism!
Journalism is viewed as part of democracy. It’s an independent institution that is free to monitor
other institutions, such as politics. Journalists provide information that citizens need to be free.
Journalists have a vital role as ‘watchdog’ on concentrations of power, holding governments
accountable.
Journalism is (1) a supplier of the information required for individuals and groups to monitor their
social environments, (2) a resource for, support to and often participant in public life and political
debate and (3) a medium of education, enlightenment and entertainment.
, The focus of journalism research, is studying contemporary journalism and understanding culture
through approaching the field of journalism form a variety of angles. Research fields: production,
users/audiences, content.
WEEK 2: NEWS VALUES
Different papers across the globe discuss different topics. Question: what makes journalists decide
what to put on the cover? (my question: doesn’t this have to do with what the journalist thinks is
interesting to the reader? Does the fact that the relation between China and the EU isn’t discussed in
a Dutch paper mean that Dutch people might not feel as connected to the EU as an organisation?)
Editorial rooms work with a lot of people involved. Editors are in control of identifying what counts as
newsworthy. Knowing what is newsworthy, is a process consisting of a couple of things: (1) being
able to pitch the idea in 25 words or less, (2) is there a theme, a meaning, a storyline that’s easy to
sell, (3) what is the role of drama or conflict/contrast? (4) is it easy to understand for the audience?
Will they listen, read, look, care? There’s a gut feeling, but what’s behind it?
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