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6. Why has the internet age changed the nature of news forever?

  • it is becoming harder for the ruling class to hide stories that threaten their power
  • citizen journalism
  • people can now post blog posts/videos online to inform people about the truth of a situation

7. What is "Threshold"?

  • the bigger the size of the event the more likely it will be nationally reported
  • events that are easy to grasp are more likely to be reported

8. What is "reference to elite persons"?

  • the famous and powerful are often seen as more newsworthy to the general public than those who are regarded as ordinary
  • stories about people who speak the same language, look the same and share the same preoccupations as the audience receive more coverage than those involving people who do not

9. What is "personalisation"?

  • prominent individual or celebrity to achieve similar recognition
  • Murders, motorway pile ups and plane crashes happen suddenly and their meaning can be established quickly

10. What is "continuity"?

  • once a story has achieved importance and is 'running' it will continue to be covered for some time
  • bad news is regarded by journalists as more exciting and dramatic than good news and is seen as attracting a bigger audience

11. What is "negativity"?

  • bad news is regarded by journalists as more exciting and dramatic than good news and is seen as attracting a bigger audience
  • most news outlets will attempt to balance excessive bad news or foreign news with some items of a more positive or local nature

12. What is gate - keeping?

  • media's power to refuse to cover some issues and to let others through
  • media's influence in laying down the list of subjects, or agenda for public discussion

13. What is "agenda setting"?

  • media's influence in laying down the list of subjects, or agenda, for public discussion
  • media's power to refuse to cover some issues and to let others through

14. Why does agenda setting mean that the news is socially constructed?

  • people can only discuss and form opinions about things they have been informed about - mass media that provide this information
  • editors, journalists and sometimes owners, make choices about what events are important enough to cover and how to cover them

15. What is meant by "deadlines"?

  • time available for news bulletin and space available for column in newspaper
  • News usually happened the day before - tv news is instant as it broadcasts as it happens
  • content and style is dependent on the type of audience

16. What is meant by "time that is available"?

  • sending someone overseas is expensive and may result in news reports even if nothing is happening just to justify heavy costs
  • time/space for a news bulletin or column in newspaper
  • news usually happened day before - tv news is instant as it broadcasts when it happens

17. What is "composition"?

  • most news outlets will attempt to balance excessive bad news or foreign news with some items of a more positive or local nature
  • unexpected, rare and surprising events have more newsworthiness than routine events because they are out of the ordinary

18. What is "reference to elite nations"?

  • stories about people who speak the same language, look the same and share the same preoccupations as the audience receive more coverage than those involving people who do not
  • events may be "personalised" by referring to prominent individual or celebrity to achieve similar recognition

19. What is "unambiguity"?

  • events that are easy to grasp are more likely to be reported than those which are open to more than one interpretation or where prior knowledge is needed
  • the famous and powerful are often seen as more newsworthy to the general public than those who are regarded as ordinary

20. What does McQuail believe about the news?

  • It's subjective
  • It's objective