News Values

Read Media Factsheet 76: News Values and complete the following questions/tasks. 

1) What example news story does the Factsheet use to illustrate Galtung and Ruge's News Values? Why is it an appropriate example of a news story likely to gain prominent coverage?

• The daily mail "Asylum: you're right to worry" - this is likely to gain prominent coverage as this headline suggests that asylum seekers pose a threat to the community and sets up ideas of conflict. It creates fear of the outsider and immigrants.

2) What is gatekeeping?

• Gatekeeping is the process of filtering information prior to dissemination. This process is usually done via the editor, but the gatekeeping process could be seen to be more than simply an editor choosing one story over another, it could also refer to how journalist select certain lines of questioning, or use some words over others to describe people and event. In general, gatekeeping is about opening or closing the channels of communication and, in the case of news, it is a way for news institution to control the ‘flow’ of information passed on to the audience.

3) What are the six ways bias can be created in news?

1. Bias through selection and omission
2. Bias through placement
3. Bias by headline
4. Bias by photos, captions, and camera angles
5. Bias through use of names and titles
6. Bias by choice of words

4) How have online sources such as Twitter, bloggers or Wikileaks changed the way news is selected and published?

• Its only agenda is to bring about ‘transparency’ and ‘freedom of speech’ and it offers a way for audiences to access news stories that may have been mediated or censored prior to being reported.

5) In your opinion, how has the digital age changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values? 

• I believe that despite making it easier to access news from across the world as soon as it breaks people still follow the traditional news values most closely.

6) How would you update these news values for the digital age? Choose TWO of Galtung and Ruge's news values and say how they have been affected by the growth of digital technology.

E.g. Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on social media or elsewhere online. However, this in turn changes the approach of other news sources such as newspapers as the news will probably already be broken so different angles might be required. Newspapers now contain more comment or opinion rather than the breaking story.  

• Continuity - as soon as an update to the story is found newspapers are expected to report on it and keep the audience as up to date with what is going on with the story as possible
• Time span - Newspaper articles no longer have to wait to be published daily and will instead have articles posted as soon as possible after a new story breaks.