NDM: news values.

Galtung and Ruge (1981) defined a set of news values to explain how journalists and editors decided that certain stories and photographs were accepted as newsworthy, while others were not. 

The following list is adapted from their work:

Immediacy: has it happened recently?
Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain?
Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
Frequency: does the event happen fairly regularly?
Unambiguity: is it clear and definite?
Predictability: did we expect it to happen?
Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event?
Continuity: has this story already been defined as news?
Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?
Negativity: is it bad news?
Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death.

Classwork/Homework

How has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?

How would you update them for 2015?

In a blog post, write how EACH news value has been affected by the growth of new and digital technology.

Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on Twitter 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.

Familiarity: The internet isn't just exposed in Britain. There are many stories and many ways to access it around the world. As the internet is accessed anywhere we can get stories from around the world, we can see and hear the stories and the people around the world can read the stories from Britain.

Amplitude: News stories about protests or riots generally create a lot of media attention and are widely talked about therefore reporting these stories is likely to appeal to the audience as it is always an interesting topic. 

Frequency: Some stories from a specific category are always in the news as they generate a lot of attention from the audience because people are interested in this type of content. For example rape or murder cases are always a major news story when they occur as they are seen as inhumane and typically create the same response every time but still manage to remain popular.

Unambiguity: Unambiguity is important because more and more people want clear and definite news. People want to make sure that they news that they're reading is accurate and usually through citizen journalism videos that are published on-line, do people believe in the news that they see.

Predictability: New and digital media has made news stories a lot more predictable as they tend to post similar stories to the past. It is predictable that Google will take over advertising as they are such a huge institution however it is much easier to piece parts of this story together using different news providers than it would be by using a physical newspaper.

Surprise: Having news stories that are unpredictable tends to create a social media uproar especially on Twitter which wouldn't be possible without the developments in technology. It allows various users to share their views on unexpected events and for this news to travel very quickly worldwide. 

Continuity: Additionally continuity is affected as social media platforms do not have a certain agenda backing them up, it is usually stories that people find interesting and may differ and not always be the same. This can be interlinked with balance, as they don't need to alter the order  on news being presented social media. 

Elite nations and people: Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow elite people to portray themselves in the way they want but the things they post and tweet can form a news story if it is significant. This is less possible with printed newspapers as the articles are formed by these people's actions rather than words meaning social media allows scope for these "elite" people to be judged.

Negativity: Bad news is the easiest kind of news to deliver whether it is online or paper based as audiences seem to be majorly interested in it- it creates a topic for discussion. It can be easily delivered on a channels main news bulletin or online and create a worldwide response much faster for example the Madeline Macann case.

Balance: It is easier to balance out negative stories with a positive one through television or for tabloid newspapers as they can compliment the person  for broadsheet it is much harder unless something significantly important happens such a female MP is elected or running.

Update for 2015:
I would get rid of unambiguity as nobody tries to figure out what a news story means if it doesn't make proper sense and I would add in a positive news value as positive news stories aren't only used to balance out the bad news, they deliver information to the audience too.

2 Article Summaries (6)

Sony to pay staff $8m over 'The Interview' hack.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/11944160/Sony-to-pay-staff-8m-over-The-Interview-hack.html

Summary.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has reached a settlement with current and former employees. The settlement was filed with the US District Court in Los Angeles. Hackers calling themselves Guardians of Peace broke into Sony computers and last November released thousands of emails and documents in an attempt to derail the release of the North Korean-focused comedy The Interview.

Key Data.

• The agreement calls for up to $10,000 a person, capped at $2.5m, to reimburse workers for identity theft losses, up to $1,000 each to cover the cost of credit-fraud protection services, capped at $2m, and up to $3.5m in legal fees.
• agreeing to pay up to $8m to reimburse them for losses preventative measures and legal fees related to the hack of its computers last year.

My view.

due to this hacking, i agree that sony should pay. they did wrong and therefore have to pay the price. 

Jeremy Corbyn just gave his first big interview – and people loved it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-just-gave-his-first-big-interview-and-people-loved-it-a6669036.html

Summary.

Jeremy Corbyn’s first big TV interview, on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, has been received with praise on social media. the party’s new leader made a series of frank admissions over big, divisive issues. Viewers appeared to lap up the controversial statements. The twittersphere was clogged with users falling over themselves to praise Mr Corbyn’s refreshing method of answering a journalist’s questions at face value. Many viewers were critical of Marr's interview style. Mr Corbyn readily admitted there are divisions in Labour. But even Mr Corbyn’s strongest New Labour critics had to admit he gave a strong performance on the show.

My View.

Corbyn has had a very good first interview and i think it is seen as a really big thing across the country that people are very happy with him and what he has to say.

Citizen Journalist Examples

The concept of citizen journalism (also known as "public", "participatory", "democratic", "guerrilla" or "street" journalism) is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information." Citizen journalism should not be confused with community journalism or civic journalism, both of which are practiced by professional journalists. Citizen journalism is a specific form of both citizen media and user generated content.

1. -Having caught Rodney King, an African-American, after a high speed chase, the officers surrounded him, tasered him and beat him with clubs. The event was filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window. The home-video footage made prime-time news and became an international media sensation. 

2. journalists are losing their jobs, as what they usually do for a living is being taken over by this ugc which shows more reliable and more accessible information which may not be shown by real jurnalists so sooner or later they wont really be needed as much. 

3. In Ferguson, Missouri this week, the public has turned the notion of “see something, say something” back on the state, via a digital tool of enormous power: online pictures and video. Their efforts – which began days before reporters descended when Twitter user @TheePharaoh posted pictures immediately after a police officer killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown – have helped bring international attention to both Brown’s death and law enforcement’s disproportionate response to the ensuing protests. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/16/fergusons-citizen-journalists-video

4. The nominated stories paint an intimate portrait of the topics and events that dominated the news cycle last year. A 10-year-old boy describes what it's like to live with autism. Beautiful photographs capture the sense of wonder among a crowd watching a Mars Curiosity rover broadcast. A personal essay recounts the horror of escaping the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater where a mass shooting took place.

5. People around the world posted more than 100,000 stories on CNNiReport.com last year. Out of that, 10,789 were vetted for CNN, which means they were fact-checked and approved to be broadcast on CNN TV or featured on CNN.com. And over the past few months, the iReport team and a panel of CNN producers sorted through all those stories to select 36 nominees in six categories: Breaking News, Original Reporting, Compelling Imagery, Personal Story, Commentary and, new this year, In-depth Storytelling.

6. In the eight months since the Patriots last won the Super Bowl, the New England fandom has endured the worst winter in recorded history, an accidental Olympics, an Associates degree in labor and arbitration law, and an avant-garde artistic rendering of Tom Brady after being hit in the face with a tire iron (now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts). It all started with the release of an honest, fair and 
balanced. http://www.litterareport.com/_st884d247c6f65a96a7da4d1105d584ddd

7.Popular examples of citizen journalism breaching the mainstream media on an international and national field include the Arab spring uprising, the Occupy movement or the commentary in the blogosphere that tracked the summer riots in the UK. The influence can also be felt at a local level, where there are numerous examples of community blogging sites reporting on causes and campaigns, a role formerly championed by a local press now heavily in decline ii. From both the formal and informal interpretations of Citizen Journalism, one message seems to come through more clearly than others: the relationship to news. 

8. An asylum seeker fighting for their right to stay in a country, challenging a court decision or arguing injustice, is a news story. There is human interest and a clear trajectory of beginning, middle and end; they arrived, there was a ruling, there will be a final outcome. The news story will end when they are either deported or gain leave to remain. Community Reporting however is more interested in all the other stories that make up the person at the centre of the news…and to give them the tools and the platform to share those stories.

9. For some campaigners, there is an important issue here about the freedoms we should have the right to exercise without being policed by ‘Big Brother’. And whilst that is an interesting arena for all who create and share user-generated content, we take a different stance when it comes to our Community Reporters. As part of the standards monitored by the Institute of Community Reporters we issue badges to reporters, as mentioned above. In order to receive the badge, all reporters must go through training around Best Practice guidelines. 

10. Additionally, the live chase for the men guilty of the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013 saw news channels relying heavily upon the updates of citizens living in the area to establish what was happening. This was captured through videos, pictures, tweets, skype calls, blogs and many more mediums. Even the 6-second video app, Vine, is being used to upload news footage from the scene:

2 article summaries (5)

Ofcom to take on regulation of video-on-demand services

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/14/video-on-demand-ofcom-atvod

Ofcom to regulate services such as Channel 4’s All4 and Sky’s Now TV, which were previously overseen by ATVOD

Video-on-demand services including Channel 4’s All4 and Sky’s Now TV will be regulated by broadcast and communications regulator Ofcom.

Currently TV-like services delivered over the internet are regulated by a separate body authorised by Ofcom, the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD), which follows similar rules. These rules will still apply, but be overseen by Ofcom.

The change, which will come into force in January will mean more resources are available to cover video-on-demand issues.

The change, which will come into force in January will mean more resources are available to cover video-on-demand issues.

MY VIEW..

I believe TV services delivered over the internet from outside the UK, such as Netflix, are not covered by ATVOD, and YouTube, even when used to post content by UK broadcasters, also falls outside its remit. However, Amazon Prime Instant Video, which is delivered via the company’s UK subsidiary, is covered.

The Weekly Beast: tough questions for News Corp hacks going for ABC job

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/14/the-weekly-beast-tough-questions-for-news-corp-journalist-going-for-abc-job

Amanda Meade

Journalists at Australian on shortlist for ABC news director. Plus Sarah Ferguson’s candid advice for anyone thinking of going into marketing

Working at Rupert Murdoch’s Australian newspaper – the self-appointed chief critic of the ABC – apparently does not make one less enthusiastic about a job at the public broadcaster. We understand that not one but two of editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell’s colleagues applied for the job as director of ABC News, vacated recently by Kate Torney.

We can imagine the ABC board’s interview with a candidate from the Australian might have been a little awkward.

MY VIEW..
i believe council considers the level of offence must be assessed in the overall context of the publication, its style and its readership,” the adjudication said. “In the circumstances, the council considers that the article was not substantially offensive and so did not breach the council’s standards in relation to general principle 6.”

NDM News: Citizen journalism

Media Magazine: The Rise and Rise of UGC (Dec 2009). 

examples

• LA police officers beating Rodney King with clubs and tasering him. The home video made prime time news.
• The natural disaster of the Asian Tsunami on December 26th 2004 was another turning point for UGC
• the London bombings on July 5th 2005, provided another opportunity for citizen journalists. 
• It was on Twitter again that the story of the Hudson River plane crash on January 15th 2009 was broken to the world.

theory (audience etc.) 

• the audience have become ‘users’ and the users have become  publishers. Audiences now create their own their own content.
• We are in the era of user generated content (UGC) 

benefits to institutions 

• Citizen journalism benefits institutions as it makes their company more known; they're gaining more views from the public.

benefits to audience 

• It allows them to see a different side to the story as the media may decide to filter out

wider issues and debates 

• However, audiences may misinterpret the footage in another way as the quality maybe be poor e.g too shaky and blurry.

SHEP

social - creates moral panic to the audience and viewers as citizen journalist can be anyone and film things live which are not edited therefore their news are the 'truth'
- also causes the audience to take action about the footage and what is happening eg riots. 

historical - everything was communicated through word of mouth due to there being no mobile phones etc. stereotypes and moral panics have always been in peoples minds 

economical - there were a few economic problems are there was less communication from the police during the riots in order to stop them as 53 people died and 4000 got injured which causes chaos 

political - causes negative reputation to the political side of all of this as the riots are negatively representing the UK due to the fights/fire/death of people that had caused chaos in news channels and also perliments.






Next, answer the following questions in the same blogpost:

1) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?

 -The term citizen journalism, is where the public record footage themselves and publish it on social networking sites for everyone to watch globally 

2) What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’? 

-Having caught Rodney King, an African-American, after a high speed chase, the officers surrounded him, tasered him and beat him with clubs. The event was filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window. The home-video footage made prime-time news and became an international media sensation,

3) List some of the formats for participation that are now offered by news organisations.

 -comments

 -chat rooms

 -talk shows

 -being able to share stories

4) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)? -ugc is more of a uncencored and low-quality footage, it is more real and shows the other side of the story which professionally shot footage doesnt.5) What is a gatekeeper? -someone who controls the information and content that is allowed it be published.6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed? -there are less people control the content that is published, information is more accessible, also ugc doesnt have gatekeepers as it does not go through the editing and censoring process.7) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?

-journalists are losing their jobs, as what they usually do for a living is being taken over by this ugc which shows more reliable and more accessible information which may not be shown by real jurnalists so sooner or later they wont really be needed as much. 

Finally, consider the following questions and answer each bullet point in the same blogpost:
What impact is new/digital media having on the following:news stories

 -people are now able to access news from many different platforms and sites. there is more ugc for news which provides another side of the story which makes the readers more aware. 

the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news) -uncensored news can now be shown. there is also more informal news that may be on less important topics.

the role of professionals in news

 -the role that professionals have is becoming less important and less needed as ordinary people can deliver the content with ugc which may be more reliable and convenient. 

Newspapers: The effect of online technology

1) Do you agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online? Why?

- i do not agree with James Murdoch as the BBC is a public service broadcast who provides news for free. if BBC start to charge money for their online news service then not only will they lose viewers, but also they will be going against their own title of a PSB which may ruin their reputation.

2) Read this blog on the Times paywall three years on.

3) Was Rupert Murdoch right to put his news content (The Times, The Sun) behind a paywall?

it may be useful to rupert murdoch if he puts his news content behind a paywall, and it has been useful so far. 'The Times and The Sunday Times have now amassed a total of 140,000 paying digital subscribers'. this may prove to be useful for him as he is able to make a profit. however as many people may prefer not to pay a subscription fee, they may go to other news sites for information which could prove to be a loss for murdoch. 

4) Choose two comments from below the Times paywall article - one that argues in favour of the paywall and one that argues against. Copy a quote from each and explain which YOU agree with and why.

For the paywall: 'what's the point of having a web presence if you make no money?'

Against the paywall: 'One can get the same "news" for free almost anywhere on the internet. I'd take a hint from the alternative free weeklies that survive just off their local advertising. I don't think anyone would read them otherwise. These papers are full of paid advertising. The fee model will never work.' 
                  
- I agree with the comment against the paywall because as it says that almost the same news stories can be found pretty much from any other website so if you attach a price onto it then people will just go elsewhere to get their news. 


5) Read this article from the Media Briefing on the continuing decline of the newspaper industry. 

6) Why do you think the Evening Standard has bucked the trend and increased circulation and profit in the last two years?

The evening standard is more available now than before, especially underground where mobile phones don't always work so people turn the newspapers in print form which the evening standard has taken to its advantage as they know people would want some form of entertainment while on their way to work or so on the train which has been very beneficial to the evening standard.

7) Is there any hope for the newspaper industry or will it eventually die out? Provide a detailed response to this question explaining and justifying your opinion.

in my opinion i believe that eventually the newspaper industry would die out. this is because technology continues to grow and expand and take over many things. having technology makes it more convenient for us as the audience to access information and news in other forms. citizen journalism, for example, is a growing way in which ordinary people share things that happen through social media which is actually becoming more and more common as time progresses. although at this moment the newspaper industry is still of use, it is particularly by the older generation which is soon likey to change as more and more people are becoming so enslaved with technology that it is used for everyday things and even the smallest questions and information, it is all available on the internet. i personally use the internet if i need to access news, i never read print based and im sure that is the case with many people of this generation. 

2 Article Summaries. (4)

Facebook down for second time in a week..

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/28/facebook-down-for-second-time-in-a-week

Summary

Facebook has had its second outage in less than a week. the social networks mobile app and internet page seemed to be down with a message displaying, “Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.”

Statistical information

• The company’s shares were down nearly 4% at $89.25 (£58.83) in afternoon trading.

My view

In my view facebook is not that popular so many people may not have been that affected by the site being shut down temporarily as there are many other alternatives to facebook in this day and age such as instagram, snapchat etc. therefore it shouldnt have been that much of a big deal.

Mobile ad spend hits new high as consumers remain glued to smartphones

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11917805/Mobile-ad-spend-hits-new-high-as-consumers-remain-glued-to-smartphones.html

Summary

People have been spending a lot of money on mobile advertisements and it has been very high for the first time. the smartphone internet use has exploded and it now being used more than every and phone advertisements are expected to take over tv and other forms by the end of the decade.

Statistical information

• mobile phone advertising has topped £1bn for the first time
• Mobile ad budgeting rose 51pc – or £370m - to £1.08bn in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period in 2014.
•  Three-quarters of adults in the UK now own a smartphone and most regularly use their devices on public transport, at work and while shopping. Almost half of 18 to 24-year-olds check their device within five minutes of waking, according to separate analysis by Deloitte.
• The internet is the fastest-growing medium for advertising and is expected to surpass television ad spend by the end of the decade.
• in total, advertisers spent a record £3.98bn on digital advertising in the first half of the year
• The fact remains, as consumers spend more time on connected devices, advertisers must increasingly direct their attention and budgets there.

My view

in my view i agree that people are spending more times on their phones as it has become increasingly popular especially advertiseents, although ads are very annoying.