The Shaping of News : A Framework for Analysis

Acknowledgments
Contents
About the Author
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Challenges in Critically Reflecting on the Role of News and Journalism in Democracy
Outline of the Book
Reference
Chapter 2: Why Study News? The Democratic Role of News
Introduction
What Is News?
News and Politics
Why Is News Important? A Vital Role in Democracy
Democracy, the News Media, and Journalism: An Interdependent Relationship
Normative Theories About the Role of News and Journalism in Liberal Democracy
The News Media, Deliberation, and Public Opinion: The Public Sphere
Normative Functions of Journalism in Liberal Democracy
Democracy and News Quality: Quantity and the Issue of Diversity
Content Characteristics and Quality
What Is Wrong with Low Quality News?
Change and Crisis: Threats to the Democratic Value of News and Journalism
Changes in the Economics of News
Threats to Public Service Media
Changes in Technology
The Arrival of New Actors and New Outlets
Changing Priorities and Constraints in News Production
New Formats, Mediums, and Forms
Intensified Competition for Audiences
Changes in the Distribution of News
A Crisis of Public Trust
Next Steps: How Can We Understand the Factors at Work in Shaping the Democratic Value of News?
References
Chapter 3: Understanding and Analysing Influences on the Production of News
Introduction
Beyond Analysing Content: What Shapes News?
Disciplinary Approaches to the Study of News
What Is Journalism Studies and What Does It Tell Us About Influences on News?
What Is Political Communication and What Does It Tell Us About Influences on News?
Theoretical Perspectives for Analysing Influences on News
What Theories Have Come from the Sociology of News?
The Political Economy Approach and the Economic Organisation of News
The Political Context and Media Systems
The Social Organisation of News Work
The Social Organisation Approach: Accounting for Changes in News Production
What Does This Mean for How We Should Analyse Influences on the Production of News?
How Can We Understand the Role of Journalists?
The News Organisation
News Audiences and News Sources
Cultural Approaches
A Framework for Analysing Influences on the Production of News
References
Chapter 4: Routines and Practices: Studying the Making of News
Introduction
Studying the Making of News: Routines and Practices
News Selection
What Is Gatekeeping?
What Does Gatekeeping Tell Us About the Influence of Routines on News?
News Values
What Are News Values?
How Do News Values Influence News? Four Themes
Limitations and Uses of News Values in Explaining Influences on News
Gatekeeping in the Era of Digital News
Algorithms and News
What Is Aggregation and Curation?
What Is New About Aggregation and Curation?
How Is Aggregation and Curation Changing Practices and What Are the Consequences for Content?
What Is Wrong with Aggregation and Automation?
The Benefits of Aggregation and Automation
What Are Audience Analytics?
How Are Audience Analytics Changing Practices and What Are the Consequences for Content?
Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: Journalism Norms, Values, and Role Perceptions
Introduction
Journalism as a Professional Identity
Why Is It Important to Ask What It Is to Be a Journalist?
Is Journalism a Profession?
How Is a Profession Defined?
Evaluating Journalism Against the Criteria of a Profession
Approaches to Understanding Shared Norms, Values, and Role Identities
How Do Journalists See Their Role in Society?
What Roles Do Journalists Identify with?
Role Identification Is Messy in Reality
The Relationship Between Values and Practices
Explaining the Disconnect Between Role Perceptions, Conceptions, and Content
The Influence of Objectivity as a Shared Professional Norm
Conceptualising Objectivity
Defining Objectivity
Can and Should Objectivity Influence How Journalists Produce News?
How Does Objectivity Shape News?
The Shifting Value of Objectivity
Objectivity in the Digital Age: Is Transparency the New Objectivity?
What Is Transparency?
How Does Transparency Shape Practices and Is It a New Professional Norm?
Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: Journalism Ethics
Introduction
Defining Journalism Ethics
Ethics in Theory vs. Ethics in Practice
Philosophy and Ethics
The Law and Ethics
Ethical Judgements: What Are They and When Are They Necessary?
The Public Interest—Tension between the Right to Privacy and the Right to Know
Public Interest Considerations in News Decisions
Ethics and Change
How Do Ethics Work in Practice as an Influence on News Production?
Ethical Orientations: Codes, Principles, and Values
What Key Ethical Principles and Values Are Stated in Codes?
What Ethical Orientations Do Journalists Identify With?
A Universal Ethics?
Ethics in Practice
Codes of Ethics in Practice
Individual Ethics vs. Socialisation and Professional Values
The News Organisation
Organisational Culture and Ethos
The Public Interest Role vs. a Commercial Profit-Making Imperative
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: The News Organisation
Introduction
How Has the Influence of the News Organisation Been Conceptualised?
Why and How Does the Macro Context of the News Organisation Matter? The Media System and Market Structures
The Shaping Role of Ownership
Ownership Models and Commercialisation: What Is Commercialisation?
What Is the Relationship between Ownership Models and Content?
How Useful Are Ownership Models for Explaining Variations in News Content?
The Meso Level of the News Organisation: Internal Structures and Organisational Cultures
Studying Internal Organisational Influences
Formal and Informal Structures and Organisational Culture
Socialisation and Autonomy
Editorial Journalism: Illustrating the Influence of Internal Organisational Structures on Production Practices and Content
Editorial Policy as an Explanatory Variable—Accounting for Differences in Content
Formal Structures: Journalistic Roles as Resources
Informal Structures and Selection Practices: Organisational Policy
Where Do Organisational Policies, Aims, and Values Come From? Owners and Editors
Communicating Editorial Policies: Socialisation and Autonomy
Audience Analytics: Eroding or Transforming Autonomy?
Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: News Audiences
Introduction
Conceptualising Audience Relationships with News: The Turn Towards Participation
Audiences as the Public and Citizens
Audiences as Consumers and as a Commodity
Audiences as Receivers and Recipients
Audiences as Participants or Producers
The Audience-Journalist Relationship: How Do Journalists and News Organisations Understand Their Audience?
Changing Motivations to Engage with Audiences
Audiences as Participants: Imagining a Spectrum of Audience Participation
Audiences as Passive Participants: Patterns and Practices of Consumption
Changing Patterns of News Use: Trend and Implications
New Media, New Concerns?
Passive and Unintentional Audience Participation: Personalisation and Segmentation—Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers
What Is the Problem with Selective Exposure?
Semi-Intentional Participation: Sharing, Commenting, and Feedback
Appealing to Audiences with Shareable News and Transforming Audiences into News Distributors
Is Audience-Led Distribution Setting News Agendas?
Audiences as Participants Via Comments Fields and Feedback
Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: News Sources
Introduction
Formative studies: Journalists and sources—an interdependent relationship structured by routines which favour official sources
Why Should We Care Who Gets To Be a Source?
Looking Beyond the Practices of Journalists: The Professionalisation of Sources
Public Relations as a News Source
PR as an Information Subsidy
Why Should We Care About the Influence of PR on Journalism?
The PR-journalist Relationship as a Source of Influence
How Does the PR-journalism Relationship Shape News?
The Move Towards Online Sourcing Practices—An Increasing Voice for Members of the Public as Sources?
How Do Members of the Public Influence News Production as a Source?
Theme 1: The Continuation of Information Subsidies—Supplementing Not Replacing
Theme 2: Social Media—Increasing the Voice of the Public or Replicating the Dominance of Elites?
Questioning the Value of the Public as a News Source
Conclusion—It’s All About Value
References
Chapter 10: Conclusion
Key Themes in Explaining and Analysing the Factors that Shape the Production of News
Theme 1: Explaining News as the Product of Multiple Spheres of Influence
Theme 2: Explaining News Production Practices as a Complex Interplay between Multiple Influences
Theme 3: Explaining News Production as Context Dependent
Theme 4: Explaining the Role of Technology
Theme 5: Analysing Influences on News in Relation to Democratic Quality
Theme 6: Tensions in News Production
Theme 7: Changes in News Production Practices - An Expansion
Future Research Directions and Approaches
Future Research Direction 1: A More Diverse and De-Westernised Understanding of National Cultural Contexts
Future Research Direction 2: A More Diverse Understanding of Organisational Contexts
Future Research Direction 3: A Better Understanding of Audience Expectations of the Role and Function of News and Journalism
Future Research Direction 4: An Updated and Revised Understanding of the Shaping Role of Individual Journalists, their Attributes and Experiences
Why Is Diversity Important?
Can Individuals Make a Difference?
Explaining how Individual Journalists Make a Difference (or Not)
What Is Needed to Support Diversity in Journalism?
What Does all of this Mean for how we Understand and Analyse Individuals as an Influence on the Production of News?
Structuring Approaches for Future Research
References
Index