NEWS AGENDA VS. DISCOURSE

JOURNALISM REVIEW

• CRITERIA FOR NEWSWORTHINESS: Proximity, Prominence, Consequence, Timeliness, Visual Interest

• News as Produced Content• Manufacturing Consent: Demonizing, Lies,

Disinformation, Omission, Propagnda

• Professionalism and the Press

NEWS AGENDA

• What is a news agenda?• News tends to be more negative than

positive

• News Organizations set their agenda by what they cover and how they cover it

NEWS AS GENRE

• Heroes and Villains: Sidney Crosby, political leaders, Muammar Qaddafi

• Stock Characters: Expert witnesses, pundits, dedicated correspondents

• Repetitive Story Lines: war, disaster, conflict, crime, government corruption/ineptitude

• Increasing Need for Visuals has lead to greater focus on celebrities

So What?

• Critics suggest that if news has these regular features, how is it an open discussion of the day’s events?

• Is it objective?

What is Discourse?

• Discourse is a way of thinking and talking about a subject.

• A Theme that rise up from time to time.

• Corporate Fat Cats and the Public Trough

China: Giant Emerging or Global Threat

ISLAM AND THE ARAB WORLD: CHANGE

OR FEAR

DEMOCRACY: What the World Aspires To

Some Other Themes Emerge

News Ownership: Objectivity or Agenda

Citizen Journalists

Moral Panic