News-Making Processes and the Concept of News Values - Assignment Example

CRIME AND MEDIA of Question: How Have Studies Of News-Making Processes And The Concept Of ‘News Values’ Contributed To Understandings Of The Relationship Between Crime And The Media? Which Of The News Values Identified By Jewkes Would You Say Have Become The Most Prominent Recently? Over the years, crime and media have had an intertwined relationship and they influence each other considerably. News production has significantly entailed production of crime news. News media has been playing a fundamental role in shaping policies and attitudes of the society towards crime, perpetrators of crime and victims of crime (Carrabine, 2008, p. 12). The close relationship between crime and media have brought to light a number of questions regarding the entire news production process, news values, and how these aspects have contributed towards a understanding between crime and media. There are those who believe that most of the crime news is distorted by the process of news-making (Dowler, Fleming and Muzzatti, 2006, p. 838). On the other hand, there are those who believe that news media do not distort reality regarding crime news. This debate notwithstanding, there is consensus among criminologists and media professionals that news organizations are dependent on various sources for crime news production. Also, they agree that source organizations are dependent on the media to air crime news (Greer, 2010, p. 29). This research paper would discuss how studies of news-making processes and the concept of “news values” contributed to understandings of the relationship between crime and the media. In discussing this topic, the paper would identify which of the news values identified by Jewkes can be said to have become the most prominent in recent times. Studies of news-making processes and the concept of news-value contribute in understanding of the relationship between crime and the media, and most concepts of news-values that are identified by Jewkes in his book, have become prominent in today’s life in general (Dubois, 2002, p. 32). News making processes involves organization of news and structural determinants that shape mediated image of reality. The process of news-making also entails the assumptions that media professionals make regarding the audience. In respect to crime news, many media professionals believe or rather assume that specialized images of crimes acts would make news and therefore inform the audience or shape their attitudes towards crime (Mac Donald, 2012, p. 32). This assumption is what sometimes leads to distortion of crime images or to selection of stories that media professionals believe would be more attractive to the audience (Dowler, Fleming and Muzzatti, 2006, p. 843). Crime stories that are more likely to be selected for presentation on media as crime news are those that appear to be simple, dramatic, and novel (Carrabine, 2008, p. 27). Another important process of news-making that has contributed to the understanding of the relationship between crime and media is the process of agenda-setting. Agenda-setting process involves sifting and selecting of news item that would be presented as crime news (Randall, Lee-Sammons and Hagner, 2008, p. 910). This process has been critical in understanding of the crime and the media relationship as it provides insight into how the media organizations sift and select news items (Greer, 2010, p. 51). As has been mentioned, the crime news items that are selected are those that are viewed to be simple, dramatic, and novel. In addition, news organizations select news items that they believe would present the “truth” version of the story and therefore would not only be interesting to the audience, but also will be believed by the audience (Brown, 2002, p. 69). The main aim of the agenda-setting process of news-making is to attract audience to viewership of the news, as well as shape their attitudes towards crime. In addition, news-making process entails prioritizing stories so that those crime stories that are deemed to be more interesting and has the potential of shaping society’s attitudes towards crime come first, in-between, or last in the news presentation depending on the goals that the media organization intends to achieve (Mac Donald, 2012, p. 33). Prioritizing of stories is influenced by benefit and mutual cost calculations made both by the source and the media organizations. Similarly, prioritizing of stories in the crime news-making process is aimed at satisfying the organizational needs of the organization. Apart from prioritizing stories, news-making process entails editing of words (Mason, 2003, p. 16). The words are edited to reflect the stories that have been selected and to make reporting more attractive and interesting. Word editing process tend to includes words that report on unusual crime situations, overreport a crime, or ignore aspects that are not deemed to be attractive or relevant to the audience (Carrabine, 2008, p. 79). Along with that, editing of words process is used to put wordings that emphasis on ethnic, economic, social, and racial factors that could have led to the crime act and therefore inform the audience about possible factors that lead to criminal activities (Randall, Lee-Sammons and Hagner, 2008, p. 914). Moreover, the process of news-making involves adoption of certain tones and visual images that are aimed at framing a crime story in a particular way. Adoption of tone such as of excitement and sadness intends to reflect how the news organization takes particular crime news and how it expects its audience to respond to the news (Dowler, Fleming and Muzzatti, 2006, p. 845). Adoption of a certain tone is often accompanied by visual images that are aimed at framing the crime news in a given way. Adoption of tones and visual images has the ability of convincing the public that crime indeed took place (Mason, 2003, p. 19). Moreover, adoption of tones and visual images tend to show the actual or perceived shifts in crime. For example, it can show how certain crimes have increased over a certain period of time, or which crime is more unique (Dubois, 2002, p. 39). Like studies of news-making processes, the concept of “news values” has significantly contributed to understandings of the relationship between crime and the media. News values influences what prominence a media outlet gives to a news story and the attention that the audience gives to the news story (Greer, 2010, p. 98). In other words, news values refer to the “newsworthiness” of certain news. It is important to note that news values vary from one place to another due to different cultures and socialization process among other factors. Concept of news values is what informs the value judgment that editors and journalists make about public interest and public appeal (Randall, Lee-Sammons and Hagner, 2008, p. 921). There are eight major values that that determine the news values or newsworthiness. These values determine the newsworthiness of news stories, particularly the crime news. Studies of these values have significantly contributed to understandings of the relationship between crime and the media (Mac Donald, 2012, p. 34). The first media value that has contributed to understandings of the relationship between crime and the media is prominence. This value applies to the people that particular news story is about (Mason, 2003, p. 25). If the crime occurrences features well known institutions and/ or individuals then they are newsworthy. The prominence may arise from the power that an institution or a person possesses. A good example is the crimes story about fashion designer Gianni Versace or Princess Diana (Carrabine, 2008, p. 112). The second news value that contributed to understanding of the relationship between crime and the media is proximity. Proximity refers to the emotional or physical closeness of a news story to the audience and helps the viewers or readers of a story to relate to it on a more personal level. The proximity can be gauged by how events are close geographically or emotionally or are distant from the assumed expectations, interests and expectations (Randall, Lee-Sammons and Hagner, 2008, p. 926). A good example of this value is the physical proximity of Susan Boyle, a singer who rose to fame on The X Factor, a British reality show. The closer the media got to the hometown of Boyle, the heavier her reportage got and the greater her news became. Furthermore, currency is another news value that contributed to the understandings between crime and the media. This value contributed to the understanding of crime and the media by ensuring that certain crime events assume a life of their own, and assumes momentum in news reportage for a particular time (Mac Donald, 2012, p. 34). September 11, 2001 attacks and the shooting at midnight cinema screen by James Holmes in Colorado are good examples of how currency as a news value contributed to the understanding between crime and the media. The other value that contributed to the understanding between crime and the media is timeliness (Greer, 2010, p. 89). This value is almost similar to currency; timeliness refers to stories that are hard-hitting and have important developments that would lose newsworthiness if they are not reported immediately (Brown, 2002, p. 114). News that has the value of timeliness must be reported at the earliest opportunity that is possible. This value is hinged on the view that the more recent a story, the more newsworthy. A good example is the crime news on the gunman who killed six people in Wisconsin’s Sikh Temple before he was shot by the police, in August 2012. Conflict is a news value that contributed to understandings between crime and the media. This value entails dispute between two or more parties such as in a case of political conflict or war. Open clashes and controversies are newsworthy as they invite attention on their own regardless of what they are about. While most of conflicts are economic and social in nature, they usually end up being criminal and therefore amounting to criminal news (Dubois, 2002, p. 44). Also, impact is a news value that relates to the importance, consequence, or significance of a trend or event. If crime news covers a larger number of people for whom an event is important, the greater the newsworthiness. For example the crime news that covered the killing of 32 people and wounding of 15 others by a student at Virginia Tech was considered of great importance and consequence as it affected a large group. Moreover, human interest is a news value that contributed to understandings of the relationship between crime and the media. Human interest value involves those stories that are heart-wrenching about achievements, challenges, and people. However, stories with this value tend to have more entertainment factor compared to the other values. Most of them are considered as feature-style or soft news stories (Dowler, Fleming and Muzzatti, 2006, p. 850). This value contributed to the understanding between crime and the media by helping media professionals to create and present crime stories that in one way or another has the potential of shaping the society’s attitudes to crime. Also, human interest value plays a main role in developing an important understanding that is critical in shaping policies that are aimed at reducing or preventing crime (Brown, 2002, p. 146). The final news value that contributed to understanding of crime and the media is the bizarre. This value involves the unorthodox, unexpected, or the unusual events that attracts attention as they often out of the ordinary. A good example of crime news that this value contributed to the understanding between crime and the media is the disqualification of Boxer Nike Tyson after he bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear. This story took most part of the sports news and newspaper pages (Greer, 2010, p. 120). Yvonne Jewkes identified a number of news values that have become the most prominent recently. According to Jewkes (2011, p. 41), observed that audiences would absorb and take what media represent and inform to the society. A closer look at the views of Jewkes reveals the main values that she identified and which have become prominent recently. She identifies values including impact, prominence, conflict, human interest, and currency and which facilitates absorbing and taking of what media represent and inform to the audiences. Jewkes points out that despite media being taken as a window on the world, media images are not reality and that there is another reality version. The values of impact, prominence, conflict, human interest, and currency are what inform the media organizations to be selective on crime news and events (Jewkes, 2004, p. 39). They tend to select on crime stories that could sell and draw more public attention. By using strong negativity and strong form of linguistic in crime news, media outlets seek to shape the policies and attitudes of the society towards crime (Jewkes, 2011, p. 101). Jewkes (2004, p. 48) also argues that while the criteria of newsworthiness and news values vary across different cultures and societies, most media outlets develop and present their crime news based on the news values of impact, prominence, conflict, human interest, and currency. Bibliography Brown, S. (2002). Crime, law and media culture. Buckingham, [England], Open University Press. Carrabine, E. (2008). Crime, culture and the media. Cambridge, MA, Polity Press. Dowler, K, Fleming, T, & Muzzatti, S 2006, Constructing Crime: Media, Crime, and Popular Culture, Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 48, 6, pp. 837-850 Dubois, J 2002, MEDIA COVERAGE OF ORGANIZED CRIME -- POLICE MANAGERS SURVEY, Trends In Organized Crime, 7, 4, pp. 29-54. Greer, C. (ed.) (2010) Crime and the Media: A Reader, London: Routledge. Jewkes, Y. (ed.) (2011) Crime and Media three-volume set, Sage Library of Criminology, London: Sage. Jewkes, Y. (2004) Media and Crime, London: Sage. Mason, P. (2003). Criminal visions: media representations of crime and justice. Cullompton, Willan. Mac Donald, H 2012, The Crime Reporting You Never Read, National Review, 64, 14, pp. 32-34 Muraskin, R., & Domash, S. F. (2007). Crime and the media: headlines versus reality. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall. Randall, D, Lee-Sammons, L, & Hagner, P 2008, COMMON VERSUS ELITE CRIME COVERAGE IN NETWORK NEWS, Social Science Quarterly (University Of Texas Press), 69, 4, pp. 910-929 Read More