Outline and assess the view that media professionals are responsible for constructing the content of the news.

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Outline and assess the view that media professionals are responsible for constructing the content of the news.

News is shaped by a number of factors including economic considerations involving costs and profits. Williams (2003) identified other influences including the power of media professionals, organisational factors, including the time and space available and the culture of society. This shows that media professionals are responsible for constructing the content of the news as they decide what is worthy of being reported as news; how decisions are made and who writes reports. However not everything reported in the new is factual and only the important or sensationalised news e.g. Kate Middleton photographed topless and it went viral. This shows that the public were more interested in seeing naked photos of Kate than other agendas such as starving children in Africa.

Journalists who are trained media professionals who report on events and issues for print and broadcast media. This means that people think if news as a window on the world. When deciding what to report journalists use a range of criteria known as values. This is news that is important to us.

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News values reflect the belief and attitudes journalist hold some are unconscious this is another way in which media professional are responsible for constructing the news.  This shows that the beliefs shape the way news is constructed also influence the ways stories are written. Galtung and Ruge analysed values that were present in stories that reached the top news agenda. However Vestorman (1995) says ‘news is not out there journalist do not report news they construct it they reconstruct reality. However Harcup and O’Neill who are coming from a Marxist perspective still see a value in Galtung and Ruge’s work ...

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