Look at the screened news bulletin extracts and produce a detailed analysis of them

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MEDIA STUDIES 1

MAC201

ASSIGNMENT 1: NEWS VALUES

BY

KIRSTY ALBORZ

For this assignment I am required to look at the screened news bulletin extracts and produce a detailed analysis of them, I must also interlace one of the news concepts within it. The concept that I have decided upon is ‘news values’. I am going to discuss how and why each of the news stories was chosen. I will touch on various points which I feel are relevant to the choice of headline and subsequent stories. I will discuss the news values according to Galtung and Ruge’s specific list devised in1965 and apply them to the selected news stories.  I am going to begin by discussing the BBC news bulletin followed by the others. I am going to at firstly, the Israeli bombing, and I will also discuss the stories which follow this headline as each of them differ greatly between each of the bulletins. I will question why each of the stories have been chosen and discuss why they have been placed in that specific order. The order of the stories gives an insight into each of the separate channels news values and I will deliberate over why I feel they have such news values

News values exist to determine which news should be broadcast.  If a story is important, but not relevant the media can manipulate the story and include words, images and people who will help them relate to the story. “Another thing that makes stories memorable is the vivid verbal or visual imagery” (Sparks et al, 2000: 221)

For example by showing striking images or doing vox-pops, can engage the audience and help them understand more, as people are more likely to pay attention to important issues if they are “presented to them engagingly” (Sparks et al, 2000: 227)

The screened news broadcasts consist of three separate bulletins from the same day.

1

One from each BBC, ITV and C4. I will begin with the story which features as a headline in each of these bulletins. The story of a bomb blast which occurred in Israel. This fits in with five of Galtung & Ruge’s ideas of typical news values, primarily, consonance. This event is something that is not rare in Israel and therefore meets our preconceived ideas about this particular country. However, though it is not a rare event it still comes as unexpected to us. It is also meaningful to the audience, as there is a symbolic relevance to us because ‘ordinary people’ like ourselves have been killed in a terrorist attack.

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“Showing the personal side of public events may be the most effective way to make people understand the impact of those events. Personal narratives, with clear structures, moral point and vivid imagery are memorable”

(Sparks et al, 2000: 217)

Also, although this is not a rare event in Israel, it is still unexpected, so we get the shock element which draws in the audience. Lastly this is a very negative story which is another prime factor about whether a news story is broadcast. Another element which is evident in the headline story throughout the channels is the presence ...

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