Who and what determines the content of the news that we receive?

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Chloë MorrisWho and what determines the content of the new that we receive?    There are many elements that decide what news we, the public, are exposed to obviously some are more influential than others but each factor has a part in the selection process.News values have a great bearing when it comes to determining the news content, each can halt a stories journey to the front page or alternatively boost it to centre stage. The news values are the basic guidelines journalists follow when choosing which features are most relevant to their audience, which will attract most interest, which will improve the companies image and so on, vital news values include proximity, personalisation, threshold and composition.Within these news values “gate-keepers” (editors and owners) have the power to completely overrule any decisions about which features are included and which aren’t – because of this the news we are exposed to can often be biased as the owner of a newspaper is extremely unlikely to publish reports damaging their reputation. The media can also be reshaped if a story is likely to break partnerships between the owner/editor and their allies, if any narrative projects a negative
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image of any people or companies which fund or befriend the media text then the story will not be included. An example of this is the case of Princess Diana’s affair with James Hewitt. Rupert Murdock, the owner of The Sun newspaper, new about this story three years before it was actually exposed, he held the story because he was close with the royal family and did not want to loose this influential ally.Similarly the beliefs and morals that structure the news, especially newspapers, are those of the gate-keepers, this has an enormous effect on society as its probable the ...

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