Statistics for Sociology: The News

-Is the idea that journalists uncritically churn out articles based on second hand news-agency reports and pre-packaged material rather than digging out the news for themselves.

-This second-hand information often goes unchecked.

-Done to compete, cut costs and keep up with 24/7 demand.

-July 2020: According to Sky News, Bury St Edmunds was reported as likely to go into local lockdown - yet there were actually only 3 new reported cases that day in the whole of Suffolk.

-Increasingly used by media companies to help them have access to events – can't be everywhere.

-News coverage by 'ordinary' people can give an alternative view and can also help to expose bias or under representation of less powerful groups in society.

-Affects and shapes the mainstream news 'agenda'.

-Chaotic scenes in US Capitol - 6th January 2021.

-Footage of life during Russo-Ukrainian War.

-Nicola Bulley case - 'Disaster trolls' physically turning up to events (where she was last seen before disappearing) - this disrupted the crime case into finding out what happened to her.

-There are two kinds of this:

-False stories that are deliberately published or sent around, in order to make people believe something untrue or to get lots of people to visit a website.

-Stories that may have some truth to them, but they're not completely accurate. This is because the people writing them - for example, journalists or bloggers - don't check all of the facts before publishing the story, or they might exaggerate some of it.

-Examples: AI reporting, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring.

-Transition from daily newspaper and scheduled TV news to rolling, constant news coverage - increased intensity of news.

-News less likely to be 'in depth' - impact of Twitter (X) and the length of a Tweet (post).

-'snacking'.

-Pressure to keep up can lead to 'churnalism'.

-Podcasts.

-'The Creeping TikTok bans' - BBC News.

-The media market is global and 24/7 and instantly accessible.

-Media organisations are competing in the global marketplace.

-With platforms and social media, stories are harder to ignore because they go viral.

-We are also more aware of global events.

-Individual owners influencing content to suit their own dominant hegemonic viewpoint and status - for example, Rupert Murdoch, GB News, Twitter (X) - Elon Musk.

Desire for profit - competition in the media market means that news companies will want to attract audiences - need to please them and not offend them - often leads to 'infotainment' rather than serious hard journalism.

-News now instantly accessible anytime, anywhere.

-Audience no longer passive in receiving news.

-Rise of citizen journalism.

-Journalists, editors, producers are part of the dominant hegemony.

-Journalists have a hierarchy of credibility - people they see as important in society; these primary definers appear in the news as 'right' or 'reasonable' whereas others are 'wrong' - for example, employers versus strikers.

-Use gatekeeping and agenda setting to maintain dominant hegemonic views - link to representations of crime, different age groups and social groups.