News values essay

Which news values apply in the story? Give rang of examples and make specific reference to theory including Galtung and Ruge and narrative. Consider the role of ideology.

News values are non-written rules but implement ideology for journalists as to what they should and should not write about. Galtung and Ruge are theorist that argue that news is structured according to unspoken values, rather than discovered. Some of the news values include: Frequency, this value is to do with the time scale of events perceived to be newsworthy. In pre- web 2.0 days, stories which unfolded daily were flavored. Now with a much faster news agenda, 24 rolling news channels, online and social, events need to be much more frequent to be favored in new coverage. Threshold, this value is to do with the time scale of events perceived to be newsworthy. In pre- web 2.0 days, stories which unfolded daily were flavored. Now with a much faster news agenda, 24 rolling news channels, online and social, events need to be much more frequent to be favored in new coverage. Proximity, this value is to do with how close to home a story is. Proximity clearly has an ideological agenda.... stories from the west are favored over those from the developing world, regardless of the geographical proximity. This reinforces existing prejudices and 'otherness' (Gilroy). Negativity, if it's news, it's bad news. News with a happy ending will be favored, but usually catastrophe and images of violence are covered over positive stories. Predictability, predictable news which has a result to be expected such as violence. Continuity and narrative - news involves story - telling just like fiction, and it is convenient for journalists to cover stories which are likely to continue over a period, with new events unfolding. Protagonists, antagonists and the other recognizable characters will drive the narrative. Binary oppositions (Levi-Strauss) will be favored to help the audience to understand quite complex stories. Composition, newspapers need to be balanced out, and if the editor feels that there is a disproportionate type of one news. Personalization, events are often personalized to give them a human-interest angle. Like continuity, characters can be created to create types and binary oppositions. Non-white people in the media are often defined according to what makes them different from the 'white' majority. These values are usually negative.

The news story I have chosen is about the recent winner of the popular British show ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here!’. It was announced yesterday that the reality star and known for her work in Made in Chelsea, Georgia Toffolo has been named Queen of the jungle.

This short article shows the news values of proximity, composition and frequency.

The use of proximity is shown as it is a British television show that is popular every year and involves British celebrities. In addition, the use of the infamous duo Ant and Dec helps encourage viewers to watch as there are known and loved by all and the mentioning of them in this article will allow readers to know at least one or two people even if they do not know who Georgia Toffolo is. Furthermore, this story made a few front pages in newspapers and on their website as this is a huge television event that is known for their British audience and will not be classed as the ‘other’ like other countries that are not reported on enough or at all as we do not have a strong connection with them unless it’s threatening our nation.

The use of frequency is used in this article as it says ‘The I'm A Celebrity final attracted an average of 9.2 million live viewers on Sunday night. It was ITV's third biggest audience of the year - behind the series' launch show and the One Love Manchester concert - with a 41% share of the total TV audience. The Strictly Come Dancing results show earlier in the night had more viewers however, with an average of 11.1 million viewers; while the final episode of Blue Planet II attracted an audience of 10.36m.’ The fact that the show ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here!’ is very popular this time of year means more would want to watch it as it’s known for mostly it’s drama and comedy, which then leads to those reading the article to enjoy it due to this value. This also links to threshold due to the size of the audience.

Furthermore, the use of composition is used in this article as it brings forth the idea of girl power as a woman, Georgia Toffolo, has won the title of ‘Queen of the jungle’ which is usually won by men, making them the ‘King of the jungle’. There have only been now 3 winners of ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here!’ that are female making this almost a surprise to some but showing that females can win what is seen to be manlier. The ideology that women are incapable of doing specific male roles can be disproven by this article and begins to break down the patriarchy due to this. On the other hand, the show is run by 2 males who control what happens, making this event half and half. In addition, it was said by previous queen of the jungle Scarlett Moffatt that ‘It’s girls like you that make me feel proud to be a young woman. I am so proud of you.’ Although this encourages women to become manlier, it also puts them into a category believing they couldn’t do it in the first place by saying ‘It’s girls like you’ and ‘make me feel proud to be a young woman’. Thus, presenting the news value of composition as it balances out the article with genders.

In conclusion, this article presents subtle news values making it a very enjoyable news story from the entertainment industry and proves Galtung and Ruge right that news is structured according to unspoken values rather than discovered as our contemporary society is changing ideology, values and norms within different communities. News values maintain the ideal of achieving objectivity and truth which has been demonstrated.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42284022