News Values

"Quizzed.. The chef & nurse" - The Sun
Police are investigating seven suspicious deaths at an old people's home.

Meaningfulness: Treatment ofthe eldery is an important topic to many as a number of people have elderly relatives in homes etc.

Continuity: This is a subject that has been in and out of the news over a long period of time. The article also refers to six other suspicious deaths in July 2004.

Composition: The term 'suspicious deaths' points towards mistreatment and the article features photographs of two people who have 'been arrested on suspicion of administering a poisonous substance'. However to balance this there is also a quote from a glowing report for the home.

"Al Qaeda chief admits plot to blow up Big Ben" - The Daily Mail
A terrorist has confessed to plots to blow up London landmarks.

Frequency: Obviously terrorism has been a big issue in the news for years and the man who is behind this 'masterminded the September 11 atrocities'.

Threshold: Londoners are always alert to the threat of terrorism and this is globally big news.

Negativity: In recent years there have been several news stories of both failed and successful terrorist plots and obviously it's always bad news to know that we're under threat.

"Tsvangirai tries to inspire opposition with his injuries" - The Independent
Zimbabwe's opposition leader speaks of being beaten by Robert Mugabe's police, and tries to inspire other's to join his struggle against the regime.

Frequency: The wider context of this specific story has been in the news for many years as in recent times Mugabe has attracted much criticism for alleged corruption.

Consonance: Due to this representation of Robert Mugabe this story would be likely to fit with the audiences expectations of what he is capable of

Reference to elite persons: Robert Mugabe is a well-known figure worldwide and stories of his actions would therefore be of interest due to his reputation for corruption

"95 Labour MPs say no. But Blair gets his missile" - The Guardian
The story of Parliements vote on sending billions to update nuclear armaments and Blair's Labour rebellion but Tory support

Threshold: This story is important not only in terms of the fact that incredible amounts of money are being spent on WMDs but also because Blair found support from the Tories, not his own party.

Meaningfulness: This lack of support from Labour suggests a weakness in government and that Blair is losing Labour support with this being the biggest Labour rebellion since 1997.

Reference to elite persons: Primeminister Tony Blair always makes big news with his descisions and conflicts within the government.

"COUNCIL TAX TO ROCKET" - Daily Express
Secret plans for rises in council taxes will be revealed next week.

Meaningfulness: This is important to peple across the nation due to everyone having to pay council tax.

Composition: This particular article in the Daily Express uses a number of emotive words such as 'plans to hammer millions of families with bigger council tax bills' and 'rattled ministers' which suggests that the intended meaning and stance of this text is clear.

Reference to elite persons: Gordon Brown is mentioned within the article. Supposedly the next Primeminister.

By Avinash and Alice

Three Different Theories:

Uses and Gratification:
>About auidences making choices of how and when they consume media texts. >More of an active auidence rather than a passive one.
>Richard Kilborn-reasons for watching soaps..regular routine, social interaction, personal etc.
>Criticism-We choose media that we watch from what is avaliable. Have no control over what is shown etc.

Effects Theory:
>Brought forward by the *Frankfurt School*
>Hypodermic Needle-inject the passive audience with ideologies.
>Moral Panics created by the violence in the media. Audience may act the same way, due to them being passive.
>Cultivation Model-Desensitised. Seen too often so they are not sensitive to what is being shown.
>Two Step Flow-active to the text, passive to the critics.

Reception Theory:

...Laura Mulvey's Theory...

The female is there to be looked at. The men gain a pleasure out of looking at the woman. Men do the looking, and women are there to be looked at. Men-active, Women-Passive. Feels there are to different modes for looking: *Voyeuristic* and *Fetishistic* We are encourged to identify with the protagnist, who is usually male. The camera and the film is made in a way which causes us and allows us to go through the male gaze, by looking at a woman through a males point of view.

I agree with Mulvey's theory, as i believe women are still objectified in this way but not only through film, but through other media texts such as magazines, newspapers etc. I feel there are different modes of looking, but if a woman is being presented to us in a certain way, then we as an auidence are forced to look at her through a males perspective. Due to camera positioning.

Pluralism:

Pluralists view society as a system of competing groups and interests none of them predominant.

...5 Tv Programmes...

*Unreported World*

*Panorama*

*State Opening Of Parliament*

*Have I Got News For You*

*WatchDog*

...Fourth Estate...

*Media this week has been reporting things on Iran, Parliament, Crime, etc. Which makes it the Fourth Estate as it is telling us about politics etc, by providing us with this type of infortmation it is reinforcing the other estates as it is helping emphasise them and report them.*

...Marxism...

It is a political practice and social theory based on the works of *Karl Marx*

Marxist Idelogies:

-Marx Argued:"Capitalism is based on the profit motive and that under capitalism, profits are generated by exploiting workers"

-Marx believed Capitalist society is divded into two:

>Working class/Proletariat. Who sell labour-don't own means of prodution!

>Bourgeoisie-Who own means of production and employ proletariat. [Wealthy and Petty Bourgeoisie]

Marxism and the media:

-Maintain status as it is-"Status Quo" Keep peoples position in society the same.

-"Dumbing Down" -making media texts simplier not challenging the auidences.

-Hyperdermic Needle. Drip feeding the auidence with ideologies.

Althusser:

-ISA' s put alongside RSA's. To maintain bourgeois ideologies:

>Religion, Education, Family, Legal and Political System, Cultural And Communication Systems.

Gramsci:

-Hegemony-Dominace of the idelogies of the ruling class. Seen as "Common Sense" By maintaining these idelogies in the media, the ruling classes can ensure tha they retain hegemonic control.

Eisentein and montage:

-Felt the working classes struggles should be shown in films. He uses montages and feels films only helped expressed and put forward Capitalist idelogies.

Williams:

-High Culture and Low Culture effect. Popular culture seen as second class, e.g. film. Whereas, not so popular culture e.g. Theatre seen as first class.

How much of the media you consume is global? Do you watch US TV programmes or visit US websites, for example? Do you consume media from other cultures as well or does the US dominate?

I think that British television has had to result to showing more US based programmes due to it being more famous. For example, channel 4 is famous for this e.g. friends, desprate housewives etc. However, i occassionally watch eastenders which is british based but i prefer to watch more US based programmes as they are more intersting and the locations are different and exciting.

ITV...Institution:

http://www.itv.com/ That is the official ITV website.

ITV is the biggest commercial television network in the UK, broadcasting the most talked about television and making a major contribution to the UK’s culture, economy and communities.

There is Five ITV channels, ITV 1, 2 , 3, 4 and CiTV.

ITV 1:

>ITV1 is the most popular commercial television channel in Britain.

>Watched on average by 45 million people every week.

>It has the largest programme budget of any commercial channel in Europe, currently at around £1 billion, which is spent on a mixed genre schedule

>ITV1 is also the UK’s regional channel, broadcasting well over 6,000 hours of original programming each year, and around half of all programmes broadcast on ITV1 are made outside the M25.

>Made up of 15 different regional licences.

>Network programmes are commissioned by the ITV Network controllers purely on merit. At least 25% of programmes shown on ITV1 each year come from independent producers. Regional programmes are commissioned by each regional company.

ITV2: http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=943

>ITV2 launched on 7 December 1998 and is ITV’s younger entertainment channel.

>It is available on Freeview (digital terrestrial), Sky Digital and Cable (analogue and digital) throughout the UK.

>ITV2 was the fastest growing digital channel in the UK in 2003 and is one of the UK's largest multi channel stations.

>ITV2’s schedule is a mix of drama, comedy, sport, movies and events including original commissions, high profile ITV1 programming, events and brand extensions of popular ITV1 shows.

ITV 3: http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=2366

>ITV3 launched on 1 November 2004 and shows the best of ITV drama with programmes complementing the schedules of both ITV1 and ITV2.

>The channel shows some of ITV’s most popular detective dramas, including Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders, Touch Of Frost.

>Films and catch-ups of ITV1 shows including The Bill, Parkinson and Heartbeat. ITV3 is available on Sky Digital 119; NTL Digital 8 and 118; Telewest Digital 116; and Freeview Channel 34.

ITV4: http://itv4.itv.com/itv4/index.jsp

>ITV4 offers challenging drama; comedy that pushes boundaries; and movies that won’t stick to the mainstream as well as live and exclusive UEFA Champions League and World class boxing.
>ITV4 is available on freeview channel 30, NTL channel 15/22; Sky channel 120 and Homechoice channel 29.

>ITV4 broadcasts daily from 6pm onwards.

CiTv: http://www.citv.co.uk/

>CiTv is a Children's channel.

>I realised on the website, they were advertising the advert which shows how much oil goes into crisps; encourging healthy eating.

>Comes on everyday from 6am til 6pm.

>Can view it on, sky 624, freeview 75, NTL/Telewest 734, HomeChoice 307.

I found out that ITV promote all sorts of diversity, on and off screen.

http://www.itv.com/page.asp?PartID=1106&depth=2