News Values

 1) What example news story does the Factsheet use to illustrate Galtung and Ruge's News Values? Why is it an appropriate example of a news story likely to gain prominent coverage?

A British servicewoman died after a bomb blast in Afghanistan. This is appropriate as proximity of Afghanistan is far away, but as the death is of a British officer, it makes the news story feel much closer. This is seen as newsworthy as it is the first female officer to be killed. The war is ongoing so is seen as continuity. This is seen as not predictable as she was a bomb disposal officer expert so you expect them to survive. Clarity is also shown as it comes from a trustworthy source. 

2) What is gatekeeping?

The process of filtering out the information, usually done by the editor, and picking some stories over another before publishing them. 

3) What are the six ways bias can be created in news?

Bias through...

• ...selection and omission
• ...placement
• ...headline
• ...photos, captions and camera angles
• ...use of names and titles
• ...choice of words

4) How have online sources such as Twitter, bloggers or Wikileaks changed the way news is selected and published?

These sources have changed the way news agencies gatekeep information as publishers publish information the news would not do, which news cooperates dislike.

5) In your opinion, how has the digital age changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values? 

In my opinion, I don't think the digital age has changed Galtung and Ruge's news values as whether an audience read from online or offline, the beliefs, values and ideologies they have will have will still be the same.

6) How would you update these news values for the digital age? Choose TWO of Galtung and Ruge's news values and say how they have been affected by the growth of digital technology.

E.g. Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on social media or elsewhere online. However, this in turn changes the approach of other news sources such as newspapers as the news will probably already be broken so different angles might be required. Newspapers now contain more comment or opinion rather than the breaking story.  

• Intensity or threshold value - with the digital age, when an event or news story occurs, people now days post this up on social media to increase a higher intensity and attract more attention to the news.

• Clarity or lack of ambiguity - as sometimes there may be confusion when reading a news story, in the digital age it is easier to check if the news story is correct as you can search and view other articles as it is easier to access online.