News Values

The best of the book is the first chapter where we can find a quick summary of different authors about what they consider the most relevant news values. Then the authors present their own selection of news values and analyze some news with that pattern. I do not think that this selection is particularly significant or complete. Nor do I see a criterion related to a hierarchy among these factors: whether some are more important than others. The final chapter on the Litvinenko case illustrates well how stories are constructed in the press. Written by two practitioner-academics (who between them have more than fifty years of news industry experience), News Values analyses the shape of the news industry - a world of rolling news and multimedia platforms, and a world where broadcast news is increasingly considered another element of show business. Detailed chapters include critiques of existing theories, close study of the newspaper, radio, television and internet news channels, plus informative chapters on the many factors that shape the news we read, watch and hear including the role of the citizen journalist, user-generated content, spin doctors, and the new wave of press barons. Further chapters provide detailed analysis of the way in which the same story is treated across different media channels, and how journalists and editors work to keep breathing new life into rolling news stories. Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 1 Analysing News Values 17 2 How to Study News Values 42 3 National Daily Newspapers 57 4 National Television News 70 5 Sunday Newspapers 86 6 Rolling News 97 7 Radio Broadcast News 110 8 Smaller Markets and Niches 128 9 Regional and Local Television News 139 10 The Rise and Rise of Citizen Journalist 159 11 Corruption of Values 174 12 Same Story, Different Media, Different Treatments 186 Conclusion 203 References 206 Index 212 Paul Brighton and Dennis Foy analyse the shape of the news industry - a world of rolling news and multimedia platforms, and a world where broadcast news is increasingly considered another element of show business.