Media Studies
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www.curriculum-press.co.uk # 212
Understanding the Industrial Process
of News – News Production
The aim of this Media Studies Factsheet is to: The production of news is big business and has immense power.
It’s one of the oldest forms of mass communication and in the age
• Provide an overview of the industrial practices involved in
of digital media there are hundreds of news institutions across
news production.
the world offering us different stories and perspectives and they
• Identify the key roles and professional practices which are employs thousands of people; editors, journalist, photographers,
involved in news production. camera people, sound engineers, production managers, studio-
runners and printing press operators to name a few. James
• Offer some discussion of issues and debates around news
Ettema argues that news production is an activity ‘where
production.
news workers/journalists are engaged in the production of
the written, visual, or audio texts designated as news and
Activity 1 information appearing in print media and on broadcast and
cable television, radio, and the Internet,’ this sounds quite
Look at the following two headlines: straightforward but the production of news is complex and based
on the relationship between what’s happening in the world at any
1) Dog bites Man
given time and the multitude of news institutions that produce the
2) Man bites Dog information we consume.
Which do you consider to be news and why? News shapes the world which we live in, it can be extremely
powerful, it does not just inform, it can persuade and entertain its
audiences as well offer a window to events, people and places
What is news? that we do not encounter in our everyday lives. At the time of
To be ‘news’ an event needs to be writing this Factsheet there are people clapping all over the U.K
important, or at least interesting to every Thursday at 8pm to acknowledge NHS workers and key
a lot of people. Dogs bite people all workers during the Corona Covid 19 pandemic (#ClapForCarers
the time: it can happen in any place #ClapForOurNHS). This is a news story that has persuaded
at any time, it has happened in the people to come out of their homes at a given time on a given day
past, it happens all over the world. It is in support of people they do not know but have read or heard
not an important or interesting story for about in the news media; news is powerful indeed.
anyone not connected to the event. But
the second one, a man biting a dog is interesting because it is Where does news come from? – Newsgathering
contrary to what normally happens. Newsgathering, as the name suggests, is the process by which
Lots of things happen all the time, but they don’t all ‘make’ the news institutions gather news stories that they feel are relevant
news, they are just everyday occurrences and offer nothing new to context and their audiences. Some larger news institutions like
or of interest. However, once a news story has been reported it the BBC have a lot of resources available to them and they have
could have the potential to offer something fresh for audiences. planners and staff, known as news organisers who are able to
Events can develop or be expanded on in all sorts of different deploy in advance correspondents, producers and camera crew.
ways and can remain on the news agenda for a quite some time For example, the daily briefings on the Coronavirus pandemic are
depending on how relevant it is to society. Eventually though the scheduled so that journalists and crews can be there to question
ability to make this story relevant will fade because new and more the government on what is happening as well as broadcast live
pertinent stories will happen and they will become the news of what the politicians are saying.
the day, the ‘man bites dog’ story will become, as the old phrase
says, ‘yesterday’s news.’ A scheduled press conference from
Dominic Raab – Foreign Secretary
The News Media giving a briefing on the Coronavirus
Pandemic April 22nd 2020
The news media is known as the ‘Fourth Estate’ – so called
because the press (newspapers are produced on a printing press)
and the news media (all other types of news media) are said to
be the fourth power in society behind; royalty, law and religion.
© Curriculum Press 2020 Media Studies Factsheets, 2020/21 Series, Issue 1 of 3, September 2020. ISSN: 1351-5136 1
Media Studies Factsheet 212 – Understanding the Industrial Process of News
Journalists source news stories from all sorts of places and they
Activity 2 should always check their sources for credibility (is it true?) and
accuracy (is it correct?). Journalists look for leads; as the name
Watch the news story on the clapping: https://twitter.com/
suggests leads are pieces of information from which a journalist
SkyNews/status/1253397339743514624
can write a story of interest for their audiences. Other potential
This story was broadcast live but not everyone agrees with news sources include:
the story’s positive sentiment. Take a look at the responses
to the tweet. What kinds of responses are people offering to News Source Explanation
the story?
Press Releases These account for the majority of news
How are tweeted stories different to watching this news production and they come from individuals
story live on television? or organizations seeking coverage for an
issue or an event. A press conference is a
press release in real-time, but reporters get
to those press conferences by invitations
that come in the form of press releases. (see
above – Dominic Raab).
News agencies A news agency is an organization that
gathers news reports and sells them to
subscribing news organizations. United
Press International, Associated Press,
Reuters and Agence France Presse are
the ‘big four’ news agencies - provide over
90 per cent of foreign news printed by the
world’s newspapers.
Advertisements Advertisements may sound like an unlikely
place for news stories to be gathered but
they can offer unusual news stories.
Legal notices Births, deaths, marriages, bankruptcies,
court appearance and many other legal
affairs can create leads a news story.
Letters, blog pages, These can offer potential for all sorts of
different news stories. They could be
personal stories that have wider appeal.
Tip-offs These could come in many forms: text,
phone-call or even just hearsay.
Other news News institutions pick up on other stories
institutions from other news institutions and can recycle
and or re-use.
The story and image of Prince Louis will have been released to
Other newsgathering can be done on the spot and can cover the press via the official channels of Buckingham Palace Press
unpredictable events such as murders, floods, transport crashes, Office such as https://pa.media/royal-family-collection/ that offer
earthquakes and wars and rumours of wars. In this case foreign Royal content; images, etc:- to news institutions.
correspondents, producers, camera crews, fixers and translators
frequently risk their lives to draw attention to the news stories of
the world as they unfold and move quickly from one news story
to another. The BBC, for example, has a helicopter so it can fly
journalists to stories of immediate interest to report on stories as
they unfold.
Activity 3
Watch Huw Edwards explain how journalists gather news
here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/27696362
Explain in your own words what ‘impartiality’ is?
Go to the bbc.co.uk website and choose a story and identify:
• Who was involved?
• What happened? The second story is a report on how ‘Harry and Megan’ are
• Where did it take place? establishing a new way of dealing with the mainstream media
and how they will no longer allow access to stories about them to
• Why did it happen? be used by the tabloids.
• And how?
Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, is suing Associated
Newspapers, owner of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline for the
use of private information in a letter to her father.
© Curriculum Press 2020 Media Studies Factsheets, 2020/21 Series, Issue 1 of 3, September 2020. ISSN: 1351-5136 2
Media Studies Factsheet 212 – Understanding the Industrial Process of News
Social Media Who produces the news?
The production of news takes place through the constraints of
a power hierarchy within news organisations. There are levels of
editorial decision-making that impact on what stories get into
the news. Editorial refers to the commissioning and publication
of stories and or the expression of an opinion of a journalist
on a given topic. Editors- whether they make broadcast news
programmes, newspapers or online news websites, make
Increasingly, journalists are using social media to gather news decisions on a daily basis as to the kinds of content they want
sources. First-hand interviews with people are a common to include. These decisions take a lot of things into account: the
type of news sourcing. Owen Jones, a journalist who writes audience first and foremost, the timeliness (why this story? why
predominantly for The Guardian, often makes use of social media now?), the quality of the idea or content, and their own editorial
to reach-out to news sources. He recently tweeted asking for guidelines that can differ from news institution to news institution
people to contact him and talk about the news story of the lack and from publication to publication.
of PPE (Personal, Protective, Equipment) for frontline workers
during the Covid 19 pandemic. Notice that he states his DMs are
‘open in confidence’ this is so that people can tell their stories
and remain anonymous to avoid any consequences that could
happen to them, in this case for example, they might be afraid
to lose their job by giving information away. Two days after this
tweet was sent out Jones wrote an article in The Guardian about
lack of PPE.
Activity 4
Owen Jones is an opinion writer, but he uses sources and
facts to strengthen his argument.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/23/
uk-key-workers-ppe-ministers-clapping-protect-nhs
• Read the article and identify what sources Jones uses
• How does he keep them anonymous?
• What other facts does he use?
• Discuss your responses to his argument. Do you agree
or disagree with him?
Image of a newspaper newsroom, increasingly journalist
work on a freelance basis and write their articles anywhere
they can.
When a story gets the green light to be written/broadcast it goes
through a process of mediation which in effect alters the ‘reality’
of the story. Cohen calls this ‘manufacturing news’ a process
by which a story takes on the meaning of the institution that
produces it. This mediation maybe in part due to the professional
constraints that editors and journalists need to consider such as:
© Curriculum Press 2020 Media Studies Factsheets, 2020/21 Series, Issue 1 of 3, September 2020. ISSN: 1351-5136 3
Media Studies Factsheet 212 – Understanding the Industrial Process of News
1) Legal issues – Does the story abide by the law which are in News Production – The Conflict of
place to restrict journalists from reporting things which may Commercialism and Quality Journalism
damage or harm other people or organisations?
News production has changed so much in a digital age, by default
Ethical issues – Are the journalists they employ following
2) news institutions have had to radically change their business
good, ethical journalistic practice? models to ensure they are targeting and keeping readers. This
• Good practice detailed in the codes includes: is not easy to do, people have come to see news as a product
they should get for free and the ‘cost’ of journalism seems to
• the double-checking of sources. be something that most people do not really appreciate. Online
• giving those criticised the ‘right of reply’. newspaper paywalls, branded content, sponsored podcasts,
even donations and crowd-funding are keeping the news business
• respecting people’s privacy, particularly in times of grief, alive but this is all happening amid the background of declining
illness or shock. advertising revenues and hard copy sales. Quality journalism
• protecting the vulnerable, e.g. children. costs money, when you factor in wages and production costs
John Thompson owner and publisher of Journalism.co.uk.
• avoiding subterfuge, e.g. using hidden recording devices – suggests that the average cost of a news article in a major
unless this is a last resort to expose corruption, harm or any newspaper is around £400 and online this drops to £37.
other serious crime.
Editors, especially, have a lot of power in the mediation of news
production. For example they can say yes to some news stories
and no to others.
Activity 5
Research who owns the following mainstream newspapers.
Who is the Editor-in-Chief for the following mainstream news institutions? Include an image.
What is the motto for their newspaper? Provide an analysis of its use.
News Ownership Editor-in- Image Newspaper Motto Analysis
Institution Publisher Chief
The Barclay Chris Evans ‘Was, is and will be.’ Suggests that the newspaper will provide news
Telegraph Brothers stories form the past, presents and also about the
future. It seems to imply that their journalism is
capable of offering very definitive information on the
happenings in the world.
The Times
The
Guardian
The Daily D.M.G.T George ‘Dieu et mon droit’ – Usage of the coat of arms motto in the Daily Mail’s
Mail Daily Mail Carron Greig French for logo is presumably just a show of patriotism
and General known as God and my right – it
Trust Geordie is the motto of the
Grieg British monarch
The i Oliver Duff ‘The Paper for Today’ Implies it is contemporary and up-to-date, which it
is. It is the youngest mainstream newspaper. It was
established in 2010.
The Mirror
The Sun
© Curriculum Press 2020 Media Studies Factsheets, 2020/21 Series, Issue 1 of 3, September 2020. ISSN: 1351-5136 4
Media Studies Factsheet 212 – Understanding the Industrial Process of News
Frankie Boyle a famous British comedian also recently tweeted
this in response the news that The Sun newspaper recorded a
£68 million profit loss as of April 2020. The Sun has been involved
in a series of scandals regarding their lack of ethical journalism:
misrepresentation, fake news and false stories. Others like The
Daily Mail and mailonline are considered to be unreliable in their
reporting of facts, James Cracknell recently used Twitter to draw
attention to the Daily’s Mail’s misrepresentation of his visit to his
father. This demonstrates the way imagery and anchorage can
construct a different ‘reality’ which suits the message the news
institution wants to communicate. The Daily Mail businesses
made £284 million pounds profit last year 2019 mainly due to the
amount of traffic they get online approximately 60 million views
per month.
Frankie Boyle tweeting about the demise of newspapers.
James Cracknell challenging mailonline’s representation of
his social distancing with his father.
The expansive nature of the web and the need to generate more
and more stories to ensure traffic comes to their sites and the
changes to how search engines work via algorithms means
that news institutions are churning out (churnalism) more and
more stories quicker and faster and often at the expense of
fact-checking. A local website editor might be under pressure
to write between five to ten short stories daily. A specialist
correspondent for a major national broadcaster, however, could
spend a week on a single news feature. News institutions are
expected to be making news in the public interest while pursuing
profits for their corporate owners, the result often is a clash of
commercial imperatives and the need for quality journalism. This
conflict along with social media criticism of journalism has led
to a greater mistrust of news providers. Donald Trump has often
used this feeling of mistrust of the media to avoid any debate over
his words and actions as President. In the space of 15 tweets he
posted several tweets criticising the media’s coverage of him.
Donald Trump – prolific tweeter criticises the media’s
coverage of his word ‘hoax’.
Exam Boards
All exam boards require you to discuss the theoretical
concepts behind the news industry and news production
using specific newspapers.
‘Lamestream media’ – lame is an Americanism for pathetic. • AQA – The Daily Mail and The i
• WJEC – The Daily Mirror and The Times
• OCR – The Daily Mail and The Guardian
Acknowledgements: This Media Studies Factsheet
Boyle’s use of humour to express his antipathy to mainstream was researched and written by Di Naylor and published
media news outlets. in September 2020 by Curriculum Press. Media
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© Curriculum Press 2020 Media Studies Factsheets, 2020/21 Series, Issue 1 of 3, September 2020. ISSN: 1351-5136 5
