Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Chapter 11: News in a Digital Age


CHAPTER 11: NEWS IN A DIGITAL AGE REVIEW

1.  A BRIEF HISTORY OF ELECTRONIC NEWS
          a.    Newsreel: short Films, usually around 10 minutes long, containing 5 or 6 items of current news, human-interest features, and sports events.
          b.   First newsreel: in Paris by Charles Pathe in1909
                                              i.     First newsreel with sound came about in 1927
          c.    Typical newsreel: one installment a week
                                              i.     By1930’s it came to four installments a week
          d.   During WWII the U.S government supervised newsreels

2.  RADIO NEWS
          a.    Lee DeForest created the Audion tube in 1916
          b.   THE PRESS – RADIO WAR                                           
                                             i.     Newspapersfelt threatened by the radio
                                            ii.     Baltimore Agreement: Between CBS and NBC in NYC (1933)
                                   1.    They agreed networks would only air two 5 minute newscasts a day
                                   2.    From 9AM – 9PM
                                   3.    This lasted less than one year
                                           iii.     Radiodidn’t affect newspapers
          c.    LIVE REPORTS                                           
                                           i.     Foreign news became popular
          d.   POST-WAR PERIOD
                                              i.     By1946, 63% of American citizens used the radio as their main news source
          e.   THE ALL NEWS FORMAT                                         
                                             i.     KFAX:in 1960 became the first all news radio station
                                            ii.     By1980’s radio news began to decline
                                           iii.     Thisis when music radio stations began to show up

3.  BROADCAST TELEVISION NEWS
         a.    Edward Murrow (from CBS) said television should move forward
         b.   MOBILE UNITS:                                             
                                             i.     First scheduled television news programs were 15 minutes long (1940)
                                            ii.     Mobile Units (1937)
                          1.    Two huge buses, equipment, and mobile transmitter sent to the Empire State Building
                          2.    First commercial use: David Sarnoff (NBC)
         c.    FILM UNITS:
                                              i.     Stringers:independent journalists
                                            ii.     Cameramen were hired
                                           iii.     In1953 NBC developed a portable film developer and installed it in an airport in England
                                           iv.     TVbegan to reduce the scoop of news
                                            v.     InMid 1970’s videotaping came about

4.  MURROW AND THE TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY
       a.    Edward Murrow was the News and Public AffairsV.P of CBS
       b.   Documentary: long formed filmed examination of a social problem or historical subject
       c.    COVERAGE OF ASSASSAINATIONS:
                                              i.     JFK’s assassination was covered through live radio and Harvey Lee Oswald’s was coverlive by television broadcast
       d.   VIETNAM:
                                              i.     Through coverage of Vietnam the term Credibility Gap came to be known. It is the difference between what a government says and what the public believes

5.  CABEL NEWS
      a.    CNN:
                                              i.     1980– Ted Turner launched Cable News Network
                                            ii.     24hrs.news
      b.   FOX NEWS:
                                              i.     Roger Ales and Rupert Murdoch
                                            ii.     Brought the feistiness of talk radio to television
                                           iii.     Itserved as a conservative news source
      c.    ONLINE NEWS:
                                              i.     Newson Demand: information that users can access whenever
                                            ii.     Videotext:delivering electronic newspapers to homes via television sets (1980’s)
      d.   THE EARLY DAYS:
                                              i.     1978– Nexis, newspaper database
                                            ii.     Took10 minutes to load and was $40 a month
                                           iii.     BulletinBoard Services: early online news services
      e.   NEWSPAPERS TAKE TO THE WEB:
                                              i.     WWWbegan in 1993
                                            ii.     By1995 there were 150 papers online
                                           iii.     Earlybloggers were citizen journalists

6.  ONLINE NEWS
      a.    In 1995 CNN opened their website
      b.   1996 – MSNBC
      c.    1997 – ABC

7.  UNDERSTANDING TODAY’S ELECTRONIC NEWS INDUSTRY
      a.    NEWS VALUES
                                              i.     News:presentation of information that is timely, important, and interesting
                                            ii.     NewsValues: Characteristics that define news:
                                1.    Timeliness – it is 24hrs.
                                2.    Importance – people are affected by the news
                                3.    Interest – whether by proximity (peg) orprominence (celebrities, sports, politics,etc.)

8.  CONTROVERSIES
      a.    Media may show partiality
      b.   Liberal Bias: anti-big business, probig-government, anti-Republican
                                              i.     Comprisedof 80%-90% Democratic viewers
      c.    Conservative Bias: pro big-business,pro-religion, pro-Republican
      d.   Centrist Bias: failure to report radical points of view
      e.   Creeping Bias: certain television production elements (such as tone, songs, titles, pictures, etc.) can serve asa form of slanting

9.  NEWS AS ENTERTAINMENT
      a.    Entertainment Vales
                      i.     Titillating announcements/teaser
                      i.     Promotion of programs
      b.   Polls as Entertainment
                            i.     Reporters ask frivolous questions about entertainment related material such as celebrities, etc.

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