Herbert J. Gans’s
News Values and The
Elements of Journalism
Sociologist Herbert J. Gans’s
News Values *


In an in-depth analysis and observation of
the “CBS Evening News,” “NBC Nightly
News,” Newsweek, and Time, Herbert Gans
reported that journalists based their
reporting on their inherent assumptions
about the nature of external reality.
He called these assumptions, enduring
values.
Herbert J. Gans, Deciding What's News : A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek, and Time
(Medill Visions of the American Press) , Constable, 1980.
Six Enduring Values

Ethnocentrism
– Americans value its own nation above all others.

Altruistic Democracy
– Democracy is the best form of government, and
government officials should behave altruistically and
citizens should be involved at the grassroots level.

Responsible Capitalism
– Unions and consumer organizations are accepted as
countervailing pressures on business and are judged
negatively.
– Economic growth is a positive phenomenon; government
regulation is bad.
Six Enduring Values

Small-town Pastoralism
– The rural and anti-industrial value of Jefferson
are found in the news. Nature and smallness are
desirable—environmentalism.

Individualism
– Preservation of the freedom of the individual,
“rugged individualism” and self-made people are
admired.

Moderatism
– Discourages excess or extremism.
Bias

If there is bias in the news, it is probably
toward these six values as much as it is
liberal or conservative.
– With the exception of Fox News and MSNBC
– And most blogs and blog aggregators such as
The Huffington Post
The Elements of Journalism *
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
Its first loyalty is to citizens.
Its essence is a discipline of verification.
Its practitioners must maintain an
independence from those they cover.
It must serve as an independent monitor
of power.
It must provide a forum for public criticism
and compromise.
Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should kNow and the Public
Should Expect, Crown Publishers, 2001.
7.
8.
9.
It must strive to make the significant
interesting and relevant.
It must keep the news comprehensive and
proportional.
Its practitioners must be allowed to
exercise their personal conscience.
The Elements of Journalism

“Kovach and Rosensteil contend that
newsgathering and reporting on the Web, or
any other platform, can be measured
against these principles. They acknowledge
that reporters won’t meet each standard on
every story, but those who succeed more
often than they fail are worthy of being
called journalists.” Robert Berkman, Digtal
Dilemmas, p. 69
The Web

Are bloggers journalists?