News? 1 How is it view ed? & Who is the audience? Quotes about what is news 1 2 When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news. Charles Anderson Dana, American journalist, 1819-1897 News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising. Lord Northcliffe, British publisher 1865-1922 Quotes about what is news 2 3 Well, news is anything that's interesting, that relates to what's happening in the world, what's happening in areas of the culture that would be of interest to your audience. Kurt Loder, American journalist, b. 1945 It is hard news that catches readers. Features hold them. Lord Northcliffe, British publisher 1865-1922 Quotes about what is news 3 4 News is anything that makes a reader say, `Gee Whiz'! Arthur MacEwen, American editor No one says "Gee Whiz!" very much these days, of course, not even in America — both because that expression has long since been supplanted by others more colourful and less printable, and because our capacity for surprise has long since been dulled by a surfeit of sources. Shashi Tharoor, Indian writer and diplomat, b. 1956 Quotes about what is news 4 5 To a journalist, good news is often not news at all. Phil Donahue, American entertainer, b. 1935 No news is good news. Ludovic Halevy, French author, 1834-1908 Quotes about what is news 5 6 For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news. Gloria Borger, American journalist, b. 1952 The real news is bad news. Marshall Mcluhan, Canadian communications theorist, 1911-1980 Quotes about what is news 6 7 [News is] a first rough draft of history. Philip L. Graham, American publisher, 1915-1963 So what is news? 8 News has two priorities: it must be current, and it must mean something to people. A story about the environment and a story about the Oscars can both be newsworthy, for different reasons. http://www.mediaawareness.ca/english/special_initiatives/toolkit/news_industry/what_ is_it_news.cfm 9 What Is News? As a journalist, you typically write articles and get to choose your story topics. But first you need to understand your audience. How do they view news? What is news to them? Then once you have done that, it's important to understand what makes something or someone newsworthy. Journalism History 10 A brief look How has the news audience changed? 11 Media Audience Newspapers First American newspaper, Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick, is published in Boston — 1690 Declaration of Independence — 1776 Only wealthy & clergy were Photography —1826 educated Almost exclusively white male audience How has the news audience changed? 12 Media Audience Magazines McCall's Magazine and The Saturday Evening Post Used advertising to Cover of 1911 McCall's magazine keep pricing low Between 1890 and 1905 the circulation of monthly periodicals went from 18 million to 64 million. How has the news audience changed? 13 Media Magazines Good Housekeeping and Vogue began targeting niche markets General interest and ladies magazines flourished. Audience Women’s readership increased as they were targeted. 1930’s Vogue Cover How has the news audience changed? 14 Media Audience Newspapers 1917 Ethnic papers reach a peak with 1,323 foreignlanguage publications 1910-1914 Number of newspapers in the US reaches a high. Faster presses helped to lower costs Readership increased among minorities. Freedom’s Journal 1827 First African American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. How has the news audience changed? 15 Media Then Audience 1900’s Magazines & Penny papers made news NSPs Yellow & Muckraking Journalism McClure's Magazine, owned by Samuel McClure Magazines—1920’s- 40’s Founding of Time, Reader’s Digest, Life, Look available to most. Those “interested” in editors exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism. YJ Public interested in of researched investigation of corruption and social problems. M How has the news audience changed? 16 Media Telegraph — 1900 Radio — 1910 (about) The First Radio News Broadcast August 31, 1920 The first radio news program is broadcast by station 8MK in Detroit, Michigan. Audience How has the news audience changed? 17 Media Audience Newspapers After 1954 More News Was Distributed Electronically than on Paper 1950 According to Asa Brigg’s The History of British Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 524, newspaper circulation in. Thereafter more news was distributed over radio and television than through print. 18 Media TV Commercial black and white television broadcasting began in the US. Regular color broadcasts 1963 Audience How has the news audience changed? 19 Past Audience Personal Home Computers — late 1970’s The Apple founded 1977 Tandy TRS-80 Commodore Pet Apple released the Macintosh — 1984 Public Educators Students How has the news audience changed? 20 Media Cable news just started The Cable News Network (CNN) was launched at 5:00 p.m. EST on Sunday June 1, 1980 Audience CNN's first broadcast with David Walker and Lois Hart on June 1, 1980. Cable subscribers How has the news audience changed? 21 Media ARPANET — 1962 Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense A future-oriented funder of ‘high-risk, high-gain’ research, lays the groundwork for what much later becomes the Internet. Audience "In the Beginning, ARPA created the ARPANET. And the ARPANET was without form and void. And darkness was upon the deep. And the spirit of ARPA moved upon the face of the network and ARPA said, 'Let there be a protocol,' and there was a protocol. And ARPA saw that it was good. And ARPA said, 'Let there be more protocols,' and it was so. And ARPA saw that it was good. And ARPA said, 'Let there be more networks,' and it was so." —- Danny Cohen How has the news audience changed? 22 Media Audience Internet 199o ARPANET formally shuts down after 20 years. Internet first became viable for public use. 1994, journalists made their first tentative steps onto the internet. Scientists Government workers Military How has the news audience changed? 23 Media Internet Associated Press (f. 1846) launches AP Streaming News to give news sites and broadcasters multimedia content — 2000 Audience News Professionals Public How has the news audience changed? 24 Media Internet Online journalists were at the cutting edge of news reporting, both during and after the destruction of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. Audience As 9/11 crisis unfolded, telegraph.co.uk serviced 600 page requests per second. How has the news audience changed? 25 Media Internet July 2005 Eyewitnesses sending photos and reports on mobile phones provide the first onlocation material ahead of professional journalists. Audience Professional photographers worry that their jobs are threatened by the rise of 'citizen journalism', but many publishers feel the content provides a valuable supplement to their core coverage. Where does the audience view news now? 26 2006 Study Points the Way Let the public guide you 27 Study released by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press July 2006 An average day 81 percent of Americans access news Where are they getting it? Snapshot of Typical Day 28 13 million people listen to "Morning Edition" on NPR1 9 million people watch ABC World News Tonight2 2.4 million people watch The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News3 1.6 million people watch The Daily Show4 1.4 million people visit NYTimes.com5 1 million people buy The New York Times print edition6 715,000 people buy The Washington Post print edition7 500,000 people visit Daily Kos8 350,000 people watch CNN's American Morning9 55,000 people visit Power Line10 Snapshot of a Typical Day 29 Snapshot of a Typical Day 30 On a typical day Americans... 31 57% watch TV news 40% read a newspaper 36% listen to news on the radio 23 % get news online On a typical day Americans... 32 Online news visits 18% visit news aggregators (Google News, Yahoo! News, AOL News, etc.) 14% visit national TV networks' sites (CNN.com, MSNBC.com, ABCnews.com, etc.) 14% visit newspaper Web sites 4% visit news blogs 3% visit online news magazines (Slate.com, Salon.com, etc.) On a typical day... 33 57% of Americans watch TV news 54% watch their local news 34% watch cable news channels 28% watch the nightly network news 23% watch the morning news programs (The Today Show, Good Morning America, etc.) On a typical day... 34 57% of Americans watch TV news 54% watch their local news 34% watch cable news channels 28% watch the nightly network news 23% watch the morning news programs (The Today Show, Good Morning America, etc.) Overall audience trends: 35 The total number of Americans getting news on an average day is down almost 10 percent from 1994. On average, Americans spend 67 minutes of each day gathering news from various formats. Young Americans (under 30) on an average day 36 Most likely to get no news at all. 27 percent of people report they get no news on an average day. Those who do get news, half go to multiple sources. Americans on an average day 37 As points of comparison: 63 percent watch non-news TV 44 percent exercise or play a sport 38 percent read a book, 24 percent read a magazine 24 percent watch a movie at home 17 percent play video games. Your Turn 38 Find out where people find their news. Fill out handout 39 Homework Corner Pick up from the front desk copy of Where do people find their news? 1. Listen to directions given by instructor and written on handout. 2. Talk to people not in this class. 3. Do all five interviews and tally by next class. 4. Do not fill out the last three questions until next class. 5. Remember to put your name on the paper. 6. PBS Frontline http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/p art3/stats.html 40 These questions will always give you the Asking questions 1. Open-ended 2. Follow-up best answers. These are questions that cannot be simply answered yes or no. This forces the respondent to give you better, longer answers. Ask questions like: 1. How do you obtain your news information? 2. Where do you find news information? 3. How often do you read, listen or watch news? 4. Which news sources do you believe are most trustworthy? 41 Asking questions 1. Open-ended 2. Follow-up These build off of a response from the interviewee. These often get a reporter their best information. Ask questions like: 1. How do you obtain your news information? 2. Where do you find news information? Which channel, web page, paper specifically do 3. 4. you use? What is the specific name of the location you use? How often do you read, listen or watch news? What time of day do you do this? Which news sources do you believe are most trustworthy? Why do you find them to be trustworthy? Example 42 KATU Ch.2 TV X OregonLive Online NSP X The Review NSP X Facebook Online X She did not seem to be very aware of what was going on in the news. KOIN Ch.6 Did know not to trust Facebook. Online TV X Fill out handout 43 Homework Corner Pick up from the front desk copy of Where do people find their news? 1. Listen to directions given by instructor and written on handout. 2. Talk to people not in this class. 3. Do all five interviews and tally by next class. 4. Do not fill out the last three questions until next class. 5. Remember to put your name on the paper. 6. PBS Frontline http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/p art3/stats.html