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Chapter 1

Powerpoints for Instructors

Making news

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Exercises

Exercise 1: Finding out about the Global Media Giants

The blog of the Independent Journal Review presents a rather critical assessment of the impact of the Global Media Giants on Americans’ information here: http://www.ijreview.com/2012/11/22839-the-illusion-of-choice-6-media-giants-control-90-of-americas-news-entertainment/.

Using nice graphics, this blog sums up some of the major facts about these companies and their control of the media. Below are the URLs of 4 of the Giants shown in the blog. Retrieve the URLs for the other two:

Compare the different Giants.

  • Do they all control newspapers?
  • Is there any Giant that seems to control more newspapers?
  • In which country/countries?

Exercise 2: Would you pay for online news?

The articles below discuss whether people would be willing to pay to read online news. One of the articles says that the era of free internet articles is nearly over.

Read the articles and then write a text discussing the pros and cons of free online news.

Will You Pay for Online News? Pew Study Says No

By Jeff Bertolucci, PCWorld, Mar 15, 2010 3:14 PM (http://www.pcworld.com/article/191564/will_you_pay_for_online_news_pew_study_says_no.html )

Poll: Most won’t pay to read newspapers online

With print newspapers striving to survive by hopping onto the Web, new Harris poll finds 77 percent of online adults wouldn’t pay to read a newspaper’s content online.

by Lance Whitney, January 13, 2010 10:07 AM PST (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10433893-93.html )

Micropayments: Would you pay 20p to read an article?

By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News, 20 November 2012 – Last updated at 00:00 GMT (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20395407 )

Free online news era on its way out

By Howard Kurtz, CNN, December 10, 2012 – Updated 1619 GMT (0019 HKT) (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/10/opinion/kurtz-news-organizations/index.html )

Exercise 3: Urgency in reporting

On 14 December 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut (USA), a 20-year-old man shot dead twenty children and six adult staff members at an Elementary School, before killing himself, in a massacre that was the second-deadliest school shooting in the United States history. The news shocked the whole country as well as international audiences.

Working under pressure of the urgency to report the story, TV journalists gave details that were later found to be wrong.

The article below, written by Associated Press, appeared in a number of papers across the US. It discusses all the facts that were reported wrongly as the dramatic breaking news of the massacre came out.

Read the article and express your opinion on the following:

  • Are the media to be blamed when they get story details wrong? Does urgency justify the reporting of incorrect information?
  • Could we consider episodes like these as showing a lack of basic journalistic skills (i.e., of choosing the appropriate style to present information in a correct, objective way)?
  • Do media that are transient in nature (such as the TV or the Internet) favour the spreading of inaccurate news more than less transient media (such as the press)?

As Connecticut shooting story unfolds, media struggle with facts

By Frazier Moore, Associated Press, Posted: 12/15/2012 (http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_22199743 )

Exercise 4: Photojournalism

In the article linked below, a journalist talks about the growing the impact of photojournalism on news-making.

Read the article and discuss:

  1. The use of media tools and social networks in creating and spreading news.
  2. The existence of amateur photojournalists, along with professional photojournalists. What kind of consideration do they get from news agencies? In what kind of situation are they most likely to supply their material? What kind of problem is likely to arise when news agencies use amateur material, and why?
  3. The concepts of ‘verification in photojournalism’ and ‘crisis reporting’.

Photojournalism in the Age of New Media

By Jared Keller

Apr. 4 2011, 9:03 AM ET

Social media have given photojournalists a million extra eyes in conflict zones. But if a picture can say a thousand words, the trick is finding the right one. (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/photojournalism-in-the-age-of-new-media/73083/)