News:Reflection Vs Contruction
Does the news reflect of construct reality?The main concern of this essay is to look at the relationship between news media and reality. Whilst debating whether the mediation by the news is in the form of a 'faithful reflection' [McQuail, 1994, p.65] of reality or a 'filtered, screen', [McQuail, 1994.] that constructs a reality all of its own; I intend to discuss: -· The concept of reality. (Without getting too philosophical!)· The economic and political influences on news processes of production.· Questions around the content and form of ideology.Generally, reality is what most people 'assume exists independently of any concept or representation'. [Grossberg, 1998, p.184] It's 'reality' and that's it, no questions asked. Reality according to Fiske ' is a product of cultural codes'; [1987, p.4] that is, our social environment presents us with 'a collection of material facts, that we can accurately perceive'. [Grossberg, 1998, p.185] The notion that the material facts have to be collected is interesting. It implies that a mediation between the public and reality has taken place, someone, somewhere, had to decide what was to be collected, and what was to be left. Who gets to define the collection thus re
121] Not to mention, a certain and predictable source of information and capital income to the makers of news. 84] Representation itself, is a process that necessarily changers the reality of the original presentation. [Cited in Chandler, 1998, www document, p. Although comparatively new, it could be argued the most influential, The Mass Media. [Allan 1999,p88] The 'commonsensical' language of news reflects a series of dominant normative rules. 50] The monopolization of the culture industry, vertical integration and opportunities for market diversification help to explain why the dominant news agencies are so strong and why it is so difficult for new comers to establish themselves on world markets. 'Yet to define a situation as 'real' is to say nothing of the truth or falsity of what is being stated'. 2] Official sources gain routine access for their views and have a monopoly over certain kinds of information. These norms are of course prescriptive rather that descriptive, that is they embody the sense of what our social life ought to be rather than what it is'. ) Third world countries are conventionally represented as places of famine, disease and disaster. ] that is it masks the political origin of discourse. Simply because the content of stories are already written, it's the way the story is told, that becomes an effective barer of ideology. 182] Chomsky suggests that it is their function to 'inculcate individuals with values, beliefs and codes of behaviour that will integrate them into society'.
Common topics in this essay:
Cited Chandler,
Political Economists,
University Media,
,
Stuart Allan,
Liberal Pluralists,
Cited Achbar,
Noted Grossberg,
AJ Ayer,
Justin Lewis,
fiske 1987,
et al,
chandler 1998,
mass media,
1998 document,
cited chandler 1998,
cited chandler,
chandler 1998 document,
grossberg et al,
allan 1999,
grossberg et,
fiske 1987 p289,
mcquail 1994,
1973 p66,
market-based mass media,
|
Acceptance Essays
