Some of the material was taken from the NIE Institute’s publication “A daily Miracle: A student guide to journalism and the newspaper business.”
How to Read and Watch the News
For a while now I’ve seen my Facebook feed filled with a lot of bogus reports that people have simply liked and then shared without giving them a second thought. The realization that a lot of people that I know cannot distinguish the difference between a real news story and a bogus one prompted me ask myself why. Maybe, I thought, it’s because they just don’t know how to read (or watch) the news. Then I saw an interesting post from a friend who was sincerely interesting in understanding a particular topic and wanted the resources to further analyze the situation she was interested in. I decided to write this post as an attempt to help her and others like her understand how to read, watch and analyze the news so as to form an educated opinion on a subject. This is intended to be a primer and is not an exhaustive work.
“If you’re like most people you try to keep up with the news by watching it on television. That’s how 65% of us get 100% of our news – from the 24-odd-minute TV news broadcast each evening.
The problem – and I know the frustration of it firsthand – is that unless something really special happens, we in TV news have to put severe time limitations on every story, even the most complicated and important ones.” That was written by well-known American news anchor Walter Conkrite in 2005. His point was that we can’t rely on only one source of news such as television, or in our present day social media, we need to read a newspaper (print or online) also.
What is News
Melvin Mencher of Columbia University lists and describes eight factors that determine what is newsworthy in the tenth edition of his book, News Reporting and Writing (McGraw Hill 2005).
- Timeliness – events that are immediate
- Impact – events that are likely to affect many people
- Prominence – events involving well-known people or institutions
- Proximity – events geographically or emotionally close to people
- Conflict – strife, antagonism, warfare, challenges
- The Unusual – things that are truly different, bizarre, strange, wondrous
- Currency – an idea whose time has come
- Necessity – the journalist has discovered something he or she feels is necessary to disclose
“These eight news values do not exist in a vacuum,” Mencher writes. “Their application depends on those who are deciding what is news, where the event and the news medium is located, the tradition of the newspaper or station, its audience and a host of other factors.”[/box][/one_half]
There is a right and wrong way to read the news. The following points will guide you in understanding how the news are formed, how to read them to get informed, how it can help you analyze a situation and also entertain you.
Responsibility and Integrity: What Influences the News?
Newspapers and television news programs are great and reliable sources of information. The writers and editors of these publications know that each of them enjoys a high level of public trust and therefore each strives to maintain a reputation of integrity and truthfulness.
Before I delve into what influences the news I want to make a point on emphasizing the importance of knowing The Source of the News on Social Media Platforms. Every time you see, hear or read something that is not published on a reputable and well established news source such as a reputable newspaper or newscast it is important that you know the source being quoted. It goes without saying, but in the age where every smartphone can be used to record and then distribute information anyone can produce bogus material and call it journalism. It is important that we learn to be observant before we become critical of established mediums and then disperse whatever rubbish we find online. The truth is powerful but so is misinformation.
A lot can be written about social media reports but I want to focus on professional news sources.
Because most journalist and reporters are well meaning professionals (myself included), we are however still influenced on how we report things by the following points. These are things that you as a reader must keep in mind when you read or watch the news.
Freedom of the Press: a key component in understanding the news. Depending on the source country the newspaper and broadcast station may be completely controlled by the state (country’s government) and or a private corporation and therefore its news will have a favourable twist toward the current government or the owner’s objectives. A journalist may have no other option but to report what his or her government or boss wants them to report. While these reports are heavily biased and awfully skewed they can give you a good understanding of what the government and news source wants to portray as their version of an event or situation.
Second is the concept of Pack Journalism, the idea that a large dominant news source defines an issue and everyone else reports the same thing, or “follows the pack.” Every journalist tries to answer the four basic questions of a story: who, what, when, where, and how. Reporters also try to answer the why of a story to distinguish themselves from others. But when a writer writes the wrong thing he or she runs the risk of misinforming everyone else—including his or her own colleagues. This is because all newspapers subscribe to “wire” services. Theses businesses offer stories submitted by journalist to local or national newspapers and are distributed by other papers based on a subscription to these large professional journalism distribution services. Such services include the Associated Press, Reuters, The Canadian Press, EFE and others. When one journalist writes a great article both print and television editors pick it up and broadcast it. Sometimes the story is wrong and thus pack journalism occurs.
Bias in the Media is the third thing to consider when reading a paper or watching the news. Everyone has personal biases and each journalist and editor knows that they must limit or altogether avoid putting their biases in their stories, but the reality is that every story has a particular bias. The way to know is to look at the Editorial Section or “Opinion Section” of the newspaper. There the editor clearly defines the official position of the paper on a particular issue. If you don’t want to read the section simply look at the political cartoons which will also give you a pretty good idea of the papers official position. On a news program it’s easier because you can tell simple by how much time is devoted to a particular side of an issue and what commentators are given more airtime.
News Judgement is well known in journalism circles. It means that not everything that is written, recorded or photographed will be published. Editors must make tough decisions to publish or not publish certain content based on their audiences preferences, the editor’s experience and the publication’s own guidelines, time and space limitations to name a few.
Business Conglomerates and the News. The News industry is a business. News and advertising go hand in hand in any news medium. Late night American show host John Oliver correctly identified this issue and how that affects online newspapers. He explained that newspapers need to make money in order to keep publishing.
“A press cannot be free and independent if no one is willing to pay for it,” —John Oliver.
He said this in a recent episode of his HBO show: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. While the advertising department and the editorial department of a paper have traditionally been two separate departments increasing competition has recently combined them so that the paper is now producing “news stories” sponsored by a particular business known as Native Advertising. These stories look and sound like news but are in actuality business propaganda. Sometimes they are clearly marked as advertisement and sometimes they are not, so to an untrained eye it can pass off as news: think Buzzfeed, Suggested post on Facebook, sponsored Tweet, or full page ad on Pinterest.
While the concept also applies for television it is more evident on print and online mediums simply because most recently it’s where this new marketing strategy is being heavily pursued.
With all this in mind let us now look at a few key pointers to help you understand, digests and analyze the news so as to form an educated opinion on a subject.
7 Points to Help You Read the News and Understand What You’re Watching
Walter Cronkite was one of the most respected news anchors in the United States. He was widely recognize as the “the Most Trusted Man in America.” Prior to his death in 2009 he wrote an article for NIE Institute offering seven points for helping us understand what we’re reading. While these were originally meant for print the same principles apply for online news feeds.
1. Get More Than Headlines
He advises us to read more than the headlines and to get into the habit of reading the stories.
“News people have a responsibility. And so do you. Ours is to report the news fairly, accurately and completely. Yours is to keep yourself informed everyday.”
2. Take A Three Minute Overview
“First I scan through the front-page headlines, look at the pictures and read the captions. I do the same thing page by page front to back. Only then do I go back for the whole feast.”
This is facilitated online because websites offer a headline, a picture and a brief caption that you can then click on to learn more. You can follow his tip by browsing the various sections of your chosen paper.
3. Which Is The Main Story?
” You’ll find the main or lead story in the farthest upper-right hand column. Why? Tradition…You’ll find the second most important story at the top far left, unless it’s related to the lead story. Do you have to read all the stories in the paper? Gosh, no. But you check them all. Maybe the one that appears at first to be the least appealing will be the one that will most affect your life.”
Online the principle still applies but it’s a matter of size. Look for the biggest headlines, photos, or banners saying Top Stories or something similar.
4. News is information, Period
“A good newspaper provides four basic ingredients to help you wrap your mind around the news: information, background, analysis and interpretation.
What is news? It is information only. You can tell a good newspaper story. It just reports the news. It doesn’t try to slant it. And it gives you both sides of the story.”
5. An Upside Down Pyramid
“Reporters write news stories in a special way called the “inverted pyramid” style. That means they start with the end, the climax of the story, with the most important facts first, then building more details in order of importance. This is unlike the telling or writing of most stories, where you usually start at the beginning and save the climax for last. Knowing about the newspaper’s “inverted pyramid” style will help you sift facts.”
6. Form Your Own Opinion First
“I form my own opinion before I turn to the editorial page for the pundits’ views. I don’t want them to tell me how to think until I’ve wrestled the issue through to my own conclusion. Once I have, I’m open to other reasoning. Resist the temptation to let them do your thinking for you.”
7. Pick A TV story And Follow It
Now that we’ve learned the basics of getting under the skin of a newspaper, he advises us to let newspapers get under our skin.
“Tonight, pick an important story that interests you on the TV news. Dig into the story – in your newspaper. Follow it, and continue to follow it closely in print. See if you don’t find yourself with far more understanding of the event.
And see if you don’t have a far more sensible opinion as to the “whys” and “wherefores” of that event, even down to how it will affect you – and maybe even what should be done about it.
Keep up with the news the way my colleagues and I do – on TV and in the newspapers. Learn to sift it for yourself, to heft it, to value it, to question it, to ask for it all. You’ll be in better control of your life and your fortunes.
And that’s the way it is.”—Walter Cronkite
