Entertainment and news
Entertainment and newsEntertainment and News
News coverage, whether by television, radio, the internet, or newspaper must be selective, selective not simply in which stories it reports but in how it presents them as well. The media is incapable of providing a rundown of everything that has transpired in a day. Therefore, editors, reporters, etc… decide what will go into the reports. Equally important, reporters are still human beings who, in spite their good intentions, occasionally succumb to anger, jealousy, anxiety, impatience and other emotions that could cloud their objectivity. They belong to large, complex organizations that have their own diverse, often conflicting, goals and needs. So, to report a story “like it is” can become difficult because of individual agendas.
Entertainment is to hold the attention of with something amusing or diverting. News is information about recent events. In recent history, news has become a commodity. Therefore, news must sell. News organization use entertainment as a basis for getting the viewer to watch their news program. Manheim claims “that the media is not as diverse as it claims to be. He states, though for competitive purposes they might have us believe otherwise, most American news organizations have a great deal in common with one another…they define news itself in essentially the same terms (Manheim, 1991). Manheim argues that the media entertains the viewer rather than giving them information that is revelant and socially important.
In a capitalistic society, news organizations are faced with many types of problems. Money is their number one concern. Television news must compete with each other because of ratings. Ratings determine advertising prices. Therefore, the news must give the people what they want rather than what they need. For example, Jessica Dubroff was the youngest person to fly across America. The media only granted her a few lines and sound bytes of coverage. However, after her plane had crashed and she, her father and pilot all died, she was the headline of every news agency. The news agencies are not completely at fault. They are just giving the people what they want.
Television news is in the convenient position of being able to influence people when they are most vulnerable. “A photograph from the...
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