Values Archives

January 23, 2017 No Comments

Unpacking Political News The first portion of the chapter reviews the impact of journalistic routines on political news-gathering. The second part looks at the role played by organizational forces, a topic that brings us eyeball to eyeball with controversies involving Fox News. The third section explores the ways that an array of economic factors shape news. The final portion describes the complex ways that the larger political system influences news, particularly coverage of recent wars. MEDIA ROUTINES What are media routines? They are defined as “those patterned, routinized, repeated practices and forms that media workers use to do their jobs”. From a professional perspective, routines enable reporters to gain information efficiently, providing tried-and-true methods to determine which information should pass through the informational gates and which should be discarded. There are three key routines: (1) Ethically based and journalistic news values; (2) Reliance on sources; (3) Dependence on informational channels. […]

Explain the following terms with your own examples. a) Norms b) Folkways c) Values d) Groups a) Norms: Social norms are described by sociologists as being laws that govern society’s behaviors . Although these norms are not considered to be formal laws within society, they still work to promote a great deal of social control. Social norms can be enforced formally (e.g., through sanctions) or informally (e.g., through body language and non-verbal communication cues.) If people do not follow these norms then they become labeled as deviants and this can lead to them being considered the outcast of society. What is considered “normal” is relative to the location of the culture in which the social interaction is taking place. Norms in every culture create conformity that allows for people to become socialized to the culture in which they live. Sociology’s theorists such as Talcott Parsons and Karl […]

Unpacking Political News

Norms, Folkways, Values and Groups