©2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Newspapers.

©2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Newspapers


Some of the general features of newspapers in early America include the following:

few newspapers existed most publishers were printers and postmasters news was not very timely The concept of the “free press” was not yet

supported


The number of newspapers grew during the Revolutionary War, with the partisan or political press – newspapers that openly supported a particular party or cause.

The First Amendment was ratified in 1791 and guarantees press freedom.

Papers grew rapidly; most cities had dailies and towns had weeklies.

They were read mostly by the upper socioeconomic class.

Papers cost six cents (by comparison, a pint of whiskey cost five cents).

Most news centered on business, political debates, speeches, new laws, and official messages.

Freedom’s Journal was the first of more than 40 black papers published before 1860.

Founded by the Rev. Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm in the late 1820s.

The Cherokee Phoenix and the Cherokee Advocate came out during this time Written in both Cherokee and English.

For a mass press to be possible, certain things were needed:◦ Development of quick, cost-efficient printing presses

first steam-powered press in 1830 could produce 4,000 copies an hour

◦ A critical mass of literate people First public school system was established in 1830s Many people in the middle/lower socioeconomic

groups learned to read◦ The presence of a mass audience

Ordinary people had more political and economic power and were more responsive to a mass press


Benjamin Day launched the penny press with the publication of the New York Sun in 1833 when he was 22.

He lowered the newspaper price from six cents to one penny. News centered on sex, crime, and human interest.

James Gordon Bennett started the New York Herald in 1835 He introduced financial and sports pages

Horace Greeley started the New York Tribune in 1841 Appealed to reader intellect rather than emotion News and editorials centered on crusades and causes. He favored women's rights.

Henry Raymond started the New York Times in 1851 Introduced objective and reasoned journalism.


The Civil War and telegraphic dispatches changed how newspaper stories were written.

Sometimes telegraph lines failed during the transmission of a story from the war zones, so the “inverted pyramid” style of reporting was developed to ensure that at least the most information facts made it through

The inverted pyramid = puts the most newsworthy information at the top, and then the remaining information follows in order of importance, with the least important at the bottom.

U.S. population doubled between 1870-1900; urban population tripled = the number of dailies quadrupled; circulations showed fivefold increases.

Joseph Pulitzer published the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. He aimed the World at the large NYC population, particularly new

immigrants Stressing simple writing and many illustrations. He emphasized reporting accuracy and introduced investigative reporting

and social advocacy.


E.W. Scripps published newspapers in Cleveland and Cincinnati aimed at the working class.

He promoted concisely edited news, mostly for blue collar workers, and highlighted human interest stories.

He practiced editorial independence and frequently crusaded for the working class.

He pioneered the concept of chain newspapers. William Randolph Hearst published the San Francisco Examiner

and New York Journal Hearst relied heavily on sensationalized stories dealing with

death, dishonor, and disaster to boost circulation, and promoted stories that appealed to reader emotion.


Circulation battles led to increased use of sex, murder, self-promotion, and human-interest stories.

Yellow journalism = sensationalized writing relies on eye-catching headlines to sell papers.

Though not the proudest moment in American journalism, yellow journalism did have some positive results:

brought enthusiasm, energy into American journalism Encouraged aggressive reporting and investigative journalism Brought exposure to prominent authors aggressive reporting, and investigative journalism Helped popularize the use of layout and display elements that

characterize modern journalism


From 1900 to 1920, many newspapers consolidated and the number of daily papers and number of cities with competing papers declined:

costs of equipment and supplies was too high for many newspapers

advertisers showed preference for the paper with the largest circulation in the market

consolidation had increased profits in other industries, so newspaper publishers decided it could do the same for them

Appearing with the consolidation trend during the 1920s was jazz journalism

Emphasized photography more than writing The newspapers were tabloid size – printed on a page that was

about half the size of a normal newspaper page Best example of this trend was the New York Daily News


Bleak economic conditions forced many dailies out of business and chain newspapers grew (they could share resources more efficiently among all their papers)

radio and television emerged as a serious competitor for national advertising dollars.

By 1970 only about 2% of cities had competing newspapers

consolidation continued as media conglomerates controlled newspapers, magazines, radio and television station

The biggest development of the 1980s was the birth of USA Today, which influenced other papers, especially in terms of splashy graphics and colors, short, easy-to-read stories and lots of graphs, charts, and tables


Problems in the newspaper industry became apparent in the 1990s and continue today. Problems include:

decreasing readership increasing competition from the Web rapid shifts in social and market conditions increasing debt bad management decisions cutting into the bottom line

Although the newspaper industry is still losing readers and revenue, it’s not losing them as badly as before.


Newspapers are cutting costs and trying to increase revenue in order to survive.

Techniques include:- sharing stories with former competitors- laying off employees - reducing delivery areas or frequency- moving completely online- exploring new ways to charge online readers


Online newspapers have some advantages over traditional newspapers:

they are not limited by the size of the newshole (the amount of news that can be printed in one edition – determined by the # of ads in an issue. More ads = more pages)

they can be updated continuously they are interactive and searchable they can provide video and audio they can feature user-generated content


Mobile media allow newspapers to be delivered to a person, via a cell phone or laptop, rather than to a place, like a home or newsstand.

The newspaper industry believes that by charging for subscriptions for content on e-readers, iPad etc., it can recoup some of the financial losses caused by offering free online content

Many newspapers have developed apps for mobile media that may eventually be a significant stream of revenue. However, these apps can be expensive for newspapers to develop.


Newspapers now realize it is an economic advantage to promote themselves and/or offer content on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

The New York Times has 3 million Twitter followers USA Today has about 53,000 Facebook fans More than 200 newspapers post videos on YouTube,

including the Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, and the Boston Globe


Both online and print newspapers share some defining features:

They contain a diverse array of content (news, editorials, features, sports, comics, columns, ads, etc.)

They are conveniently organized by content type They cover local and neighborhood news They serve as a historical record, in that the typical

newspaper contains a record of daily events that influence our lives… a snap shot of what life is like in any given year or decade

They perform a watchdog role for society, monitor the workings of government and private industry, and alert the public to possible threats and trends

They are timely and current


Newspapers can be grouped by frequency of publication, market size and appeal to specialized groups:

Print Dailies Dailies are newspapers that appear at least five

times a week. National circulation has been declining since the

1960s.


National Newspapers Aimed at national audiences Only three are operating in the United States: USA

Today, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Circulation for this group has not declined quite as

much as in other segments.

Large Metropolitan Dailies Based in communities with a population 500,000 or

more Circulation declines continue because of competition

from the Internet and a loss of advertising revenue.


Medium-Sized Dailies Have a circulation between 100,000 – 500,000 In most cases, circulation is declining.

Small Town Dailies Have a circulation of 100,000 or less This category is generally not losing audiences as

quickly as the medium and large metropolitan dailies because they have less competition from other media outlets.

In fact, some have gained modest circulation.


Print Weeklies The number of weeklies in the U.S. has remained relatively stable (about 6,500)

for the last 10 years. Still, rising production costs have made weekly publishers more cost-conscious.

Special-Service and Minority Newspapers: Special-service newspapers are those aimed at well-defined audience segments, such as ethnic groups, foreign languages and college students.

African-American press reached a circulation peak in 1960 and has since seen a significant decline

Spanish press has been growing over the last 20 years, but has seen some decline over the last few years, although not as much as English-language papers

There are about 1,800 college newspapers at 4-year institutions, with a total circulation of more than 6 million


3 types of online newspaper Web sites are: News Aggregators

These sites take information from many sources and meld it into a new presentation.

One type (e.g. Google News) uses an automatic formula to scan publications.

The other type (e.g., Huffington Post) uses humans to select the stories.


Online Web sites associated with a print newspaper Most online papers fit in this model the most visited newspaper Web sites have a print counterpart. Organizational structures vary: some have a stand-alone online

operation while others combine print and online operations.

Online-only sites These have proliferated in the last couple of years Many were started by journalists who were laid off from their print

newspaper jobs Others are remnants of a print publication that went out of business,

such as Seattlepi.com, the online site of the defunct Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Most online-only sites focus on local community news. Finding a profitable business model is a challenge for this category.


The industry is still dominated by several large groups owning newspapers

However, since newspapers are no longer as profitable as they were before the Internet, the current trend for some of the large companies is to sell off papers that are losing money, and thus the large companies are becoming smaller.

Who Owns the Media: http://stateofthemedia.org/media-ownership/


The current business model of the newspaper industry is falling apart. Print newspapers derive 85% of their income from advertising and 15% from circulation, both which are declining.

Revenue: For the print version, advertising revenue comes from four separate sources:

local advertising classified advertising national advertising preprinted inserts.

The most important = local retail and classified advertising, and these revenue streams have dropped by more than 50 percent over a four-year period.


Expenses: the costs of running a newspaper can be separated by function.

News and editorial costs: reporters and editors who cover and report the news

Printing costs: such as newsprint and ink, and the costs of running the press

Mechanical costs: including composition and plate production

Circulation and distribution costs: gas, trucks, and delivery people

General administrative costs: clerical, secretarial, accounting, etc.


The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) = The ABC was created in response to inflated circulation rates claimed by papers

in early 1900s. It evaluates three-fourths of all U.S. and Canadian print media (about 2600

publications) The ABC makes sure that newspapers are providing accurate reports of the # of

copies they are selling

Newspaper Audiences In the U.S., total national newspaper circulation runs about 45 million copies

daily. Circulation totals have been sliding since 1990, even though the population

continues to grow. The biggest decline in readers is in the 18-44 age group, in urban audiences,

and among people who have not attended college. Reasons given for the decline include competition for other media (especially

the Internet), increases in prices, declines in literacy of younger people, increased mobility, and increases in single person households.


Why don’t young people read newspapers?

What, if anything, could newspapers do to recapture this audience segment?

How often do you read the newspaper? Which one(s)? Which section(s)?


Part III – Specific Media Professions

Chapter 13 News Gathering & Reporting

The Dynamics of Mass Communication – 12th Edition

Shanna

you will select a specific mass communication medium by lottery:Now that we've discussed the 8 main mass communication mediums (The Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, radio, sound recording, motion pictures, and television), we'll move on to talking about some of the specific media professions.Today, we'll start with news reporting and then go on to public relations and advertising.

The State of American News

• Many people think news is dead, but it’s not.

• The model and method of delivery have just changed in the digital age.

• Americans still want news and the digital revolution has given them more control than ever over what info they consume and how and where they consume it.

Deciding What Is News

• News values help journalists decide what stories merit coverage and to what degree.

• There are 5 core elements that characterize newsworthy events:

1. Timeliness: - News must be fresh, immediate, and current.- With Web sites operating 24/7 and bloggers

providing first-hand info as it happens, the digital revolution made the “shelf life” of news shorter.

Deciding What Is News2. Proximity:- The closer a news event is to your home, the more important it is to a reader.

- In addition to geographical proximity, a news story might have psychological proximity, which occurs

when you identify with the story topic (health, college, jobs) regardless of the story’s geographical origin.

- Social media sites give a new dimension to psychological proximity as people can find other individuals with whom they share a common connection

Deciding What Is News

3. Prominence:- The more important a person is, the

more valuable he or she is as a news source.

- Think of all the news stories focused on well-known people from the president to sports and entertainment figures

Deciding What Is News4. Consequence (or Impact):- Events that affect a great many people are

newsworthy.

- The Internet has given audience members more influence in determining the consequence of

certain news items

- The news media can monitor the “clickstream” to monitor what articles people are reading on their websites.

Deciding What is News

5. Human Interest (or Novelty):- Stories that bring out an emotion in

readers have news value.

- They may be uplifting, bizarre or dramatic.

Deciding What Is News• In addition to the five traditional elements of

news value, economics also plays an important role in determining whether a story is reported.

• Some stories cost more than others to cover.

• If a news station has invested in expensive technology (helicopters, studio vans, and satellite feeds), stories that utilize this technology are more likely to receive coverage.

Trust and the News Media• Americans are losing confidence in the trustworthiness of their

news media

• In 1972, 68% said they had a “fair” amount of trust or a “great deal” of trust in the news media. In 2000, 51% reported having a “fair” amount or a “great deal” of trust. And in 2010, 43% said they a “fair” amount of a “great deal” of trust

• In 1972, 30% said they had “not much” or no trust in the news media. That number rose to 49% in 2000 and to 57% in 2010

• Do you trust the news media?

The News Business

• Historically, advertising pays for most of the cost of gathering and distributing news

• This business model worked as long as the news media drew the audiences that advertisers wanted to reach.

• “Decoupling” of advertising from the news occurred when the Internet became popular and advertisers discovered that they had other, more efficient ways to reach an audience – revenue started to flow away from the traditional news media to the Web.

News Reporting in the Digital Age

• 6 significant ways the digital revolution has changed news reporting1. Increased # of news sources2. Blogs3. Citizen journalism4. Hyperlocal news5. Converged journalists6. New reporting tools


• 1. More Sources of News: the Internet has increased the number of available news sources

A. General news sites = CNN.com or USAToday.com

B. News Aggregators = Google News etc. that offer a digest of news from other sources

C. Specialized News sites that offer highly focused content = ESPN for sports news, Wall Street Journal’s Web site for financial news

D. Blogs


• 2. Blogs: Several characteristics of blogs are important. • Blogs represent another source of news, free from

traditional economic, corporate, political, or advertising considerations. There are blogs devoted to all sorts of topics, and blogs offer alternative points of view to traditional media.

• Blogs have made it possible for everyone to become a reporter, and paved the way for citizen journalism.

News Reporting in the Digital Age• 3. Citizen Journalism

- In citizen journalism, ordinary citizens become amateur reporters.

- This trend was facilitated by digital and cell phone video cameras and high speed Internet access.

- Traditional news media encourage citizen journalism, and many media outlets ask audience members to submit photos and video clips.

- Citizen journalism is popular with the mainstream news media in part because it’s free content, but it also empowers the audience.

- News organizations are no longer the only ones that determine what is reported and how.

News Reporting in the Digital Age• 4. Hyperlocal News

– refers to news coverage for a very small community.

– It can be a single zip code or interest group in a defined geographic area.

– Most hyperlocal news appears on Web sites. Publishers of hyperlocal news hope that the extremely local focus and the coverage of topics ignored by the traditional media will draw in people who generally do not consume news.

– Example: Patch.com

– Making money from hyperlocal news is a challenge. Most web sites sell inexpensive ads to local merchants or entrepreneurs who can’t afford traditional media ads.

News Reporting in the Digital Age• 5. The Converged Journalist– The converged reporter has the skills of a print, photo,

and video journalist.

– The term backpack journalist = "do it all" journalists who carry a digital camera, laptop computer, and cell phone to produce stories for print, television, and online media.

– Reporters who work out of their cars and cover local community news are called mobile journalists, or mojos.


• 6. New Reporting Tools– The Internet allows reporters easier access to

documents, databases, government records, and expert sources.

– However, journalists must learn the appropriate skills to take advantage of all the Internet has to offer. These skills are generally referred to as computer-assisted reporting.

3 Categories of News and Reporting1. Hard news: traditional fact-oriented journalism

1.embodies the famous journalistic questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how

2.Hard news generally embraces all but the human interest values, with emphasis on the values of timeliness and consequence.

3.Hard news stories make up the majority of news reporting, and tend to be the lead stories in broadcast news or appear in Section 1 of a newspaper.

2. Soft News or Features: Usually relies heavily on the human interest news value and are entertaining.

3 Categories of News and Reporting

3. Investigative Stories– unearth significant information about matters of public importance through

the use of non-routine information-gathering methods

– Corruption, political scandals, business cover-ups, drug trafficking, and institutional inefficiencies are typical targets

– An investigative piece requires considerable time and money, so it is usually longer than the typical news item.

– This type of story may run as an extended series over a period of several days

– Broadcast media might air the story as a 10-15 minute documentary segment on a newsmagazine program (Dateline)

– Bloggers have also entered the realm of investigative journalism.

The News Flow• Print Media Reporters – 2 Types

• the beat reporter who specializes in covering a topic such as fire and police departments, government, schools, or business

• the general assignment reporter, who covers whatever assignments come up.

• Television Reporting Positions

– the news director is responsible for the overall news operation– the executive producer oversees all the producers in the newsroom

• Decides what stories are covered and who covers them• Deciding the order in which stories appear in the newscast• Determining the amount of time each story is given• Writing copy for some stories

– The assignment editor assigns and monitors the activities of reporters and camera crews

– Other broadcast positions include on-air reporters and anchors, general assignment reporters, photographers, editors, news writers and productions assistants

The Associated Press• The Associated Press (AP) = a wire service that

provides much of the news about what is going on outside of one’s local community.

• The purpose of a wire service is to provide newspapers with correspondents and coverage that the papers couldn’t otherwise afford.

– A wire service is the eyes and ears for local papers and broadcasting stations that can’t afford to have people stationed all over the country

• Newspapers pay for wire service news on a sliding scale: the bigger the paper’s circulation, the more they pay.

Similarities in Print & TV News Coverage

• Similarities Among the News Media: editors and reporters in each medium share the same basic values and journalistic principles: – honesty: stories should be as truthful as possible– accuracy: fact checking must be done for every story– balance: journalists must make sure they tell all sides of a

story– objectivity: news reporting should be untainted by bias

and without personal comment– credibility: the news reporting should be from believable,

reliable, trusted sources.

• One of the problems with online citizen journalism is that a reader can never be sure if citizen journalists subscribe to the same values as professional reporters in terms of checking facts, cross-validating sources, providing an objective stance and following codes of the profession’s ethics.

Readership and Viewership• The audience for network news, local news, newspapers, and

news magazines has been shrinking – and getting older – for about 30 years.

• The average age of the typical TV newscast viewer is around 60.

• With the exception of the Internet, there has been a noticeable decline in the consumption of news.

• Some say they have no interest in following the news

• Others go online to traditional or nontraditional sites.

• The smaller the audience means less advertising revenue, which results in cutting personnel and closing news bureaus.

The News According to Who?

• Should news be what the audience wants to know or what the audience needs to know?

• Who should decide what news is reported? Reporters or the readers/viewers?

©2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Newspapers.

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Transcript of ©2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Newspapers.