Manufacturing the News

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Manufacturing the News by Mark Fishman, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mark Fishman ISBN: 9781477302620
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: November 17, 2014
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Mark Fishman
ISBN: 9781477302620
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: November 17, 2014
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English
There is little argument that mass media news projects a particular point of view. The question is how that bias is formed. Most media critics look to the attitudes of reporters and editors, the covert news policy of a publisher, or the outside pressures of politicians and advertisers. Manufacturing the News takes a different tack. Mark Fishman’s research shows how the routine methods of gathering news, rather than any hidden manipulators, determine the ideological character of the product.News organizations cover the world mainly through “beats,” which tend to route reporters exclusively through governmental agencies and corporate bureaucracies in their search for news. Crime, for instance, is covered through the police and court bureaucracies; local politics through the meetings of the city council, county commissioners, and other official agencies. Reporters under daily deadlines come to depend upon these organizations for the predictable, steady flow of raw news material they provide.It is part of the function of such bureaucracies to transform complex happenings into procedurally defined “cases.” Thus the information they produce for newsworkers represents their own bureaucratic reality. Occurrences which are not part of some bureaucratic phase are simply ignored. Journalists participate in this system by publicizing bureaucratic reality as hard fact, while accounts from other sources are treated as unconfirmed reports which cannot be published without time-consuming investigation.Were journalists to employ different methods of news gathering, Fishman concludes, a different reality would emerge in the news—one that might challenge the legitimacy of prevailing political structures. But, under the traditional system, news reports will continue to support the interests of the status quo independently of the attitudes and intentions of reporters, editors, and news sources.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
There is little argument that mass media news projects a particular point of view. The question is how that bias is formed. Most media critics look to the attitudes of reporters and editors, the covert news policy of a publisher, or the outside pressures of politicians and advertisers. Manufacturing the News takes a different tack. Mark Fishman’s research shows how the routine methods of gathering news, rather than any hidden manipulators, determine the ideological character of the product.News organizations cover the world mainly through “beats,” which tend to route reporters exclusively through governmental agencies and corporate bureaucracies in their search for news. Crime, for instance, is covered through the police and court bureaucracies; local politics through the meetings of the city council, county commissioners, and other official agencies. Reporters under daily deadlines come to depend upon these organizations for the predictable, steady flow of raw news material they provide.It is part of the function of such bureaucracies to transform complex happenings into procedurally defined “cases.” Thus the information they produce for newsworkers represents their own bureaucratic reality. Occurrences which are not part of some bureaucratic phase are simply ignored. Journalists participate in this system by publicizing bureaucratic reality as hard fact, while accounts from other sources are treated as unconfirmed reports which cannot be published without time-consuming investigation.Were journalists to employ different methods of news gathering, Fishman concludes, a different reality would emerge in the news—one that might challenge the legitimacy of prevailing political structures. But, under the traditional system, news reports will continue to support the interests of the status quo independently of the attitudes and intentions of reporters, editors, and news sources.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Writing the Story of Texas by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Foxboy by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Israeli Culture between the Two Intifadas by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Jean-Claude Grumberg by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Morning Comes to Elk Mountain by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Shakespeare's Grammatical Style by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Israeli Cinema by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book A Favored Place by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book History and Society in Central America by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book The Forgotten Ones by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Visualizing the Sacred by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Mario Vargas Llosa by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book Errant Journeys by Mark Fishman
Cover of the book My Car in Managua by Mark Fishman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy