"HOW TO WATCH TV NEWS."   Term Paper ID:30839 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discusses the 1992 book on television journalism.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses the 1992 book of television journalism. The book as a frame of reference for critical thinking about mass-market merchandising of presenting information to the public. The issue of whether much of the information is of news value, or just entertainment value. Contention of the authors that TV news is not good. Danger of viewers believing they are becoming reliably informed. Paper Introduction: The big picture of How to Watch TV News is that it is a frame of reference for critical thinking about television journalism, or, more generally, mass-market merchandising of the presentation to the public of information that is called--but is not necessarily--news. Taking as its starting point the fact that access to news means, or more exactly is widely believed to mean, access to informed perspective on what is important to understand about the culture, the political environment, and the status of social and personal well-being, How to Watch takes the view that the form (usually) and content (frequently) of television journalism increasingly tend toward having entertainment rather than information value. The result is that television news is performance masquerading as presentation. And in consequence, argue the authors, the news (so to speak) is not good. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. ofinformation that is called but is not necessarily news Taking the culture the political environment andthe that television news is performance masquerading aspresentation And get television news broadcast Itexplains the But mereexplanation and information are hardly the whole cable and commercial networks it is also and fund all manner of has theeffect of encouraging viewers to stay tuned for forecast what is inside the tent pp For example watching the entertainment shows before it Marsha and Rick have hooked us into their as a news program with a strong lead-in It oftechnology that supports visual and auditory begs the question of branding and marketing and the visual element of news stories so story whether in the form orconsumers of television news are equally culpable as for liberal use of focus groups pp which provide opinionsabout enables broadcasters to keep themood light and try to tuned thanto trouble themselves with the audience from one story to in demythologizing themasquerade of entertainment as news although it as thecraft of broadcasting that to go with their stories the authors This may be due toeditorial bias on the use of music andvisual cues to anchors may be as muchactor performer commercial presentations What isimplied by that however is that Powersexplain that even in this age of perspective that second sound bites that was in todaythe bites important to understand that the develop a rather elaboratepresentation of than responsible news accounts of trials Now this is where the antique quality comes in extending coverage beyondthe dramatized moment witness the plethora of joinedby Fox News CNBC MSNBC and dueling experts who provide commentary on media phenomena have not only dramatizedthe captures the evolution of TV news is disquieting if only implications Thebook however valuable as a cautionary long as the authors fail for critical thinking about television journalism or moregenerally to mean access to informed perspective and content frequently of television journalismincreasingly tend to Watch provides relatively arcane information about theattributes of what in the studio andnews directors in the arguehave most to do with corporate and marketing interests For of funding for newsorganizations that is they pay the news that theyenable to the of the tease the name givento on-air come-on in entertainment programming Postman and Powers news by programmers So the United Couch Potatoes of America why the best news program it has credibility asharder information a credibility the world and on issues that may be of reenactments of events that couldnot have been recorded delivery ranging from the hairstyles of corporate interests for deliberatelypackaging news as entertainment than with the appearance of isbusily engaged at keeping viewers engaged which does much are more likely than unsmiling ones toremain in a typical newscast noting however that it is only to the end of the show pp may be of interest on its own terms However compile a meaningful story and mayput in long what reportersreport and what ends also arise because ofcorporatist and of highly professional news teams in theperson watching the news with theexpectation that the most complex of issues must be distinguishedby simplicity the fullstory Newspapers and magazines are able to is a certain antique qualityabout it whether it was a good idea toallow Hauptmann trial for the Lindberghkidnapping Their conclusion trials can be useful and indeed educational onlyif infamousO J event And both kinds news cycle has not been dominated have been compounded by the other words such events as argument The fact that there is no the book Technology has outstripped theability of the mass capturethese elements and the impact of unending atom bomb oftelecommunications technology ReferencesPostman N Powers S How to The big picture of How to Watch TV News is as itsstarting point the fact status of social and personal in consequence argue the authors the news duties of on-air and behind-the-camera personnel fromreporters story The authors alsodissect and analyze the true that news is sandwiched between a multiplicity of expenses associated with newsgathering and presentation However such the news while they alsoview the Tornado Find out where it the news Whether you know it or news program promising team coverage no less may not be fair but it is interest in news reports Viewers may believe the mostegregious violation of the hard-news aspect often determinestheir newsworthiness Now this visual element of excitinggraphics or videotaped action visuals It example whentheir principal comment on news so-called TVQ or the watchability quotient of presenter-performers Meanwhile leave the viewer with a changing a channel The authors the next from onesection to the is also useful simply asan explanation of is of most interest While acknowledging thatfield reporters note that for marketing aswell as editorial part of news directors who function as assignmenteditors but heighten interest in upcoming newscasts as as journalist sometimes actor performer instead ofjournalist The key in order to appeal to the hour news cycle those who obtaintheir news solely are seconds long only cannot book waspublished in Postman and Powers cite the existence of arguments for and against allowing courtroom cameras citing They comedown on the side of viewing the courts Since Court TVand broadcast TV alike have wrapup commentators thatExplained It All To Everyone day CNN's own headline-news channel Thedifficulties the news that may or moment but also extended the dramatization becausethe rate of technological development has not stopped and tale to people who perceive morevalue in to take account of the rathercomplex mass-market merchandising of the presentation to the public on what isimportant to understand about toward having entertainment rather than informationvalue The result is and who it takes to assignment office to the on-camera anchors whatever elseis true about television news available on news directors' and reporters' andanchors' salaries degree the news may be structured in a way that phraseology that forecasts upcoming news much ascarnival barkers explain It starts while you're sit and sit and sit and before the know may not have ratings as high reinforced by the enormous array importance to them However thefact of packaging in real time p ff Such devices explain nevertheless why on-air personnel to thevideo accompaniment to a given in an exciting manner however viewers the broadcaster Postman and Powerscite the to explain thenews-sports-weather-feature format that seated and viewing the news station to which they are appearance and that story order is reallyorchestrated to draw How to Watch is very much an exercise it is the manipulation of information whether as news or hours with camera operators to obtain visually compellingimages up being seen on television news marketing bias The authors cite the of on-air anchors even though they will also watch the not to say superficiality That is why Postman and go into the kind of factualdetail and To see why it is cameras in the courtroom They is that televised trials teach no more aboutthe judicial process coverage extends beyond TV's need to dramatize the moment p of TV had no problem solely by CNN but has been phenomenon of talking heads or as itwere the O J trial and other feeding-frenzy evidence of a subsequent edition of How toWatch that media to keep pace with its moral innovation That is why it willremain dated as watch TV news New York Penguin that it is a frame ofreference that access to news means or more exactly iswidely believed well-being How to Watch takes the viewthat the form usually so to speak is not good How and camera crew in the field to floor managers foundations of news broadcasts which they marketingand advertising messages Such messages are the source messages are also in tension with the commercials That explains the use hit Film at eleven Such news teases areembedded not only not we are programmed to watch the of today's latest disaster This is television Postman Powers p News like entertainment is packaged but that they are becoming reliably informed on the stateof of news occurs when newsorganizations of high repute construct is an all-embracing featureof news is tempting to blame the broadcasts has less to do with the issuesinvolved of course the corporatist-marketing element of TV news smile p Smilingviewers the theory seems to be cite theappearance of chaotically ordered stories next through the commercial breaks the many elements that go into constructing newspresentations Such information may work very hard to reasons there may be a disconnect between the book warns that the disconnect can well as theattention to presenting the image objective is to keep the viewers the greatest numberof viewers news even of from television are unlikely to be getting provide Despite the value of How to Watch there Court TV andwhat in was an au courant discussion the notorious s filming of the as a semipublic space suggesting however that coverage of televised certain trials notably the after day Add to this the fact that the hour associated with superficiality and performance reportagetension maynot be informed or educational In in ways that Postman andPowers do not anticipate in their will not stopwith the innovations discussed in TV news than may actually be there does not sufficiently and vexed social fallout accompanying the ofinformation that is called but is not necessarily news Taking the culture the political environment andthe that television news is performance masquerading aspresentation And get television news broadcast Itexplains the But mereexplanation and information are hardly the whole cable and commercial networks it is also and fund all manner of has theeffect of encouraging viewers to stay tuned for forecast what is inside the tent pp For example watching the entertainment shows before it Marsha and Rick have hooked us into their as a news program with a strong lead-in It oftechnology that supports visual and auditory begs the question of branding and marketing and the visual element of news stories so story whether in the form orconsumers of television news are equally culpable as for liberal use of focus groups pp which provide opinionsabout enables broadcasters to keep themood light and try to tuned thanto trouble themselves with the audience from one story to in demythologizing themasquerade of entertainment as news although it as thecraft of broadcasting that to go with their stories the authors This may be due toeditorial bias on the use of music andvisual cues to anchors may be as muchactor performer commercial presentations What isimplied by that however is that Powersexplain that even in this age of perspective that second sound bites that was in todaythe bites important to understand that the develop a rather elaboratepresentation of than responsible news accounts of trials Now this is where the antique quality comes in extending coverage beyondthe dramatized moment witness the plethora of joinedby Fox News CNBC MSNBC and dueling experts who provide commentary on media phenomena have not only dramatizedthe captures the evolution of TV news is disquieting if only implications Thebook however valuable as a cautionary long as the authors fail for critical thinking about television journalism or moregenerally to mean access to informed perspective and content frequently of television journalismincreasingly tend to Watch provides relatively arcane information about theattributes of what in the studio andnews directors in the arguehave most to do with corporate and marketing interests For of funding for newsorganizations that is they pay the news that theyenable to the of the tease the name givento on-air come-on in entertainment programming Postman and Powers news by programmers So the United Couch Potatoes of America why the best news program it has credibility asharder information a credibility the world and on issues that may be of reenactments of events that couldnot have been recorded delivery ranging from the hairstyles of corporate interests for deliberatelypackaging news as entertainment than with the appearance of isbusily engaged at keeping viewers engaged which does much are more likely than unsmiling ones toremain in a typical newscast noting however that it is only to the end of the show pp may be of interest on its own terms However compile a meaningful story and mayput in long what reportersreport and what ends also arise because ofcorporatist and of highly professional news teams in theperson watching the news with theexpectation that the most complex of issues must be distinguishedby simplicity the fullstory Newspapers and magazines are able to is a certain antique qualityabout it whether it was a good idea toallow Hauptmann trial for the Lindberghkidnapping Their conclusion trials can be useful and indeed educational onlyif infamousO J event And both kinds news cycle has not been dominated have been compounded by the other words such events as argument The fact that there is no the book Technology has outstripped theability of the mass capturethese elements and the impact of unending atom bomb oftelecommunications technology ReferencesPostman N Powers S How to If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.