JLMC flashcards

• President and co-founder of Free Press, national nonpartisan organization dedicated to media reform
  
• He sees the threat of consolidation of mainstream media power to democracy by challenging media to do a better job for the sake of democracy, McChesney says no need
  

Impact: whatever makes a difference on the news play of an article

Proximity: what is close to you is news worthy even if it does not affect you personally

Human drama/impact: interesting stories that don’t happen in everyday life that could be considered bizarre

o favor of small over large or rural over urban

when reporters stake out houses, chase celebrates in packs or follow stories in such herds

It is criticized because the entire profession become under attack for invading privacy, exploiting personal problems or just getting the story wrong

Because expert sources have historically been predominately white males (bias)

used in political reporting, journalists assume the politician is hiding something and ask a series of questions to try to pull it out

when used it fosters a cynicism among journalists that actually harms the democratic process by constantly searching for what politicians may be hiding, making reporters miss info

part of a broadcast news report in which an expert/celebrity/victim/person in street responds to some aspect of an event or issue, TV equivalent of a quote in print

o sound bites often place competing viewpoints back to back creating the illusion that the two interviewees are arguing which makes a story line