Tuesday 20 October 2009

Objectivity in news

Objectivity in news
News organizations are often expected to aim for objectivity; reporters claim to try to cover all sides of an issue without bias, as compared to commentators or analysts, who provide opinion or personal point-of-view. However, several governments impose certain constraints or police news organizations for bias. In the United Kingdom, for example, limits are set by the government agency Ofcom, the Office of Communications. Both newspapers and broadcast news programs in the United States are generally expected to remain neutral and avoid bias except for clearly indicated editorial articles or segments. Many single-party governments have operated state-run news organizations, which may present the government's views.
Even in those situations where objectivity is expected, it is difficult to achieve, and individual journalists may fall foul of their own personal bias, or succumb to commercial or political pressure. Similarly, the objectivity of news organizations owned by conglomerated corporations fairly may be questioned, in light of the natural incentive for such groups to report news in a manner intended to advance the conglomerate's financial interests. Individuals and organizations who are the subject of news reports may use news management techniques to try to make a favourable impression.[citation needed] Because no human being can remain entirely objective (each of us has a particular point of view), it is recognized that there can be no absolute objectivity in news reporting.[citation needed]
Newsworthiness
Newsworthiness is defined as a subject having sufficient relevance to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage.
Normal people are not newsworthy unless they meet an unusual circumstance or tragedy. The news divides the population into two groups; those few whose lives are newsworthy, and the multitude who are born, live out their lives and die without the news media paying them any significant notice. The news has always covered subjects that catch people's attention and differ from their "ordinary lives". The news is often used for escapism and thus normal events are not newsworthy. Whether the subject is love, birth, weather, or crime, journalists' tastes inevitably run toward the unusual, the extraordinary.
The subject and newsworthiness of a story depends on the audience, as they decide what they do and do not have an interest in. The denser the population, the more global the reported news becomes, as there is a broader range of interests involved in its selection.
Only a fraction of news manages to convey the overall world development.

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