Journalism: Why Dog Bites Man Isn't News
How reporters decide what is news, check it, interview, write it and dig deeper, plus the numbers and tricks behind today's misinformation.
Journalism · 50 questions
Try 3 questions
1. Galtung and Ruge's classic 1965 study of foreign news found that coverage favored what?
- Elite nations, elite people and bad news
- Distant small nations and good news
- Ordinary people in faraway places
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Answer: Elite nations, elite people and bad news
Analyzing crises in Norwegian newspapers, they identified news values such as reference to elite nations and people, and negativity.
2. Why does 'plane lands safely' almost never make the news?
- News values favor the unexpected
- Airlines pay to keep it quiet
- Readers distrust airline news
Show the answer
Answer: News values favor the unexpected
Thousands of flights land safely every day, so it is routine; news prizes deviation from the normal.
3. A small fire in your city gets more space in your local paper than a larger fire abroad. Which news value is at work?
- Timeliness
- Prominence
- Proximity
Show the answer
Answer: Proximity
Events closer to the audience, geographically or culturally, feel more relevant and so rank higher.
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