Annotated Bibliography: An Assessment for Introduction to
Journalism 1111.
By Merryn McDonnell.
Student number s4285498.
Today, there
is a greater demand for news than ever before. However, discerning audiences
want news to have impact, be relatable and be factual (Hartung, B.W. 1979) The
information carried by different media texts can vary greatly, even when
reporting the same story.
This post
will examine four different media texts. In addition to a single academic text,
three media texts are considered. These include:
·
a television
story from the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC);
·
an online
story from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC);
·
a print story
from Newsweek magazine (America).
These
different news mediums share the same main story- the USA President Barack
Obama announcing his support for same sex marriage. However, each text has
interpreted the same story in a slightly different way. The single academic text
focuses on the US media’s representation of gay rights in the news.
Roberts, R. (2012). Obama's Historic Pro-Gay Marriage Stance. American
Broadcast Corporation. May 9, 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_RkoMDv3fE&feature=relmfu
This was an
interview produced by the ABC (America) television network. In this interview,
journalist Robin Roberts interviewed President Obama and Obama verified his
support of same sex marriage. As the ABC is a commercial broadcasting
television network, stakeholders and shareholders have a great interest in the
content of ABC. The main interest of the ABC is to create a story filled with
as much drama as possible, in order to achieve high ratings. “Exclusive and
historic interview” and “the President’s deeply personal thoughts”, were stated
by the journalist throughout the story (Roberts, R. 2012).
The television
medium used by the ABC is credible, as it is sourced directly from the ABC
network. The content of this television text gives a credible overview of the
history of the story. It is important for the ABC to establish previous/current
facts, as television news audiences’ prior knowledge of an issue will affect
their interpretation of a news story (Schaap, 2009). This overview features President
Obama’s changing response to gay marriage, the current and contrasting opinions
of the forerunning Republican Presidential-Candidate Mitt Romney and Gay rights
activists. In addition, the input of New York Times Correspondent, Jodi Kantor,
is also included. This information is credible, as direct footage has been used
in conjunction with names and a date/year.
This television
story is significantly different from the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC)
online story. As ABC is an American commercial television network, the story is
focused on USA history, the up-coming election and how the President’s words will
potentially affect Americans in their voting. In contrast to this, Australia’s
public media ABC reported the story, with the addition of the Australian Prime
Minister’s opinion. In both stories, hyperlocalisation has been used. This
enables audiences’ to feel more connected to the story, depending on their
country of residence.
This online
story was produced by the ABC (Australia) news website. Footage from the ABC (America)
interview was included above the written Australian online story. Australia’s
ABC online story focused on Australian PM Julia Gillard announcing she is still
opposed to same sex marriage, despite US president Obama declaring his support of
gay marriage.
The ABC is a
public media network. Audiences typically see it as a reliable source as the
government or advertisers have little or not influence on the network. The
ultimate purpose of the ABC is to serve the public and not to turn a profit (WGBH
Educational Foundation. 2006).
The medium of ABC news online can be
considered credible. Vague claims, undated content, and an absence of
information due to a commercial influence are the causes of an online news
site’s loss in credibility (Chiagouris, 2008).
As the ABC is a public media network, there is typically little question of
commercial influence. The online story does not make any vague claim s- it predominately
uses direct quotes from sources. Finally, the online story is dated May 12,
2012 17:50:22. These reasons prove not only that the medium of the story is
credible, but also the content of the story.
Sullivan, A (2012). Barack Obama's Gay
Marriage Evolution: The President of the United States shifted the mainstream
in one interview.
In contrast to the Australian
ABC online text is America’s Newsweek magazine printed text. The ABC online
text is unbiased, news- and fact-driven, contains mainly direct quotes and is
under 500 words. The print text sourced from Newsweek presents a comprehensive
overview regarding the history of the story, includes the author’s personal
opinions and is 2400 words.
This print text reports
President Obama’s support of same sex marriage in great detail, opinion and
length. Newsweek magazine is an American, commercial media corporation. Due
various factors including the migration of readers to online news, the
advertising revenue of US magazines is declining rapidly and substantially
(Perth Now, 2011). It can be assumed that Newsweek is producing vivid stories
to entice readers to buy the magazine and sustain advertising revenue. The
author of this print text is journalist, Andrew Sullivan. As an openly gay man,
Sullivan has taken an extremely personal approach to this story. Sullivan has also
written the text in the first person.
The medium of the text is
credible as it is directly from the Newsweek magazine corporation. The
credibility of the content is inconsistent. Sullivan has used accurate dates,
quotes, names and movements to support his story. However, not all of the
information, statistics, polls and names included are cited nor sourced.
The print text of this story
is considerably different to the academic text cited. This print text is driven
by the author’s opinion, commercially funded and poses a very intimate theme. The
academic text is a reflection of the American media’s treatment of gay rights,
and although the opinions from case studies are included, the opinion of the
author is absent.
Moscowitz, L (2012). For better or for worse: News discourse, Gay rights activism and
the same sex marriage debate. Indiana University. May 2008. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/docview/304631625/abstract
Author Leigh Moscowitz
(Indiana University) has included extensive research regarding how homosexual
news stories are presented in the US media.
The medium of this text is
highly credible as Indiana University is a highly regarded research
institution. The universities’ dissertation and theses standards have been met
in the published work.
Content includes the
representation of gay rights protests, laws and developments. Moscowitz has
also included illustrative case studies on the topic. Furthermore, Moscowitz
has presented the content information with accurate referencing, names, dates
and case studies. It is evident that thorough fact checking and research has
been conducted.
In complete contrast to this
academic text is the ABC (America) television text. Although the information
presented in both texts is similar, the objectives are opposite. The academic
text is research-oriented, seeking only facts. However, the main objective of
the ABC television text is to dramatize the story- in order to generate more
attention. As a commercial
network, the ABC’s main goal is to attract audiences for advertisers (Redman,
2012). Furthermore, the academic
text is a document larger than 200 pages, the ABC television text is far more
condensed (6 minutes).
Bibliography:
Hartung, B. W. (1979). Attitudes towards the current
applicability of the 1947 Hutchins report on social responsibilities of the
press. United States International
University. 1979. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/docview/302996047/abstract
Roberts, R. (2012).
Obama's Historic Pro-Gay Marriage Stance. American Broadcast Corporation.
May 9, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_RkoMDv3fE&feature=relmfu
Schaap, G. (2009). Measuring
the Complexity of Viewers' Television News Interpretation: Integration.
Interpreting Television News. 2009. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/docview/755476857.
WGBH Educational Foundation (2006).
Open Content and Public Broadcasting. WGBH Educational Foundation. 2006. Retrieved from http://opencontent.wgbh.org/report/opencontentreport.pdf
Chiagouris, L. Mary, M. Plank,
L. & R. E. (2008): The Consumption of Online News: The Relationship of
Attitudes Toward the Site and Credibility, Journal of Internet Commerce, 7:4,
528-549. 2008.
Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332860802507396.
37). 