I. Public SphereCOMM 110 1st Edition Lecture 9Terms:- Public sphere- Journalism- Gatekeeping- Soft news/ tabloidization- BiasWhy is journalism important? - Keeps people up to date- Exposes people to information about the worldI. Public Spherea. An area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political actionb. An area where people are having conversations about certain issuesc. It is not an arena of market relations, but rather one discursive relationsd. A place for debating and deliberating rather than for buying and sellinge. We no longer have this concept because news isn’t giving us information to discussi. Its giving us information that sells thingsf. Media transformed from an idea of public good to an idea of powerg. The interneti. Gives citizens a voice, but the question is whether people engage to those voicesII. Journalisma. Nine core principles of journalismi. Journalism’s first obligation is to tell the truth1. Not trueii. Its first loyalty is to citizensiii. Its essence is a discipline of verificationiv. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they coverv. It must serve as an independent monitor of powervi. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromisevii. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevantviii. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional ix. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscienceb. Quiz i. Most people knew the information about celebrities and pop culture versus whothe governor of PA is and who the senators are etcIII. Soft news/ tabloidizationThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.a. Soft news - Primarily content related to commentary, entertainment, arts, and lifestyles issuesb. Tabloidization - a change in emphasis from the factual to the sensational; change in styleof journalismc. Most people engage with pop culture i. People magazine, E newsd. Move from news that covers social information to soft more entertaining informationi. Why?1. Keeps us happy2. Sells consumersIV. Gatekeepinga. The process through which information is filtered for dissemination, whether for publication, broadcasting, the internet, or some other mode of communicationb. Occurs at all levels of the media structurei. A reporter chooses stories and what’s printed etcc. People can also be gatekeepers by choosing what information to tell people or write in an email or blogV. Biasa. The bias of journalism and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered.b. The direction and degree of media bias is widely disputedc. Structural bias – what stories are more important to consumersd. Government influence biases the media in some countriese. Market forces that result in a biased presentation include the ownership of the news source, concentration of media ownership, the selection of staff, the preferences of an intended audience and pressure from advertisersi. The way the media presents their info is because of corporate structure1. Money from advertisers ii. These structures are creating more biasf. Because it is impossible to report everything selectivity is inevitableVI. Accidental Exposure vs. Narrowcastinga. Accidental exposure – with fewer news channels/outlets people were exposed to more information and viewpoints because there was a larger audience to appeal tob. Narrowcasting – with an increase in the number of news channels/outlets people can now seek out the information they’re more ideologically and politically aligned withi. The idea that there is a lot out there, but we cast our net on the information we want to knowii. ABC news vs Fox newsiii. Miss a lot of