What is 'News' Examine critically and discuss how it is constructed Essay

What is 'News' Examine critically and discuss how it is constructed and produced - Essay Example There is furthermore a tendency for news organs to try to vary their content - an excellent example is in the UK where the TV news bulletins, even on days which are dominated by â€Å"bad news† stories, will usually end with a piece of light relief - so much so that popular mythology has it that a certain news-caster was fired when his over-mirthful reaction to one such item was accidentally aired. Newspapers also follow this format - in most countries the â€Å"serious† news being placed at the beginning of a publication, with less serious issues such as TV listings, sports and letters being placed later in the publication. However, the advent of 24 hour TV news stations such as CNN, BBC World and Euronews, along with the massive expansion of the internet, has made significant changes to the ways that media construct their reports. A vast amount of effort is now put into gathering news, and once consequence of this is that news media are no longer able to manage the flow of news as comprehensively as in the past, nor to restrict access to what information the public will become privy to. Throughout history individuals, organizations and governments have sought to control public access to information. In this they have been sometimes aided and sometimes obstructed by the organs of the media which deliver that information. In particular newspapers in many countries have, until recently, tended to follow the guidance, or even censorship, which governments have imposed on them. However, more recently this has become a less followed path for news media. This greater independence appears to spring form several disparate sources. Firstly - the burgeoning of the internet has provided a new and largely unregulated source of news material. Items that mainstream news media might have previously not reported are now in the public domain. To fail to report these would leave the traditional media open to allegations of news manipulation, scorn and