How does the institional organisation of television (in terms of
ownership, control and regulation) affect the "window on the world
provided by news and current affairs? (2500 words)
If possible i would politely want researcher omniscienbeing-ga to
answer my question.

---

Request for Question Clarification by omniscientbeing-ga on 14 Nov 2003 19:06 PST

Hello nyajao-ga,

Interesting question-- I have indeed handled others like it in the
past, and feel I could answer this one as well. However, 2500 words is
fairly subtantial on this complex topic, and I'd feel more justly
compensated if the price were $100. (Keep in mind, we researchers only
get 75% of your Question price). Anyway, for $100 I could have this
done for you before Monday morning, or within 2 days of when you
respond to this (if that's after Mon. morning).

Alternatively, if we lower the word limit to 1500 words, I'll do it for $70.

What do you think?

Thanks,

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by nyajao-ga on 16 Nov 2003 14:25 PST

Hallo Omniscientbeing-ga

Thank you for getting back to me.

Some of the issues i would like to discuss in this essay are: What are
the differences between the style of reporting in different
newspapers,

 Do we trust news reporting to be realistic? Or do we always assume
that is always accurate/objective? why is this?

What are the conventions at work here? Why are some things considered
more 'newsworthy than others? How does this affect what we think of as
'important' or 'political'

This are just some of my own ideas i would like to include in this
essay on Realism which am studying.

---

Request for Question Clarification by omniscientbeing-ga on 17 Nov 2003 10:33 PST

nyajao-ga,

Okay,I just want to be clear on your topic before I begin. Your
original question, "How does the institional organisation of
television (in terms of
ownership, control and regulation) affect the "window on the world
provided by news and current affairs?" is somewhat different from the
questions in your Clarificaiton:

What are
the differences between the style of reporting in different
newspapers,
 
 Do we trust news reporting to be realistic? Or do we always assume
that is always accurate/objective? why is this?
 
What are the conventions at work here? Why are some things considered
more 'newsworthy than others? How does this affect what we think of as
'important' or 'political'"

It seems to me these are unrelated issues--how the institutional
ownership of television affects the window on the world of news
reporting is much different thatn the stylistic differences among
major newspapers, for example.

Could you rephrase the Question to be more clear on what you want?

I only want to be sure that I'm answering what it is you are
interested in as closely as possible. So, I'm just trying to make sure
you don't get 2500 words of something that's off-topic on what you
want.

Thanks,

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by nyajao-ga on 17 Nov 2003 11:34 PST

Thanks for pointing that out for me.  That was something totally
different i was earlier on looking at and mixed it up with this
particular question.

The question is as stands.  "How does the institional organisation of
television (in terms of ownership, control and regulation) affect the
"window on the world" provided by news and current affairs? (2500
words)

Thanks for pointing that out for me.  My mistake.

nyajao-ga, 

The essays on the institional organization of television (in terms of
ownership, control and regulation) and how it affects the news and
current events below total about 2,500 words. I gave you three
different ones which total a little over 2,500 words, in case you like
one approach better than the next, but together they thoroughly cover
the issue you write of in your Question. The three could also be used
together as one
2,500 word essay with a small amount of effort. At the end I provide a
list of
links you can use to obtain further information for your research project.

			***************************

In addition to entertainment, the medium of broadcast television also
provides a window to news and current affairs from the local to the
world level. Although these news broadcasts are perceived by the
average viewer to contain useful information, a closer look at the
commercial structure of television itself indicates a need for
critical literacy for the viewer. After all, there is more than one
way to present the ?news.?

Most news events have several sides or ?angles? from which they can be
viewed. Since some of these angles may place certain parties in a bad
light and certain parties in a good light, which angles are presented
becomes of cardinal importance, particularly for those at the center
of the ?news? itself. Also, some news angles are simply more easily
presented than others, and with tight deadlines and the heat of
competition for breaking stories, it can be tempting to ?cut corners.?
When considering that some people are benefiting directly from the
news broadcasts (namely those in the television industry and in some
cases those in the news spotlight), one must consider what those
people may have to gain or lose from presenting the news from
different angles.

Central to this consideration is the advertising business. Companies
pay money to television networks and stations to have their messages
broadcast in order to attract business and make public statements
about themselves and their activities. They expect to be represented
in a certain manner which reflects positively on their company, and
which is not contrary to their interests. If one station can?t provide
this, they?ll go to another which is more responsive to their needs
(meaning one who agrees not to air their commercials during segments
on their industry which may not be perceived favorably by the public).
If an oil company pays for advertising time during the 11 O?Clock
News, for example, and during that broadcast the station airs a news
piece which displays oil companies in general in a negative light
(such as a catastrophic oil tanker spill), the oil company may pull
all further advertising. Thus, the station with heavy advertisement
revenue from big corporations is not likely to anger those
corporations by presenting news stories which are contrary to their
best interests. As we know, a goodly percentage of the news is
comprised of events involving large corporations, national or
multinational, which makes it hard to avoid presenting conflicts of
interest.

The television viewer seeking true objectiveness in their news reports
is best served by obtaining their news from several television
sources. Because television truly is a ?window on the world,? it is
owned and controlled by various parties with interests in different
parts of the world. This is inherently problematic since one can never
be too sure who might be paying the majority of a TV station?s
advertising revenues. This problem is especially troublesome with
regard to politics.

In addition to the corporate angle whereby some news stories make
corporations look good or bad, there is also a political angle. When a
news story is covered that involves major (or celebrity) politicians,
either local, regional or national, there is a substantial amount of
pressure on the networks to present the story in a way that favors or
does not favor certain players in the news. Whether or not, or how
often the network/station bows to this pressure varies case-by case,
but the pressure is undeniably there. During election times, ads are
broadcast that are clearly sponsored by certain politicians. This is
not as problematic since the public knows whom those ads are sponsored
by. But daily news broadcasts having their content altered before they
get aired because of big-money political influence behind-the-scenes
is another matter altogether.

Further complicating matters is the fact that many of the same media
conglomerates that own the television networks and stations also own
other media outlets such as radio stations, newspapers, magazines and
major web portals and websites. This tangled web of ownership can also
facilitate conflicts of interest which can sometimes result in biased
reporting of news, or even completely omitted news. For the news
consumer (i.e. viewer/reader/listener), it can be extremely difficult
to determine who as actually behind the reporting of what is they?re
watching, reading or listening to. Furthermore, the news is likely to
be somewhat different when viewing or reading reports from different
parts of the world. This geo-centric view of the news is to be
expected, yet when added to the other problems mentioned above, it
tends to distance the news consumer even further from sorting out the
truth from profit-driven reporting.

In conclusion, although the institutional organization of television
provides a "window on the world,? it?s a window that gets broken
frequently due to the conflicts of interest presented by television
ownership, control and regulation. Further complicating this situation
is the fact that most media giants own not only television stations,
but also newspapers, magazines, websites and cable television
networks. The contemporary news consumer seeking the truth must read,
watch and listen with a discerning eye, indeed.

			***************************

The next essay is entitled ?Edward R. Murrow, Where Are You?,? by
Wayne O?Leary, from this populist.com webpage:

[ http://www.populist.com/01.21.oleary.html ].

Here?s an excerpt from the above article:

?The week after Sept. 11, when most of us were glued to our television
screens following the unfolding terrorist story, some people turned to
C-SPAN 2, whose coverage featured the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC) and its corps of sterling reporters, led by anchor
Peter Mansbridge. American networks did commendable work, especially
at first. Peter Jennings of ABC News was particularly good, and Jim
Lehrer's NewsHour provided its usual competent, professional
analyses.?

Our final essay is entitled, ?Potential impact for news coverage.? I
cannot locate an actual author for this piece, but it comes from the
following web link:

 [ http://www.lights.com/epi/virlib/Studies/2002/fccn/chapter3.PDF ].

Here?s an excerpt from the above article:

?The synergies between broadcast television and newspaper ownership
have been apparent for a generation. As quintessential profit
maximizer and newspaper ace monopolist Al Neuharth stated in his
autobiography, ?The synergies conventional newspaper operations and
broadcast [television] operations [are] obvious.?

****************************************************************

As an additional source of information, you may find the following
article, entitled, ?Television News: Information or Infotainment?,? by
radio host Michael Medved, useful:

[ http://www.libertyhaven.com/noneoftheabove/fictionmusicorentertainment/television.shtml
].

The following series of links will lead you to further resources on
this most fascinating topic.

Google search strategy,

Keywords,

?television news "conflicts of interest" ?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+%22conflicts+of+interest%22
,

?television news bias?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+bias
,

?television news ownership?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+ownership
,

?television news control?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+control
,

?television news regulation?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+regulation
,

?television news fairness?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+fairness
,

?television news objectivity?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+objectivity
,

?television news subjectivity?:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=television+news+subjectivity

 Also, conduct all of the above searches substituting the word, ?TV?
for ?television.?

I hope the information presented here is suitable for your needs. If
it for some reason is not, or if anything I?ve written here is for
some reason not clear, then please don?t hesitate to ask for
Clarification.

Thanks for requesting me to work on this Question.

Sincerely,

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher

nyajao-ga,

Okay, thanks for clarifying that for me. I'll get to work on this.

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher

Hello nyajao-ga,

I'm glad you found the anwer helpful. Since you seem to be writing an
essay for a school assignment, you might want to take a look at these
documents. If your school checks for plagiarism, you will be held
responsible for the two documents taken in their entirety from the
web.

Essay #2
http://www.populist.com/01.21.oleary.html
WAYNE O'LEARY
Edward R. Murrow, Where Are You?
***** Two pages quoted in full.

Essay #3
http://www.lights.com/epi/virlib/Studies/2002/fccn/chapter3.PDF
Three ? Potential impact for news coverage.
***** Two pages quoted in full.

Best wishes for your studies.

~ czh ~

Thanks czh-ga, for listing these sources which were indeed used in
part for this Answer. Although listed in the Google search results I
listed, in my haste to deliver this client an Answer as soon as
possible I forgot to add their direct links.

Thanks again,

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher

You seem to have also forgotten to use quotation marks and inform the
client that you quoted verbatim from those sources.

If his or her instructor uses Glatt, Turnitin, EVE2, or any of a
number of other plagiarism detection suites currently in use, s/he can
expect a failing grade and/or expulsion.  It would seem to me that
this is a bit more serious than simply...forgetting...source
citations.  Haste should never factor into the equation if you're
truly interested in serving the client's needs.

You might consider brushing up on the Training Manual and Style
Guidelines for proper citations, as well as the Newsletter Archive
discussion on copyright violation.  The latter can be found in the
November 7th, 2002 and July 17th, 2003 issues.

--Missy

Regarding this Comment:

"If his or her instructor uses Glatt, Turnitin, EVE2, or any of a
number of other plagiarism detection suites currently in use, s/he can
expect a failing grade and/or expulsion."

Whether or not the plagiarism can be detected is irrelevant. Even if I
write a 100% original piece expressly for this Answer and post it here
(as I've done before and did for part of this Answer), if someone
turns it in as their own work, it's plagiarism. I am simply answering
a question, I'm not assuming it's for school work. In fact, the asker
of the Question never refer to any school work whatsoever, and it may
well just be out of personal or professional interest. If it is for
school work, then I'm sure that this Answer is used only as a guide
and example to write their own piece. Cited sources or not, if it's
turned in as posted, that makes it plagiarism.

If my original pieces are used verbatim in whole or part, then the
citation would be, "Anonymous Internet Author" or something to that
affect.

Sincerely,

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Reseacher

Hm.

From where I'm sitting, copying and pasting four full pages of
material without ever citing them, and collecting $100 for it, looks a
lot like plagiarism.

Belle

Sheesh, I didn't realize my Answers were so popular and that I had so
many readers! I shall aim to please all of you from now on.

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher

Yes, you are more popular than you might realize.
I've been an avid reader of your answers for some time....