Q:4 Write short notes on any 3 topics.

1: Medium is the massage:

“We shape our tools and then our tools shape us”
We shape our tools – this is the inception of a new medium and then our tools shape
us – this is the “message” of the medium.
"The medium is the massage" is a phrase coined by the Canadian communication
theorist Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan proposes that communication medium itself, not the
messages it carries, should be the primary focus of study. He showed that objects as media
affect any society by their characteristics or content. McLuhan uses the term 'message' to
signify content and character. The content of the medium is a message that can be easily
grasped and the character of the medium is another message which can be easily overlooked.
McLuhan says, indeed, it is only too typical that the 'content' of any medium blinds us to the
character of the medium. For McLuhan, it was the medium itself that shaped and controlled. He
proposed that the "content of any medium is always another medium" thus, speech is the
content of writing, writing is the content of print, and print itself is the content of the telegraph.

McLuhan frequently punned on the word "message", changing it to "mass age",

"message", and "massage".
McLuhan says that “message is the change of scale or pace or pattern that a new
invention or innovation introduces into human affairs"

It means that the nature of a medium (the channel through which a message is
transmitted) is more important than the meaning or content of the message. McLuhan
understood "medium" as a medium of communication in the broadest sense.

For Example: The instance of the electric light may prove illuminating in this connection.
The electric light is pure information. It is a medium without a message, as it were, unless it is
used to spell out. The light bulb is a clear demonstration of the concept of "the medium is the
message" a light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a
television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect, a light bulb enables people
to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. He
describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that "a light bulb
creates an environment by its mere presence". Likewise, the message of a newscast about a
heinous crime may be less about the individual news story itself (the content), and more about
the change in public attitude towards crime that the newscast engenders by the fact that such
crimes are in effect being brought into the home to watch over dinner.

The "content" of a medium as a juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the
watchdog of the mind. As society's values, norms, and ways of doing things change because of
the technology, it is then we realize the social implications of the medium.
 Quite simply, it means that the way that we send and receive information is more
important than the information itself. Where we were once consumers, consuming information
by watching television or listening to the radio, in the 21st century we have now also become
producers, creating our own information as well.
For example, after watching the latest episode of a television series, we can now
instantly connect with anyone, anywhere in the world who also watched the program and
communicate with them. The mediums have changed the way we behave.

The medium is all that matters, and the content can be largely ignored. If you want to
understand a medium, pay no attention to its content.

For example, people like to say that what’s written in Tweets is “obviously” irrelevant,
and what matters it the nature of the innovation itself – the 140 character limit, the live,
transient news stream, etc.
“We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.”

2: The Gatekeeper:
Gatekeepers are the high level, data decision makers who control information flow to an entire
social system. Based on personal preference, professional experience, social influences, or bias they
allow certain information to pass through their audience.

The gatekeeper theory of mass communication is a method which allows us to keep our
sanity. By consuming content that is most relevant to us each day, we can ignore the billions of
additional data points that are calling for our attention.
The idea was first suggested by Kurt Levin (1890-1947), a German psychologist and
pioneer in social psychology. He developed his concept to understand the human behavior and
its important consideration of total life. He focused more on personal perception and how a
person worked to understand their own world (physical, mental and social) through frequent
conversation and acknowledgement of memories, desire, and goals. He coined the word called
“Gate keeping” in his studies. At first it was widely used in the field of psychology and social
psychology and later moved to the field of communication as mass communication because a
specific area of study. Now it’s one of the essential and foundational theories in communication
studies.
The gatekeeper decides what information should move past them (through the
information “gate”) to the group or individuals beyond, and what information should not.
For example: in the news medium the editor plays this vital role. He/she has to decide what
kind of news items will be published and what should not. Every day the news channel receives
various news items from all over the world. The channel has its own set of ethics, policies, and
biases through which the editor decides the news items that will be published, aired, or killed.
In some cases some news items are rejected by the editor due the organizations policy or the
news items which are not suitable for publishing, this is also considered part of the gatekeeping
function.
Because of this, gatekeeping also sets a specific standard for information value. In a
world where “fake news” often competes with “real news,” gatekeeper tells the differences
between the two types of content so that only the preferred data points are consumed by each
individual. Gatekeeper may also hold influence on policies and procedures, playing the role of a
watchdog within society or simply playing into the audience’s confirmation bias. Humans are
also their own gatekeepers at the point of consumption, creating a secondary filter for
information.
For example: the informational gatekeeper pushes through content that talks about
suntan lotion, the individual may filter the content and discard it because it is not relevant to
them at that time.
Even the attitudes toward content changes based on a personal perspective. People
tend to support one side or the other in any media-related debate. The same news item coming
from CNN, BBC, or Fox News can be presented in different ways and trigger audiences
preconceived notions about the agenda of that news organization. That favoritism can make a
subject seem more or less important based on how the data points are consumed and
presented.
Simply Gatekeeper is the one who selecting, and then filtering, items of media that can
be consumed within the time or space that an individual happens to have. This means
gatekeeper falls into a role of surveillance and monitoring data. These gatekeeping decisions
are made every day to sort out the relevant items that audiences will see.

3: Free Flow of Information:

The “Free Flow of Information” is a concept linked to the basic human right of freedom
of speech and opinion. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right
includes freedom to hold opinion without interference and to see, receive and impart
information and ideas through any medium regardless of any boundaries.
Development goals of effective service delivery, increased transparency, and
accountability through the free flow of information hinge on a proper information management
infrastructure. The Free Flow of Information Act is a bill intended to provide a news reporter
with the right to refuse to testify as to information or sources of information obtained during
the newsgathering and distribution process.
To get new information to the right people at the right time requires knowledge producers to
break down many different barriers. The barriers to the flow of information are not just
geographic. A gap can be found between knowledge and practical experience. To achieve such
a complementary fusion of knowledge, those interested in the creation and application of
knowledge need to find ways to scale the fences that might separate them. The gap between
those who have & those who don’t have access to forms of information & com techs, e.g.
computers vs. internet, smartphone vs. hardware & software. Developing countries are
catching up with developed countries. There is a tendency by African countries and others to
suppress access to information. Information is power, and if citizens gain access to information
they do not agree with, they will voice their distrust in the government. This might lead to
governments being dissolved or shaken up. Some governments regard some information as top
secret. Such information will not be in the public domain to allow a citizen to criticize, use, and
do anything with it. Information should not be kept a secret from the public. People need the
information to participate in the democratic process and to influence certain outcomes to get
the feeling of true ownership in their destiny within a country.

Q:3 Elaborate the news sources of news gathering if you become a reporter how you
would get information?
Ans: Sources of Gathering News:
“A source is anything that provides information.”
News gathering in the digital age faces both opportunities and challenges. The process of
journalism begins with gathering of information. Reporting is a talent that some people have, it is a skill
that anyone can acquire. But takes a great deal of thought, preparation, and practice. Reporters have to
understand information and where it comes from. They must be persuasive in dealing with sources of
information. They must also be honest and forthright. Acquiring information for a story is an essential
part of writing process. Information is not always self-evident or readily available.

Most information in most news stories come from personal sources i.e. People. Reporter
spends his non-writing time with talking to people either face to face or over telephone. The more
people he meets the variety of information he gathers. Reporter keeps a regular contact with people
from different walks of life to have information and use them as sources. They develop a relationship of
mutual understanding. Personal sources are attributed in the news stories as he said, she said, as per
the official sources etc. The third major source of information for the news reporter is personal
observation. Whenever required the reporter goes and attends the event and writes about it. A news
reporter should be familiar with the holdings of the local public library because that can be a major
source of stored information. Modern journalists have a huge library i.e. the World Wide Web or
internet.

A contact might be an important or official person, like a police officer, politician, trade union
official or business person. It might also be a shop keeper or taxi driver. Anyone can be a source of
information. Official documents or reports and press releases are also sources. Social media and blogs
are used by journalists to find potential stories and make contact with news sources.

 Observation:

Observation consists of your actually seeing an event take place and then reporting what you
have seen in the form of a news story. The difference between a good story and a poor one is often in
the skill of the observer. Skilled observers use their eyes, ears, mind, notebooks and tape recorders.
They make sure they get the concrete facts, specific figures and accurate information. They look for the
colorful, the dramatic or the unusual in any situation. Skilled observers always try to get more
information than they actually need. They know it is easier to discard excess material than to retrace
their steps after the story is cold. Developing your powers of observation can come only through
experience. You cannot become a skilled observer by simply reading a book. The key to becoming a
good observer is to look for more than you see on the surface.

 Conversation:

telephone plays an important role in your daily work as a journalist. It saves you time, legwork
and it often enables you to reach people who are ordinarily too busy to see you in person. Telephone
conversations may range from full-scale interviews to brief queries to verify or amplify information.

Although a telephone is a very useful instrument, remember it is not the only, and not
necessarily the best, method of gathering news. It should supplement, but not replace, all other
methods. Whenever it is proper and convenient, use the telephone, but do not be afraid to engage in a
little legwork

 Interviews:

About 90 percent of everything in a news story is based on some form of interviewing - either in
person, by telephone, or occasionally, by correspondence.

As a journalist in search of information, you must learn who to get information from and how to record
facts. You must learn techniques for handling different kinds of people. Several types, however, deserve
special attention because they are the ones that occur most frequently. They are as follows:

 News interview
 Telephone interview
 Casual interview
 Personality interview
 Symposium interview
 News conference
 Prepared question interview

A primary source offers the best and most reliable information on a topic.

For Examples: an expert on a particular topic, someone with firsthand information on a topic, an original
document or an official report. Always find at least one primary source for your story
 A secondary source offers reliable second-hand information on a topic.

For Examples: reference books, reliable Web sites, or people with informed opinions on a topic.

Use secondary sources to expand your information. Journalists sometimes quote an anonymous
source to get “inside” information that the source might not otherwise offer.

Anonymous sources are generally frowned upon in journalism. If you have a doubt about any
information from a source, double-check it with another source. Be especially cautious with Internet
sources because anyone can publish information on the Internet. If you gather source material on the
Internet, use web sites of well-known newspapers and magazines, government agencies, and high-
profile public service organizations.

 Anonymous sources:

The identity of anonymous sources is sometimes revealed to senior editors or a news

organization's lawyers, who would be considered bound by the same confidentiality as the journalist.
The use of anonymous sources has always been controversial. Some news outlets insist that anonymous
sources are the only way to obtain certain information, while others prohibit the use of unnamed
sources at all times.

 Police station:

Every event which is of big concern to the police station would be firstly found in the police
station. If the reporter wants to know about a crime scene he would get first-hand information from
there.

 Hospitals and Courts:

Another big source is the hospitals from where news of cases regarding accidents etc., are
known. A person can file a case against another, like the complaint against the police and this
information can be had not from the reader out also from attendance in court.

 Blotter:

Blotter is a user generated/citizen news service. As citizens upload their (breaking news) stories,
journalists can see these stories collected on the Blotter site.

Q:1 How would you differentiate between TV news reporting and newspaper reporting?
Ans: Difference between TV News Reporting and Newspaper Reporting:
The biggest differences between news reporting in these media involve the nature of
detail. The more obvious differences are:
Time was, I would have told you that newspaper reports conveyed their information in
images (graphics and photos) and (for the most part) text. Meanwhile, television news reports
were concerned with the spoken word and the best moving images (video and formerly film)
that conveyed the story. But that line is blurred now, with newspapers’ web sites offering the
possibility of sound and moving images to help tell a story. For a while, the best examples of
television reporting offered superior use of such images, but some newspaper web site people
are getting really good at that.

 The newspaper reporting is written but may include a picture or two and television
is video enhanced audio that may include actual video of events happening, inform
that level of detail.
 Newspaper reporting tends to be the most detailed, simply because newspapers
aren’t time limited. Not only can people can read at least twice as fast as people
(including reporters) normally talk, but the reader can decide which articles they pay
more or less attention to and how long they will spend reading the newspaper.
 Television, by contrast, the listener/viewer has no control over what stories they will
consume or in what order. That’s decided at the television station or network. One
of those decisions is the length of each story, which generally varies from 20 seconds
to a minute. Ten seconds is roughly 25 words (roughly the first two sentences of a
newspaper article. A minute is 150 words (one to two paragraphs of a newspaper
article). That includes any audio quotes, so there really isn’t any room for detail.
Television can provide more detail than radio with video images, but that is often
little more than redundancy (somebody saying the words that are being quoted), so
it isn’t necessary much more detailed.
 It’s a matter of institutional habit, newspaper people are going to be more
concerned with text as a primary storytelling tool.
 Newspapers can truly dive deep into stories in ways that television newscasts
cannot. In newspapers, stories can truly be fleshed out, providing all of the
relevant information to the story and adding direct quotes from sources that help
tell the story.
 Television newscasts are limited because there is a time limit involved. Every
newscast has to be timed and some have to be timed in certain ways (that’s a whole
other thing to consider when doing television), which limits what they can do for
stories VOSOTs tend to average about 40 seconds. . Most often, stories that are not
covered by the television reporters is broken down into either short video clips with
the anchor reading information (known as a VO, for video-over). Most VOs last only
20 seconds and Compare that to an 800-word newspaper story and it’s easy to see
which of those stories has more information.
Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

 Television news has the advantage of immediacy and vividness. TV can show you
what's happening RIGHT NOW, anywhere in the world.
 TV's disadvantage is that it is very short on perspective and analysis. Time is at a
premium and images take primacy over words.
 Perspective and analysis are the strengths of newspapers. A newspaper can tell you
what happened yesterday (there are almost no evening papers left), but it can also
tell you why, and can provide additional perspectives on what happened.
Newspapers have both the space for words and the time for perspective.