Media Term Thursday #41

News

Information about recent important events. Reported in newspapers, radio, television and the Internet. Events may be local, national or international and are usually investigated and presented or written by journalists or reporters.

As a television genre, the news follows conventions in structure, language and visual presentation. The news begins with recognisable and often dramatic theme music followed by the newsreaders introducing themselves and giving a brief summary of the news items to be covered. The most dramatic and important stories (with vision) are shown first, followed by local interest stories, sports and weather.

News reports need to be accurate, concise and objective and often include quotes, statements from experts, emotive words and phrases, and descriptive language.

News stories are constructed to give the facts about who, what, when, where, why and how, in the order of most important information down to the least important.

Excerpt from Media Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Media Term Thursday #2

Mass Audience

The concept of mass audience began in the early days of cinema, radio and television. It is the notion of something being communicated to an enormous number of people from all walks of live with diverse values, beliefs and attitudes and the impact or influence it has on them.

It is commonly acknowledged that the theory of mass audience is in decline, our lives are more media-rich (we have more choices) and we are increasingly interacting with media on a one-to-one basis.

Excerpt from Media Key Terms and Concepts