LU4: Electronic

Media
COSC7312
Danille Janse van Vuuren

LO1: Define news according to Postman and Powers

LO2: Give an example to illustrate and explain Postman and
Powers argument that news is more often made rather than
gathered
LO3: Critically discuss Postman and Powers statement: we see
what we expect to see; often, we focus on what we are paid to
see

20

LU
Objectives

LO4: Using a reality TV show of your choice, critically discuss why

it is said that media and the broader culture are interrelated,
addressing issues such as: (1) Cultural consumption; (2) Social
issues being addressed; and (3) Social unity
LO5: In terms of diversity, and with respect to policy decisions,
explain the marketplace of ideas metaphor
LO6: Differentiate between diversity and variety using examples
to enhance your answer
LO7: Explain what is meant by the term source diversity;
LO8: Discuss workforce diversity and how it is applied within the
South African context
LO9: Discuss the term content diversity as well as its subcomponents

LO11: Critically discuss why it is wrong to assume that an increase in the number of
media outlets will lead to an increase in content diversity
LO12: Use an example to explain the term demographic diversity
L13: Argue whether or not idea-viewpoint diversity exists in South African media using
examples to support your answer
LO14: Explain why bias can be used to assess idea-viewpoint diversity in electronic
media
LO15: Explain the relevance of exposure diversity in terms of working towards effective
democratic self-governance
LO16: Using an example to illustrate your answer, differentiate between horizontal
exposure diversity and vertical exposure diversity
L17: Discuss the elements of time and space with respect to radio using examples to
illustrate your answer
LO18:Evaluate to what extent, and how, streaming to music on the Internet and
creating your own music compilations using iTunes (for e.g.) bring up considerations of
time and space that are different from those Hendy describes regarding traditional
broadcast radio
LO19: Critically evaluate Ian's view that illegal downloading is not harming the music
industry, considering her argument was made in 2002

Material
used for
this LU

YOUR module guide, pp.41-49

YOUR prescribed book: pp.203-302

Electronic
Media

The purpose of this LU is to explore key aspects of

electronic media by looking at 6 key essays:
The first essay by Neil Postman and Steve Power
explores what is meant by the term news and who
decides what is news

Learning
Unit Intro

The second essay written by Katherine Senders focuses

on reality TV and how they portray deeper cultural and
societal issues
The third essay is written by Philip Napoli and focuses
on diversity of media and the various dimensions of
diversity
The fourth essay written by David Hendy highlights what
role time and place play in radio
Janis Ian is our 5th essay and her focus is on the record
industry
And the final essay written by Janet Wasko looks at the
billion-dollar industry of marketing and promoting films

LU1
Learning
Objective

Define news according to Postman and

Powers
(Text book, pp.205-206)

 Postman and Powers state

that [...] unless a television
viewer has considered it, he
or she is in danger of too
easily accepting someone
else's definition [...] (cited
in Duffy and Turow, 2009,
p.205)
But, defining news is not

 Is it information that is always out there?

Or what happened that day?
Or important and interesting things that
happened?
unexpected
Or is it an important
Or an
event of event?
importance?
Or is it news because it is
selected for notice out of
the buzzing, booming
confusion
us? that people make and
Importance
is aaround
judgment
thus, news is made on the basis of what the
journalist judges to be important or what the
journalist judges the audience thinks is important
or interesting
There is no easy way to define news quite simply

LU1
Learning
Objective

Give an example to illustrate and

explain Postman and Powers argument
that news is more often made rather
than gathered
(Text book, pp.206-207)

 Neil Postman and Steve Powers stress that news is more

often made rather than gathered
What are the implications of this statement

As stated before, (1) journalists produce news on the

basis of what they think is important or (2) what they
think the audience will find important or interesting

 Once a journalist has chosen an event to be news they must

also choose what is (1) worth seeing, (2) worth neglecting
and (3) what is worth forgetting
This simply means that every news story out there is a
reflection of the journalist who wrote it
Postman and Powers provide us with an example of the
intifada to make sense of a j0urnalists judgment of
newsworthiness (p.207)

Suppose a 14 year old Palestinian boy hurls a Molotov cocktail

at 2 eight-year-old Israeli soldiers. The explosion knocks one of
the soldiers down and damages his left eye. The other soldier
shoots and kills the Palestinian boy. The injured soldier
eventually loses the sight of his eye.
What details should be included in reporting this event?
Are the ages relevant?
What about the fact that they are from opposing factions?
Is the injury of the one Israeli soldier relevant?
The death of the Palestinian boy?
What about a context of why this took place?
Were the Palestinian boys action justified?
Is the state of mind of the Palestinian boy relevant?
The answers to all of the above questions depend

LU1
Learning
Objective

Critically discuss Postman and Powers

statement: we see what we expect to see;
often, we focus on what we are paid to
see (Text book, pp.207-208)

 According to Postman and Powers

we see what we expect to see;
often, we focus on what we are paid
to see (1992, p.207)

They provide an example of 2

different news stories regarding the
same event: The Streets of Moscow
by The Wall Street Journal (army of
woman cleaning streets) and The
World Telegram and Sun (machines
cleaning the streets)
So which one was it?

 That to a certain extend news is what the

editor/producer or payers decides it is going to be for
that day
And those who pay usually expect journalists to accept
their notions and what they deem important or
important details
In summary, Postman and Powers (1992) note that it is
society, the editors/producers and payers that decide

News
Activity

LU1
Learning
Objective

Using a reality TV show of your choice, critically

discuss why it is said that media and the broader
culture are interrelated, addressing issues such as: (1)
Cultural consumption; (2) Social issues being
addressed; and (3) Social unity (Text book, pp.212-

Although RealityTV is
considered to be a 21st
Century trend its origins can
be traced back to the 1950s
Our exploration of the impact
of Reality TV takes us to the
beginnings of Queen for a Day
(a reality TV series that
showcased personal
transformation) and modernday Queer Eye for the Straight
Guy (a reality TV series that
encouraged straight men to
adopt gay [or alternative]
social and cultural
consumption
We will need to look at 3 key

Cultural Consumption

Social Issues being

addressed

Social Unity

LU1
Learning
Objective

In terms of diversity, and with respect

to policy decisions, explain the
marketplace of ideas metaphor (Text
book, pp.232-233)

Diversity can be defined as being diverse or having a range of different

things (Oxforddictionary.com, 2015)
Diversity is one of the key principles in communication policy
It focusses on the evaluations of the performance of mass media
systems and the objectives of communications policymaking
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the USA has stressed to
need of diversity in the various dimensions of the mass media

 Diversity within the marketplace of ideas

hold that the widest possible
dissemination of information from
diverse and antagonistic sources
(Napoli, p.232)
This is needed to promote cultural
pluralism, informed decision-making, citizen
welfare and a well-functioning democracy
The market place of ideas is underpinned by
the First Amendment Freedom Act and
holds that citizens should be free to choose
from a wide range of ideas (content
diversity) which is delivered from a wide
range of sources (source diversity)
The marketplace of ideas metaphor
provides the underlying theoretical
justification for most diversity policies

 It further states that the citizens who

are able to partake in this kind of
diversity is better able to:
1.
2.

Increase their knowledge

Encounter opposing viewpoints

3. And become well-informed decisionmakers who are better able to fulfil

their democratic responsibilities
Thus, the marketplace of ideas ensures
that there are source, content and
exposer diversity
The market place of ideas concept has
served as a guiding principle for a
number of diversity-enhancing policies
such as Ownership Regulation and the
Fairness Doctrine

LU1
Learning
Objective

Differentiate between diversity and

variety using examples to enhance
your answer (Text book, p.233)

 Variety refers to the raw number of outlets or content choices available

Whereas, diversity focuses on both the number of choices in terms of content
and ownership and the differences among them
Now, if there should be an increase in the number of outlets this would
lead to an increase in diversity
Thus, to the extent that variety is related to diversity it is relevant to the
various dimensions of diversity

LU1
Learning
Objective

Explain what is meant by the term

source diversity (Text book, pp.234240)

Source diversity refers to the number of

content and outlet ownership sources
available to the media audience
Source diversity has traditionally been
conceptualised by policymakers in 3 separate
ways:
1. In terms of the diversity of ownership of
content or programming
2. In terms of diversity of ownership of media
outlets
3. And in terms of the diversity of the workforce
within individual media outlets

The diversity of ownership of

content or programming
(pp.234-236)

The diversity of ownership

of media outlets (pp.234236)

Diversity of the workforce

within individual media
outlets (p. 236)

LU1
Learning
Objectiv
e

Discuss workforce diversity and how it is

applied within the South African context
(Text book, p.236)

LU1
Learning
Objectiv
e

Discuss the term content diversity as

well as its sub-components (Text book,
pp.240-246)

Content diversity is the 2nd

link in the diversity chain and
focuses on the diversity of
content available to the
media audience
It is believed if there is an
increase in source diversity
there will automatically be
an increase in content
diversity
There are 3 different content
diversities that we will need to
familiarise ourselves with: (1)
Format or Program-type Diversity,
(2) Demographic Diversity and (3)
Idea-Viewpoint Diversity

1. Format or Programme-type Diversity

(pp.240-242)
This type of diversity refers to the category
designations (titles) given to radio, cable
channels, and individual TV programmes
The more programmes or formats that there
are available the more diverse the content will be
For example, the individual can choose from a
range of different types of TV shows at any time
However, for the above format or programmes to
truly partake in diversity it is essential that
they distinguish between audience preferences
Audience preferences can also be used as a
powerful predictor of viewing behaviour
Programme-type categories serve as a meaningful
predictor of a persons viewing behaviour

2. Demographic Diversity
(pp.243-244)
Content diversity has also been approached in terms of
demographic elements

Such as racial, ethnic and gender diversity

A general concern of demographic diversity has been whether

minority groups and other demographic groups are portrayed
on TV in reasonable proportions (based on their prevalence in
society)
Think of SAs population and who should be represented the
most?
In communication policies this dimension of diversity has not
been deemed a key point of focus
Demographic diversity calls upon policymakers to create
roles which better reflect the diversity of the population
Such as representing women in different industries, or an
unrepresented ethnic group, or even alternative lifestyles

3. Idea-Viewpoint Diversity
(pp.244-245)

Is the most elusive component of content diversity

Idea-viewpoint diversity refers to the diversity of
viewpoints in society specifically of a social,
political and cultural perspective
This type of diversity is linked to the marketplace of
ideas metaphor
It is believed that the more distinct thoughts,
analyses, and criticism are available on issues of
social, political and cultural importance the better of
society will be
This diversity is best represented by the Fairness
Doctrine (1949) which holds that diversity is
needed for a wide range of diverse and antagonistic
opinion and interpretations

LU1
Learning
Objective

10

Explain how the sub-components of

content diversity have been assessed and
the results thereof (Text book, p.240-246)

1. Assessing Format or Programmetype Diversity (pp.241-242)

Empirical assessments of format and programme-type diversity have
been the most common measurement of content diversity
However, when it comes to the measurement of the above diversity
there has been some problems
Specifically on finding an universal typology which has resulted in
limitations of drawing comparisons across studies
There are 3 common methods used to assess format or
programme-type diversity (pp.241-242):
1. The Top Three Index
2. The Relative Entropy measure
3. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)

The Top Three Index

Used by Dominick and
Pearce in 1976
This approach uses
the % of the total
amount of TV
programming to
indicate diversity
It looks at the top 3
programme types on
TV at one time
This % serves as a
measure of diversity
However, this
approach does not
provide information
about the distribution

The Relative
The HHI
Entropy
Derived from Shannon Used by the US Department
and Weaver in 1963
of Justice
This measurement This is the most common
deals with
method used in diversity
information quantity
assessment
and variety
It assesses the
concentration of
This measure takes
into consideration
programme-type
both the number of
diversity by measuring
different categories
the total number of
offered and the
available programmes
concentration of
And scores them
material within the
according to concertation
categories (unlike
levels
The Top Three Index
Scores below 1000 =
method)
unconcentrated market

2. Assessing Demographic Diversity

(pp.243-244)
Assessments of demographic diversity has been around for some time
These assessments have often illustrated how certain demographic
groups (like children, the aged, African Americans and Hispanics) have
been underrepresented in TV programmes
Demographic assessments have involved content analyses of TV
programming in terms of race, gender, age and even occupational
characteristics
The % are than compared across categories and to actual demographic
breakdowns within a population (usually by means of a census)
This than brings to light whether the electronic media provide accurate
representation of the actual demographic diversity of a society

3. Assessing Idea-Viewpoint Diversity

(pp.244-245)
Empirical analyses of the idea and viewpoint diversity has rarely been
conducted
This is due to the high levels of subjectivity involved in categorising media
content according to criteria such as social, political and cultural perspectives
A meaningful method of assessing idea diversity has been a taunting task
Although there are a number of studies out there concerned with the issues of
different types of ownership and competition of content they have addressed
narrower dependent variables
To date the best assessment method to asses idea diversity is bias in electronic
media (discussed further in LO14)
It should be noted that the FCC has generally avoided assessing idea or viewpoint
diversity concluding that it is virtually impossible to measure effectively