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CH 3:

The Nature and Sources of News

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THE NATURE AND SOURCES
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OF NEWS

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Robert M. Entman

HE IDEAL GOAL OF TRADITIONAL JOURNALISM HAS been to make power accountable: to keep ordinary citizens apprised of what government is doing, and how it affects them both individually and with respect to the groups and values that they care about. Journalism thereby fosters in the public informed, rational opinions about politics and candidates. Many observers now fear that a shift toward soft news and entertainment ("infotainment") diminishes the mass public's ability to hold government to account. They foresee a downward spiral of diminishing demand for and a dwindling supply of what has been called "accountability news."! This is news that enables even the typically inattentive citizen to understand at least some of the impacts that government decisions are having on their lives and values. With less accountability news, citizens' recognition of the very need to watch TV news or read newspapers may weaken. When this happens, the market sends signals to media organizations: ramp up production of soft news, infotainment, and "reality"TV-making it still less likely that citizens will stumble across accountability news. Yet all is not lost. For one thing, traditional journalism has not fulfilled the key democracy-enhancing purposes of news as consistently as might be thought. For another, media that do not label their products as "news" can nonetheless achieve some of the objectives traditionally associated with news.The aim of this essay is to outline the core democratizing roles of journalism and to explore the ways in which the full range of media products may now be fulfilling at least some of these "news functions."The ultimate aim is to acknowledge and nurture the contributions made to democracy across the entire media landscape.

television, the Internet, and other forms of electronic media has changed the way in which journalists go about their business. Perhaps less fully recognized is how and with what effects those not denominated or identifying as journalists nonetheless provide audiences with insights into society's important events, issues, problems, and relationships. Intuitively one carq5erceive-diffefences" between the7\Tew"%-rk'tiltu;;;ridilie' NeUidrk Post, or among Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio commentary, The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, and The ~st Wing. But these differences do not necessarily translate into distinctions made by audiences as they process information and respond to these media. Audience members who hear about problems faced by families without health insurance on The Oprah Winfrey Show or who read in the National Enquirer that the First Lady is going to divorce the president do not, and perhaps should not, entirely discount or ignore this information and only consider what they read or hear from outlets certified as "news" media. In other words, media not bound by the canoT).sand practices of traditional journalism can servethe <:Q~::-:-d.:emocratlzini{Tunctl0nsc;rnews;the-tunci:l0ns that help citlze~s'hold gove~nment'to:accourit:1:hese"~e~s'funCtic:iiis" involve illuminating four areas of knowledge vital to effective democratic citizenship: 1. Policy (specific public policy issues)

2. Power (the actions of individuals [especially public officials] and

groups exerting political power) 3. Ideology (the philosophical perspectives that shape decisions on allocating wealth, status and other valued resources) 4. Self-interest (individuals' own political interests and stakes in policy issues and elections, and their roles in society) Almost any media organization irrespective of how it labels its products and defines its missions can convey useful information on these four matters and thus help citizens operate more eff~cti~~!y at I:.0di.!!Kg.Ov<;;'!I!.!nent ..!92.~~~:Jn this sense, a diverse range of n;-edia can fulfill these core democratizing functions of news ..Meqi;LQillle.ts,..andpro.cilJ.c::!uhatcan assist citizenship range from the traditional journalismaspracticed by, say,the New York Times or CBS Evening News, to the ~~Y)~l!!:!Lilism of the Nation or the ~ekly Standard, to the tabloid journalism of the New York Post or the National Enquirer (themselves ratner different from each other), and finally to more ~~}<:s.~~~~_ter_ta~nment." The first three categories are produced by organizations andpersonnei'that identifypri-" marily with the journalistic profession, and 'audiences regard their messages as noh:'.ficti~)llalacc6urits of social actors, events, and issues. For now, we can distin~ guish advocacy journalism as news influenced by the organization's commitment m~~~toaavancing particular political or thant~;;;h;~~i;;:g

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Core Function of News

Although news has always contained elements of entertainment and vice versa, most observers would agree that the rise of competition from cable and satellite

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