Techniques of Newsgathering

1. The Web of Constraints/ The News Net
   1. Myths about news
   2. Physical constraints
   3. Constraints of interpretation
   1. News Routines
      1. Beat journalism
      2. Horizontal coverage
      3. Protective coverage (competition between papers, networks)
      4. Investigative journalism: The rare case of longer, in-depth coverage (e.g., New Yorker)
      5. Reliance on formal & official sources: Who counts as a newsworthy source? as a newsmaker?
      6. Geographical, social, & cultural proximity: Where do reporters actually get their stories?
   2. Definitions of newsworthiness
      1. Compelling stories -- conflict (hence negative events); drama; novelty; violation of social order; "human interest"; visual interest
      2. Pack journalism: news is what other reporters say is news.
      3. Individuals & responsibility, not structure & issues
      4. Timeliness: How do reporters understand history, of the relationship of things in time?
2. Media and elections
   1. Lazarsfeld studies: the importance of interpersonal interaction as a mediator (opinion leaders, two-step flow)
   2. Parties and the media: media and the undecided minority
   3. Computerized mailing (fund raising)
   4. Consultants and the "selling" of candidates: dates back at least to 1916
3. How Reporters Make Campaigns into News
   1. Horse Race Coverage and Polls
   2. Original meaning of the word "poll": a vote, an expression of popular will through an election.
   3. Newsgathering Routines
      1. Pack Journalism
      2. The Political Beat
      3. Source Reliance
   4. From Whistle Stop to Sound Bite: The Impact of TV
      1. Cost of Advertising + Equal Time Rule --> staged events for local stations
      2. High cost of campaigns
      3. The rhetoric of the image: politics is mostly verbal, yet TV reporters are constantly in need of visually compelling images.
      4. Opinion polling: meaning of "poll," of public opinion (really, population's private opinions)
      5. The focus on image, distaste for debate
4. Politicians and News Routines