Does the "News" Come First? Social Responsibility, Infotainment, and Local Television Newscasts in Portland, Oregon
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2005 Does the "news" come first? Social esponsibilityr , infotainment, and local television newscasts in Portland, Oregon : a content analysis Carey Lynne Higgins Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Higgins, Carey Lynne, "Does the "news" come first? Social esponsibilityr , infotainment, and local television newscasts in Portland, Oregon : a content analysis" (2005). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3790. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5674 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. THESIS APPROVAL The abstract and thesis of Carey Lynne Higgins for the Master of Science in Communication Studies were presented February 4, 2005, and accepted by the thesis committee and the department. COMMITTEE APPROVALS: ~ Reginai G. Lawrence Representative of the Office of Graduate Studies DEPARTMENT APPROVAL: Susan Poulsen, Chair Department of Communication ABSTRACT An abstract of the thesis of Carey Lynne Higgins for the Master of Science in Communication Studies presented February 4, 2005. Title: Does the ''News" Come First? Social Responsibility, Infotainment, and Local Television Newscasts in Portland, Oregon: A Content Analysis Local television news programs provide millions of Americans with information each day. But how well do these programs promote important public discourse and political and social understanding in the communities they are serving? This research examines the content and presentation styles of the late night local newscasts in Portland, Oregon for characteristics associated with socially responsible news and infotainment. The goal of a socially responsible newscast is an informed audience able to make decisions about the world around them. Oftentimes, this includes content focused on policy, government, the economy, and other relevant "hard" news. The information is provided in a manner conducive to viewer learning. In contrast, the goal of infotainment is to grab and hold the attention of the audience. These stories are of"softer" content, focused on celebrities, features, and dramatic incidents. The information is often provided in a "flashy" fashion, with the aim of catching the audience's eye more than enlightening the viewers. 2 This study examines the qualities of social responsibility and infotainment in three different areas: news story content, story presentation style, and whether the time period was before, during, or after the ad-rate setting "ratings" period. This last variable examines any potential changes to a newscast during the times when newscasts are at their most competitive for viewers. The results indicate a need for Portland's late night local broadcast .newsrooms to reevaluate what is aired as news, and to look deeper into how that information is presented. Infotainment content and presentation styles play a major role in the majority of analyzed newscasts. The role of this content becomes even more pronounced during ratings periods. The Portland, Oregon newscast viewing area is known for its high levels of civic engagement and citizen participation, and is home to over one million potential news watchers. Suggestions are made to make the newscasts more socially responsible and conducive to viewer understanding of their surroundings. This could help continue the trend of Portlander participation, community betterment, and overall citizenship knowledge. DOES THE ''NEWS" COME FIRST? SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, INFOTAINMENT, AND LOCAL TELEVISION NEWSCASTS IN PORTLAND, OREGON: A CONTENT ANALYSIS by CAREY LYNNE HIGGINS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in COMMUNICATION STUDIES Portland State University 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all of the wonderful people who helped to make this project possible. I could not have finished this thesis without your support. Thank you! To my friends and family for making sure I was still alive and sane throughout this process. To my advisor and committee chair, Dr. Cynthia Coleman, for all she has taught me, her continued guidance, and never-ending patience. I may actually finally graduate after all! To the rest of my committee, Dr. David Ritchie and Dr. Regina Lawrence, for their expertise and patience in this process. To my friends and coders, Dan Whitehurst and Jeramy Rosenburg, who volunteered to watch a ridiculous amount of local television news for me. Thanks for having a sense of humor in your comments. To all of my colleagues at the station, who originally inspired this project. Your continued support helped me to finally finish -- through ice storms and overtime. To all of the graduate students and faculty I have had the honor of taking classes with at Portland State: I have learned something from all of you. Thank you for your unique perspectives and inspiration. To Dan and his kids: my homework is done! Thanks for waiting. AUTHOR NOTE Carey Lynne Higgins is a professional in the local television news industry. She has worked in various newsrooms across the United States, and is currently a director/technical director and graphics operator for the Fox affiliate in Portland, Oregon. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................... .i AUTHOR NOTE ............................................................................... .ii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................... .iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................. v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ............................................................ .1 II REVIE\\T OF Tl-IE LITERATURE ......................................... 3 III PURPOSE AND RESEARCI-1 QUESTIONS .................................... 32 III METl-IOD ..................................................................... 33 IV RESULTS ......................................................................42 V DISCUSSION ................................................................. 66 VI CONCLUSIONS .............................................................90 VII LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE STUDIES ..............................94 REFERENCES ..................................................................................97 APPENDICES A EXAMPLE CODING SHEETS .......................................... .104 B CODING DEFINITIONS ................................................. 107 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 Examples of Socially Responsible Hard News and Infotainment Story Content ........................................................................27 TABLE2 Average Percentage of Possible News Time Devoted to Socially Responsible Hard News Content .......................................... 43 TABLE3 Average Percentage of Possible News Time Devoted to Infotainment Content ........................................................................48 TABLE4 Average Percentage oflnfotainment Content Time Devoted to Non· Hard News Crime Content................................................ 50 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 Lead Story Content Percentage by Station ............................. .46 FIGURE2 Percentage of Hard News and Infotainment Content Stories Presented with Infotainment-Style Elements Per Station ........................ .57 1 Introduction Local television news programs are the largest reported providers of information for millions of Americans each day (Carroll, 2004). But how well do these programs provide the information necessary for important public discourse and political and social understanding of the communities they are serving? Critics and scholars have maintained that local television newsrooms across the country have shifted emphasis from public service and citizen knowledge to boosted ratings and increased station ad revenue. Some now believe "news" outlets air stories more for their entertainment value than for informative purposes (Bennett, 2003; McManus, 1994; Patterson, 2000; Winch, 1997). This goes against the ideals of socially responsible news, which emphasizes "information, discussion, and debate on public affairs" (Peterson, 1956, p. 74), and the political and social interests of the public (Napoli, 2001; Peterson, 1956). Knowledge of such information is considered necessary for democracy. Numerous professional journalism organizations use these ideals as guidelines for their members. News organizations have been criticized, however, for spending valuable news time focusing on the "softer" news content of health trends, car chases, scandals, celebrities, and sexually-charged reports instead of emphasizing "hard" socially responsible community news to keep citizens informed. The soft content is often paired with flashy, dramatic elements to keep viewers tuned in and advertising rates up. Emphasizing such entertainment characteristics over citizenship values is often dubbed "infotainment." I 2 This study examines the infotainment versus social responsibility debate as it applies to local television newscasts in the United States. An overview of the concerns surrounding infotainment as news follows,