Tag Archives: eland

What makes a “top story”?

After reading the article by Eland, I was given the impression that I am being deceived. When I read the newspaper or when I watch the news I never really questioned “what makes this story more important then others?”. This is how gate- keeping is brought into play in modern day society.  Broadcasters choose what story they believe is going to get more of a reaction from the people(more coverage), and those are the stories that often times end up on the front cover; however, the way that these stories  are being communicated, often times can skew ones opinion just based off how the reporter deliver’s it.  In addition, the press is constantly in competition with one another for “best coverage” and often enough there is a lot of stories that are not being communicated because the government is afraid of how society will react. In some cases those are the stories that need to be heard the most.  In my personal opinion, when reporting a story, all biases should be put to the side, and the story should be communicated where it is just simply factual. Stories that address all social status levels, are the stories that should be on the front page, as opposed to “Kim Kardashian gets Another Butt Surgery.”

Eland, reading response.

“What do we see when we look closely at what actually compromises the mass media? We see a system dominated by five to seven major corporations.” This stood out to me while reading, “Critical Thinking, Deviant Knowledge and the Alternative Press” by Thomas Eland. The section of this article uses a newspaper as an example by saying, sections of newspapers are consciously aimed at specific groups. If the above statement is true then it raises questions such as, the people that are in charge of what goes out into the media, would their suggestions be biased? Are the people putting the stories out consciously aiming at specific groups?