LU3: The Print Media

COSC7312
Danille Janse van Vuuren

13

LU
Objectives

LO1: Differentiate between hard and soft news and use

examples to illustrate
LO2: Using examples, differentiate between nonscheduled, prescheduled and unscheduled events as
hard and soft news
LO3: Differentiate between spot news, developing news
and continuing news using examples to illustrate
LO4: Critically discuss Klinenbergs 8 major

developments that have affected the news media

during the past 30 years
LO5: Discuss the evolution of major media companies
through 4 key development strategies
LO6: Explain how journalists have had to adapt to the
new newsroom in terms of their role and
responsibilities as well as in terms of time and space
constraints
LO7: Evaluate how synergy and digital systems have

13

LU
Objectives

LO8: Determine how convergence of the new media

market has affected the target marketing process by
media companies
LO9: Using an example, discuss timing-related
challenges that could face print magazines
LO10: Analyse the benefits and challenges associated
with moving the content from a traditional medium to
the Web
LO11: Evaluate which of Steinem's anecdotes surprise
you the most, and why this is the case
LO12: Argue whether or not you agree with those who
cite marketing as the reason for Harry Potter's success,
or those who insist that the books themselves are the
primary cause
L13: Critically discuss why it can be said that Harry
Potter has become a symptom of a legal system
designed to benefit capitalism more than artistic values

Material
used for
this LU

YOUR module guide, pp. 3441

With specific focus on pp.130136;
pp.146154; pp.160163; pp.166190

Print Media

The purpose of this LU is to explore key aspects of print

media by looking at 5 key essays:
The first essay written by Gaye Tuchman is concerned
with timing and Typification in print media.

Learning
Unit Intro

The second essay written by Eric Klinenberg focuses

on the development of convergence and how this
effects traditional media.
The third essay is written by Brooke Duffy and focuses
on the challenges faced by print magazines,
specifically concepts of timing and instant gratification.
The fourth essay written by Gloria Steinem highlights
the challenges that editors of print media are faced
with.
And the final essay written by Philip Nel looks at how
marketing and advertising impacts printed media,
specifically the Harry Potter instalments.

LU3
Learning
Objective

Differentiate between hard and soft news

and use examples to illustrate (Text book,
p.130 )

 Uses factual presentations of info

This info is deemed newsworthy
Also has an interest factor
Covers important info that affects
our lives
People also rely on hard news in order
to be informed citizens
Hard news usually covers stories of
crime, death, accidents, political
blunders, economic matters

 Soft news is also known as feature or

human-interest stories
Deals with stories that interests us
Usually covers human foibles and the texture
of human life
We like to read about soft news because it can
cover info that does not usually require us to
engage with complex concepts
In addition, soft news usually covers info that
makes us feel good for instance saving animals,
winner of lotto donates millions and so on
Members of news enterprise control the timing
and flow of soft-news stories

LU3
Learning
Objective

Using examples, differentiate between

non-scheduled, prescheduled and
unscheduled events as hard and soft news
(Text book, pp.132-136)

Non-schedule Events
Is a news event whose
date of dissemination as
news is determined by
the newsworkers
This type of news events
involves investigative
reporting
News organisations
determine the timing
and flow of story
Covers soft-stories
For example, an
emotional story covering
a blind violinist climb to
fame

Prescheduled Events
Is a news event
announced for a future
date
Most hard news stories

Unscheduled Events

Also covers
prescheduled soft stories

Occurs unexpectedly

Continuing news

Most hard news stories

Material is gathered,
written up and edited for
future dissemination

Spot news stories

because they are
unexpected

For example, an
interview with a soccer
player who is allegedly
having an affair

For example, a terrorist

bombing of a bus
station in a populated
part of town

**Have a look at the TABLE 7.1 (p.133) for practical issues

in typifying news

LU3
Learning
Objective

Differentiate between spot news,

developing news and continuing news
using examples to illustrate (Text book,
pp.131-)

Found on p.131 +
134

Spot news is a subclassification (different type) of hard

news
Also referred to as breaking news
All spot news subject matters cover conflict of nature,
technology or the penal code
For example a fire, robbery or accidents (as it is not
planned/unexpected and on the spot news)
Spot news events are unscheduled they appear suddenly
and must be processed for dissemination quickly
Example of spot-news:

Found on p.131
+135-137

Developing news is also a subclassification of hard news

All developing news covers the same subject matters as spot
news
The only difference is how long it takes to collect facts
For instance, if it took awhile to learn the facts associated with a
breaking story it was DEVELOPING NEWS
It will remain developing news so long as facts were still emerging
or being gathered
Finally, developing news concerns emergent situations for
instance a plane crash very little facts can be collected thus,
the story continuously develops
Example of developing-news:

Found on p.131
and 136

Continuing news is a series of stories on the

same subject based upon events occurring
over a period of time
Continuing news facilitates the control of
work (and thus, flow of info) because of its
prescheduled nature
For example legislative bills, trails, election
campaigns and so on

Example of continuing-news:

Class
Activit
y

Typification
exercise

LU3
Learning
Objective

Critically discuss Klinenbergs 8 major

developments that have affected the news
media during the past 30 years (Text book,
pp.146-147)

1. The advent of cable TV: because of the developments

of cable TV and its 24-hour news cycle plus the steady
decline of newspaper readership
2. The introduction of advanced communication
technologies: this includes satellites, the Internet, desktop
publishing and computers that were rarely used in the
newsroom during the 1970s
3. The demise of family owned-news organisations
with special interests and support for journalistic
principles: this was as a direct result of the emergence of
chain papers and multimedia production companies
4. The rise of conglomerate media giants: with specific
use of synergistic production and distribution strategies. A
process whereby different branches of the company share and
cross-promote each others resources and services

5. The destruction of legendary divisions

between managerial and editorial operations, the
mythical church and state of the journalistic
field: the lines among these bodies were blurring
6. The birth of new forms and formats: such as TV
news magazine, dramatised news footage, and profitdriven news sections have affected news media
7. The deregulation of media markets: specifically the
deregulation of restrictions on ownership of multiple media
outlets in the same city
8. A crisis of legitimacy for journalists: a rising concern
that (1) the new conditions of production were undermining
journalists capacity to meet their own standards,(2) struggle
with a polarized labour force and (3) ranked low for

LU3
Learning
Objective

Discuss the evolution of major media

companies through 4 key
development strategies (Text book,
pp.148-149)

Taking companies out of

(1) private hands, (2)
raising capital with public
stock offerings and (3)
reforming the corporate
missions to meet the
bottom-line demands of
stockholders

Making (1) massive

investments in digital
communications
technologies and (2)
remaking the corporate
infrastructure

Bringing in new corporate

managers to (1)
streamline production
systems in the newsroom
and to (2) reduce labour
costs

Establishing (1) lines of

horizontal integration in the
company (= acquiring or
merging with other content
providers/ distributors such as
TV, magazine, Internet) and
(2) linking marketing + news
divisions across subsidiary
firms

Found on pp.
148-149

LU3
Learning
Objective

Explain how journalists have had to adapt to the

new newsroom in terms of their role and
responsibilities as well as in terms of time and
space constraints (Text book, pp.149-155)

The New
Newsroom
Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

The new newsroom have completely

redesigned the roles and
responsibilities of journalists
Journalists are now moving freely
between print, television, radio and
Internet outlets in order to meet the
demands of the new media environment
In the new newsroom journalistic
missions are determined by the
production values of TV news
There is also a blurring of print
journalism and TV journalism
Ultimately, journalists adopt additional
responsibilities in the same work period
this, of course impacts independent
thinking

 Journalists have always worked against the clock in order

to meet their production and distribution schedules
However, in contemporary times journalists are expected to
produce their stories in a matter of hours, even
minutes

Explain the
social
Klinenberg (2005, p.150) refers to this as a news cyclone
cognitive
24-hour
TV news and Internet news sites have eliminated the
temporal
borders in the news day creating an informational
theory
environment whereby there is ALWAYS breaking news to
Thus, the time cycle for news making in the age of digital
production is radically different to that of the 1970s

(Moduleproduce,
guide, consume and react against
pp.31-33)

In the new newsroom journalists have become flexible

labourers where they are constantly reskilled to meet the
demand from several media outlets at once
This has resulted in a break down of news labour where
journalists experience a time compression

 For Metro News, the new newsroom makes news-making activities keep labour
costs down and increases the output and efficiency of the production process
However, for journalists this creates a professional challenge since the more they
work with different media they realise that content does not move easily from one
medium to the next and they are expected to develop techniques for translating work
across platforms
Thus, being telegenic (p.151) will become the most important journalistic skill and
Ultimately,
print journalists fear
criterion for entry-level into
journalism

that production routines for daily TV

news will become normative in
their medium

As a result, journalists no longer have

enough time to truly penetrate urban
life for stories and are left with
providing news-worthy page
fillers
In summary, news companies are
expecting their journalists to be

LU3
Learning
Objective

Evaluate how synergy and digital

systems have changed media
companies
(Text book, pp.150-157)

 Media organisations are learning that the same digital systems

that improve journalists ability to do research in the office
can also have perverse effects
The responsibility of journalists to produce content that
can be used across platforms also places immense
pressure on editors and business managers of media
institutions
Synergy and the use of digital systems require that a sufficient
level of content meets the NEEDS of each medium
This results in journalists not having enough time to penetrate
or explore a given story but just to produce in a cycle
time
For example, Metro News renowned for their serious and timeconsuming investigative stories prior the 1980s have cut their
number of investigative stories by 48 % by the mid-1990s
(p.152)

 News organisations have harnessed

advanced communication technologies
to speed up the work of journalists
Digital technologies have also changed
journalistic production journalists have
had to adopt managerial techniques and new
strategies in order to fit into the increased
productivity, efficiency and profitability roles
required of them (flexible accumulation)
In addition, digital technologies and synergy
processes are being used to increase media
institutions capacity to repackage
stories across different multimedia
platforms
Lastly, synergy and digital systems have
enabled media outlets to further target
marketing principles

LU3
Learning
Objective

Determine how convergence of the

new media market has affected the
target marketing process by media
companies

has made possible specialised

information and entertainment
products that appeal to narrow groups
of consumers resulting in new media
markets
The aim of media outlets is to locate and
target affluent audiences
Using digital technologies media outlets are
able to target their desired audiences
For example, Metro News (p.153) uses
digital technologies to provide specific or
special sections of information for their
different audiences (segment groups) in
their allocated target markets
In addition, the Internet has offered the
most exciting possibilities for creating

create informational islands and

specialised news products from which
audiences can choose
Convergence of the new media market has
also resulted in advertisers having a
bigger say in what should shape
journalistic content
This convergence have also extended to
other fields such as academy, the medical
profession and publishing
Ultimately, convergence of new media
markets have led to (1) the sharing of
resources amongst different media
groups (print, TV and so on) which has
made possible the sharing of new stories
and (2) can help improve the quality of

LU3
Learning
Objective

Using an example, discuss timingrelated challenges that could face

print magazines
(Text book, pp.160-163)

work on editorial content several months

ahead of production time whereas others plan
their editorial line-up more than a year in
advance

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

This enables them to distribute issues weeks

sometimes months in advance
The problem with this is that the magazine
industry desires to keep their magazines
fresh when in fact the info they cover are
sometimes old and prescheduled
And this is not what readers nor *advertisers
(their bulk of financing) are interested in
This problem is further fuelled by technological
constraints of magazine publishing as it
takes up to 2 months to print and distribute an
edition of a magazine (i.e. a June copy of

related challenges (p.160):

1. In August 2005, Shape magazine wrote a story about Sin City
Shape overs on New Orleans and just as it hit shelfs Hurricane
Katrina happened
2. In the same year Glamour published a short story celebrating Rosa
Parks
landmark act of civil obedience and her turning 92.
Explain
the
However, by the time the edition was available she had already
social
passed away
cognitive
Furthermore,
electronic mass
3. Success Magazine Ltd.
featured onadvances
its cover in
Congressman
John
theory
communication
and
access
todefeated
information
Sweeney. However,
at the time of the
print
he was
for
(Module guide,
have challenged
re-electionmagazines as info is readily
pp.31-33)
available online in real-time
In summary, time expectations are challenging
the magazine industry which leads to the
challenge in maintaining a balance
(synchronicity) between print and online

LU3
Learning
Objective

10

Analyse the benefits and challenges

associated with moving the content
from a traditional medium to the
Web (Text book, pp.163-164)

help deal with timing challenges that producers are

traditionally faced with
2. Magazine companies use the Web to remain competitive
with other online content providers
3. The Webs flexible timing is seen as an advantage to print
4. The Web version of magazines can also be used as an
updater option should the print version be outdated by
circulation time
5. The Web provides magazine producers with new initiatives
to become
more
timely companies are still
1. Remaining traditional
means that
magazine
relying on the same production and distribution schedules (which
results in time-related challenges)
2.

Print magazines are finding it difficult to balance the

temporalities of the print and online editions

3. If it is available online there is no reason to buy the print version

4.

Going online have complicated the organisational dynamics

LU3
Learning
Objective

11

Evaluate which of Steinem's

anecdotes surprise you the most, and
why this is the case (Text book,
pp.166-179)

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

 In this essay Gloria Steinem recalls her days as one of

the founding editors for Ms. Magazine during the 1980s
Her experiences were shocking

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

Generally speaking the advertising world does

not see the financial benefit of sponsoring a
womens magazine that explores womens issues
Furthermore, advertisers are unwilling to buy
advertising space if a womens magazine does not
subscribe to a supportive editorial atmosphere or
complementary copy
Finally, women magazines may not cover stories
that will reflect badly on advertisers or their
products
And this is why Ms. Magazine failed
Now, lets have a look at her anecdotes:

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

LU3
Learning
Objective

12

Argue whether or not you agree with those

who cite marketing as the reason for Harry
Potter's success, or those who insist that
the books themselves are the primary
cause (Text book, pp.180-186)

 Many see Harry Potter as a

contemporary capitalist
phenomena
For this reason it becomes very
difficult to separate Harry Potter
from the marketing hype
You can see the movies, you can
buy the books, buy the action
figures, stickers, notebooks, card
The Harry Potter spin-off of products
and merchandise
games, board games, toothpaste,
encourages consumption on all possible scales across the
jelly beans
board
Institutional corporate conglomerates and the role marketing
plays in the selling of childrens literate should not be
underestimated
This is because the children's book industry has grown more

 This has resulted in literature having

to be marketable in order to be
published
Furthermore, there has been an
increase in the proliferation of
child-targeted marketing over
the last few decades and Harry
Potter is an excellent example of this
Tied in with marketing and
It is stated
becoming
increasingly
important
is agree to the merchandising
that if Rowling
did not
the
process
of merchandising
of
her
characters
Warner Brothers were unwilling to even make the
films
Warner Brothers relies upon merchandising to help make back
some of the expenses of making the movies
Thus, a lot of emphasis was placed on the marketing and
merchandising of Harry Potter in order to make it a profitable

 Rowling has tried very hard to

separate Harry Potter from
the marketing hype that the
films have been associated with
over the years
It should be noted that the first
book was published in 1997
And marketing of Harry Potter
only started in 1999, the 1st film
did not appear until Nov 2001
and products and merchandise
Yet Harry Potter was already a well know literary series and
only started in the mid-2000s

Rowling on her way to becoming the most wealthy woman in Britain

Thus, the Harry Potter novels actually received artistic

recognition long before the marketing hype associated with the
films, products and merchandise

novels have been able to pull

readers away from the consumerist
pleasures and merchandising industry

Explain the
social
cognitive
theory
(Module guide,
pp.31-33)

Some people argue that the

cypercommercialisation of the
Harry Potter franchise has not
obscured the appeals of the
books because of the artistic
quality of the novels
Ultimately, it cannot be ignored that
Harry Potter is both a marketing
phenomenon and a literary
phenomenon
But the two needs to be separated
HOWEVER, the marketing of Harry
Potter and the overt merchandise and

LU3
Learning
Objective

13

Critically discuss why it can be said that

Harry Potter has become a symptom of a
legal system designed to benefit
capitalism more than artistic values (Text
book, pp.182-190)

 Simply put Warner Brothers markets such a wide

variety of Harry Potter because the American
entertainment industry relies more on trademark
law than on copyright law
Trademark law: protects products
Copyright law: protects authors and artists
The problem is that for a product to maintain protection
What
this meanslaw
is that
the
under
the Trademark
one
needs to enter into
licensing
owners (such
as Warner
licensing
agreements
which
permits the creation of
Brothers) benefits
spin-offfinancially
products
from the trademark law and this is
further protected from any
infringement
This leads to an increased
production of mass-marketed
Harry Potter merchandise

 Like the characters of Dr.Suess,

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Harry Potter is believed to be as
successful because of its
commercial value
Even scholars of childrens
literature tend to overlook the
literary merits of Rowlings Harry
Potter be
series
because of the cloud
Thus, it cannot
denied
of commercialism
that has
that the spin-off
products,
attached
itself to the series
merchandise and
marketing
of Harry Potter
paraphernalia are seen as a
symptom of a legal
system which works in
favour of Capitalism and
against moral or artistic

 Nel, however, stresses that

although most people might
see Harry Potter as an outcome
of Capitalism and protection
legislation
He argues that the books
should be separated from the
marketing hype because of
their artistic value and
textual richness
In summary, the success
derived from the marketing and
commercialisation of Harry
Potter cannot be denied yet
the magic of Rowlings good
storytelling cannot either

In 3 groups pick one of the

following topics and prepare it
as a presentation for the class

Print Media
Activity

 HOME STUDY:
LU4

For our next

lecture

In addition,
complete
revision
exercises
Do not forget to
engage with
your additional
reading
material
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