How has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?

How has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?

Immediacy: Prior to the new and digital media era, news was always slow, as it used to be a day old, and wasn’t up to date, however nowadays receiving news is immediate and almost instantaneous, news can be received through smart phones, mobile devices , tablets and television. The growth has expanded the news world in to websites and applications, traditional institutions have had to adapt or perish to this change. The immediacy has become an addiction, in order for us to consume more and more, without seeing bias. Examples of applications are Twitter, Facebook and even Buzzfeed.

Familiarity: The growth of new and digital media has changed the familiarity of news as the news that is shown has become international and news from around the world is being shown, we as consumers have take in more and more news in order to look down upon situations like Palestine-Israeli conflict, or natural disasters across the world.

 
Amplitude: The growth of new and digital media has led to the globalisation of the internet, where more and more incidents get reported, especially if they involve a large number of people, as it has a bigger impact on the audiences, as it can create a sort of moral panic, leading to the audiences to be glued to their news apps and sites, for more information, for example when swine flu had broken out, there was global panic and it was news worthy so the gatekeepers allowed it to be in the headlines for several consecutive weeks.

Frequency: The growth has affected the frequency of news is that events that take place fairly consistently, and that the speed that events/incidents have become fairly quick as it sets of a chain of information through various social media sites, for example an event can start from twitter and then be shown on the news.

 
Unambiguity: The growth of new and digital technology and media has led to the development of newer and unclear news products, such as the hoaxes online, also it has led to major news institution becoming narrower minded in terms of only showing the negativity in the UK and the world. for example the media in the UK demonises the youth for being rebellious and speaking out, but have never taken the side of the youths, which in turn is actually the youths stepping away from the dominant ideologies of the country which creates moral panic.

Predictability: The predictability of news has been altered in terms certain types of news stories have becoming so predictable and evident we tend not to give it much importance unless it affects us or we are the victims, for example the Apple iCloud hacking comes under privacy, it was evident from the hacking of phones a few years ago that Apple was just a sitting duck waiting to be taken out. However there have been news stories which have been unpredictable, such as the death of Bin Laden came unexpectedly, as well as deaths of stars like Michael Clarke Duncan to Michael Jackson.

Surprise: The Growth has affected the news as the news becomes rare and unexpected such as natural disasters, like tsunamis and large scale floods. As the consumer we see repeated incidents of news, which doesn’t affect us on a lot; however some stories do come as a shook, like Jihadi John’s beheadings and the Windsor beheading of the soldier in the street in broad daylight.  

Continuity: The continuity of news has developed the growth of this as the news stories may appear consistently, for example the Alice Gross case, where the media had consistently been following the story till her body was unceremoniously found in a lake. Also, there very few trusted sources, like the BBC or Sky News.

Elite nations and people: The growth of new and digital media has developed a growth in the curiosity of elite nations and people, this is because some elite nations may be viewed in role model way or seen as a superpower. For example, the United States of America  is seen always being reported on as it is that important, due to Wall Street crucial to the world’s trading, if that were to crash it would be the headlines of every news institution in the world.  

Negativity: The majority of the news that is reported anywhere is predominantly negative and stereotypical, this all down to the gatekeepers who approve of the negativity. The fact that negative news is shown presents the world and all its consumers that we only focus on the malevolence in the world. For example, the media in the UK has been known to demonise teenagers between the ages of 15-25, for being different and dressing unconventionally. There have been some positives in the news, when it comes to the achievements of certain areas of the government.

Balance: The majority of news that is show/broadcasted is unbalanced and always presents biased towards one side or even stereotypical views of the groups/individuals shown. For example, the Palestine conflict had shown the violence and murder that was being dealt to one side, but there was no news story that had given the oppositions side. On the other side, there have been a few balanced stories, for example the swine flu epidemic had created a globally panic, but then a cure was introduced and the panic had been silenced. Even recently, Ebola had stirred up a panic, not as large as Swine flu, however it did lead to many people worrying, nonetheless the cure for Ebola was simple antibiotics.