BOWRWIEW

CREATING REALITY: HOW TELEVISION NEWS DISTORTS EVENTS

BY DAVID ALTHEIDE Sage P u b l i c a t i o n s I n c . B e v e r l e y H i l l s , 1976, p. 221.

A Review b y Stephen K l i ne

Environmental Science, York Universi ty

Creating Real i ty i s one of a group of recent books motivated by the perception t ha t the increasing power of t e l ev i s i on news i n de f in ing the r e a l i t y f o r the American pub l i c i s a c ruc i a l soc ia l issue. The well-documented dependency o f the pub1 i c on TV news f o r information about events i n the world, and the c r e d i b i l i t y w i t h which the audience regard t h i s coverage, have drawn a number o f authors' a t t en t i on t o t ha t group o f people who a c t i n t h e i r various j o u r n a l i s t i c capaci- t i e s as the information gatekeepers o f the nat ion and t o the process o f news pro- duction.

The approach adopted i n t h i s book very much belongs t o t h a t t r a d i t i o n o f media research which has developed through the 70's concerned w i t h the ' i n s t i t u t i o n a l process' -- the s t ruc tu re and dynamics o f programne production and se lect ion -- i n opposi t ion t o the more c lass ica l studies o f media ' e f f ec t s on audiences'. O f these studies, Al theide deserves considerable a t tent ion. Basing h i s research on several years o f pa r t i c i pan t observation w i t h TV news stat ions, A l the ide comes t o the serious conclusion t h a t a considerable bias i n the news ex is ts , and documents h i s case w i t h many examples. He uses these examples t o develop the thes is t h a t i t i s through an understanding o f the news process t ha t we can most c l e a r l y w i t - ness the nature o f t h i s bias.

Twisted way of t e l l i n g i t "straight"

The cent ra l concept o f the book i s the not ion of 'news perspective'. News per- spective, Al theide claims, i s the r e s u l t o f the varfous p rac t i ca l and organiza- t i o n a l demands a t work i n the production of news which t y p i c a l l y r e s u l t i n a "con- voluted way o f s imp l i f y ing events". The manifestat ions o f t h i s convolut ion are symptomatic o f the bias i n news which occurs as facts and/or events are transformed i n t o 'news s to r ies ' . The underlying l o g i c o f production i s imposed upon events as they are taken ou t o f the rea l world i n which they occur, i n order t o be subsequent- l y re-contextual ized i n the news story. Thus, Al theide i s concerned no t only w i t h which s to r i es are selected f o r coverage, bu t even more so w i t h 'how' these s to r ies are presented i n the news.

News Perspective

O f the various fac tors t h a t g ive shape t o news perspective, A l the ide emphasizes

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f o u r i n p a r t i c u l a r :

1. The r e l a t i o n s h i p between audience demand and the changes i n the presenta t ion and s t y l e o f the news: Here, he s p e c i f i c a l l y emphasizes the importance o f the ' i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s ' o f what the audience pre fers , made by the media execu- t i v e s and j o u r n a l i s t i c s t a f f ; f o r the governing assumptions o f media person- nel are, i n h i s view, n o t always accurate.

2. The nature o f and problems w i t h the technology i n news gather ing and presen- t a t i o n : Operat ing the equipment e f f i c i e n t l y w i t h i n the temporal cons t ra in t s and d i f f i c u l t s i t u a t i o n s o f news product ion a re l i m i t s on the programes presentat ion.

3 . Scheduling: One o f t he most immediate c o n s t r a i n t s on product ion which sets the temporal framework i n which decision-making takes place, and events g e t se l ected.

4 . Organizat ional : The pragmatics o f opera t ing w i t h i n a complex organ iza t iona l s e t t i n g , i n which s k i l l s , pe rsona l i t i es , a t t i t u d e s and l e v e l s o f profess ion- a l i sm which vary across the members o f the news team, f r u s t r a t e the produc- ti on process.

Taken together, he argues, " these organ iza t iona l and p r a c t i c a l f a c t o r s i n news- work promote a way o f l o o k i n g a t events", which a re i m p l i c i t l y i n t e r n a l i z e d by a l l members o f t he news team, and are taken f o r granted by newsmen. This 'way o f l ook ing ' a t events generates expectat ions about what the impor tan t k inds of events a re (news values, news i n s t i n c t s ) , and how s t o r i e s should be presented (news s lan t , angle) which under ly the approach taken by the newsman t o the event. Systematized by the shared experience o f news-work, these expectat ions con f i ne the newscast t o a number o f 'angles ' and l i m i t the degree t o which the f a c t s a re al lowed t o speak f o r themselves.

Publ ic is impaled on a sharp angle

A1 the ide recognizes t h a t r a t h e r than emerging from the ma te r ia l i t s e l f, the adopt ion o f a s l a n t on a news s t o r y a r i ses o u t o f t he need t o make the news i n t e r - e s t i n g and re levan t t o the p u b l i c , and o u t o f t he exigencies o f a h u r r i e d and l i m i t e d capac i ty o f t he newsman t o a c t u a l l y research and record the s t o r y f o r the newscast. He uses a considerable v a r i e t y o f examples and circumstances t o i l l u s - t r a t e h i s p o i n t and takes pains t o show the var ious ways a s l a n t w i l l evolve o u t of the pragmatics o f cover ing an event. Moreover, he i d e n t i f i e s several ways i n which the j o u r n a l i s t i c p rac t i ces predispose the r e p o r t e r t o a p a r t i c u l a r range o f angles on the s to ry . This i s t he most unique fea tu re o f t h i s ana lys is .

The s lan t , o r angle, as i t develops fo r any g iven s to ry , provides a k i n d o f s e l e c t i v e f i l t e r through which the event i s viewed by the repo r te r . I t may, be- cause o f t he mutual interdependency o f news organ iza t ions (networks, papers, rad io ) , become the framework fo r o the r media coverage as w e l l . Once generated, i t shapes both the quest ions asked i n t h e in te rv iews, and the f i l m i n g o f the a c t i o n v isuals ;

u l t ima te l y the way the s to ry i s f i n a l l y ed i ted supports the i n te rp re ta t i on of the event by the newsmen, leaving the r e s t on the c u t t i n g room f l o o r . I n t h i s way, f ac t s are incorporated i n t o s to r i es r a the r than s to r i es being based on fac ts . Yet the news angle remains hidden behind the guise o f o b j e c t i v i t y and f a c t i c i t y o f the newscasts conveyed by seeing the event for oneself o r hearing about i t f i r s t hand i n interviews.

An example o f news angle t h a t he develops t o ill ust ra te h i s point , i s the cover- age o f Sen. Eagleton's candidacy for U.S. vice-president i n 1972. Eagleton's can- didacy was subverted by three weeks o f news s to r ies which focused so le l y on the issue o f h i s past psych ia t r i c h is to ry , and the issue o f whether such a mental ex- perience l i m i t e d h i s a b i l i t y t o perform i n pub1 i c o f f i ce . Other aspects of Eagleton's qua1 i f i c a t i o n s were over1 ooked t o the exclusion o f t h i s issue.

Another important element i n the discussion o f news perspective i s the nature of feedback about programing from the audience and i t s re la t ionsh ip t o programne decision-making. Al theide argues t h a t the use o f audience reac t ion i t s e l f i s p a r t o f the d i s t o r t i n g process i n news production because i t biases the producer-direc- to rs and production personnel's impression of what the pub l i c wants, g i v ing a popular framework t o news perspective. He c r i t i c i z e s t h i s framework however because i t i s based on over ly general i n te rp re ta t ions o f what such data mean. I n p a r t i c u l a r he argues t h a t most production personnel depend excessively on the rat ings, whereas he f inds good reason t o be l ieve t h a t they are inaccurate and say very 1 i ttl e about spec i f i c aspects o f programni ng o r s ty1 es adopted f o r speci f i c s to r ies . He a lso points ou t t ha t c a l l s t o the s ta t i on may be based on an a typ ica l sample o f viewers' reactions, and are care less ly used by media personnel t o re - in fo rce personal i n te rp re ta t ions o f problems o f production. Furthermore, he argues t h a t executives and production s t a f f a1 i ke are more sens i t i ve t o the c r i t i c i sms o f t h e i r peers than o f the audience.

The best i l l u s t r a t i o n o f the force o f Al theide's argument i s h i s i n t e rp re ta t i on o f the Watergate a f f a i r . He explains the enormous consequences t h a t were engender- ed by t h i s s to ry as a r i s i n g from the angle t ha t was developed f o r i t which l e d t o the f u r t he r unfold ing o f i t s rami f ica t ions and i t s impact on the audience. The angle t h a t was adopted focussed on the theme o f cor rupt ion i n h igh p o l i t i c a l places, which, w i t h compelling force, underwrote most o f the news exposure o f the Watergate story. He f ee l s t h a t other s lants, t h a t might have been adopted f o r the s to ry would not have been o f s u f f i c i e n t momentum t o sustain j o u r n a l i s t i c and audience i n t e r e s t which l e d t o the depth o f invest igat ion.

And so, t h i s book ra ises a number o f d i f f i c u l t and c ruc ia l issues f o r the understanding o f the r o l e o f news broadcasting i n modern society; fo r news i s a model case f o r the discussion of the r o l e o f media i n informat ion dissemination. Ul t imately, the question which he poses i s the re la t ionsh ip between media broad- cast ing and the mechanisms o f power w i t h i n modern democracy because i t i s only i n terns o f ' b ias ' i s o f any impact. A1 theide bel ieves t h a t the media have accumu- l a t ed a l eve l o f in f luence through t h e i r cont ro l o f the f low o f information, such t h a t they v i e w i t h the more t r a d i t i o n a l p o l i t i c a l channels i n the process o f p l u r a l i s t i c power bargaining, c reat ing agendas no t on ly i n terms o f p r i o r i t i e s , bu t a lso hidden agendas based on in te rp re ta t ion .

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He ra i ses t h i s quest ion i n oppos i t ion t o e i t h e r the 1 i b e r a l o r the conspiracy- c o l l u s i o n models o f i n fo rma t ion i n p o l i t i c s . These p o s i t i o n s view the media respec t i ve l y as being e i t h e r ' a - p o l i t i c a l ' o r as 'pawns' of l a r g e r p o l i t i c a l i n t e r e s t s . He r e f u t e s both these cases by i l l u s t r a t i n g cases where there i s a d i r e c t c o n f l i c t between media executives and p o l i t i c i a n s ; and o ther cases where media power proves greater than a l l p o l i t i c a l i n t e r e s t s i n c o n t r o l l i n g the pres- en ta t i on o f p o l i t i c a l imagery and dialogue. He argues t h a t t he media must be viewed as agencies w i t h semi-autonomous inf luence over pol i t i c s . This i s the basic reason t h a t he f e e l s the study o f news product ion i s essen t ia l , f o r he f e e l s t h a t the publ i c must become more aware of the news as a pol i t i c a l process ; y e t the media have o n l y t h e most p r i m i t i v e capac i ty t o examine themselves c r i t i - c a l l y .

Some might wish t o argue t h a t A l the ide ' s examination of the American media i s inappropr ia te t o the Canadian context . A f t e r a l l , we Canadians have never had a Watergate o r Eagleton a f f a i r , and our media system mixes comnercial w i t h publ i c networks. These, i n f a c t , a re two ser ious l i m i t a t i o n s on A l the ide ' s work because he does no t l oca te the development of the j o u r n a l i s t i c t r a d i t i o n s as c u l t u r a l o r h i s t o r i c a l processes, nor does he explore the importance o f the broader i n s t i t u - t i o n a l arrangements on the news process. Yet, many o f the po in ts he makes are d i r e c t l y app l i cab le because the process o f news product ion i n most broadcast agencies remains the same. It i s easy t o see, based on constant haggl ing a t the CRTC, and on the recent controvers ies caused by a d ispute over the cover o f Macleans, and the reassignment o f Peter Kent o f the CBC Nat ional , t h a t the very issues A l the ide ra i ses are important t o the Canadian media; i t may even be t h a t i n Canada these are more important simply because the Canadian t r a d i t i o n s have n o t been as concerned w i t h the p o l i t i c a l aspects o f media, as have the Americans. The basic t h r u s t o f A l the ide ' s book was t o promote greater p u b l i c awareness of the news process and i t s d i s t o r t i o n o f events -- o f media news l i t e r a c y -- as a means o f enhancing the i n s t i t u t i o n s o f democrdcy. I t i s a shame therefore t h a t news ana lys is remains the concern of the media ana lys t and cognescent, and has made l i t t l e dent i n the p u b l i c realm.

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