Comm 3525

What Is News? --paper #2--10% of your final grade/40 grade points possible.

Jamieson and Campbell define HARD NEWS as "the report of an event that happened or that was disclosed within the previous 24 hours and treats an issue of ongoing concern. ... It is dramatic, conflict-filled, and involves extreme physical action and emotional intensity. It disrupts legimitate order and threatens community. ...[It] can be verified by official sources such as the police or the district attorney."

This assignment entails evaluating the local news climate for a selected day. Your job in this paper is to review the front page section of our local newspaper and, on the same day, one of the local television news programs which air around the dinner hour (without sports). Identify the stories presented in each of these "news" venues and summarize what is presented as newsworthy about each story. Evaluate how closely these stories meet the definition posited by Jamieson and Campbell. What differences, if any, can you discern in the definitions of news encompassed by these news presentations and the definition by Jamieson and Campbell? Describe the ways the definition of hard news might be altered to accommodate the news observed in these two news presentations. The paper should make use of ideas contained within the first four chapters of your assigned text, case studies and class discussions.

This paper should be between five-pages long, double-spaced, one-inch margins on the sides, top and bottom, 12-point type. All referenced material must be internally cited and included on a works cited page. This paper should have a clear thesis, and a strong argument supported by evidence from the texts used. Spelling and grammar are important. This paper MUST be typed/word-processed. Be sure to include a works-cited page. This paper is due at the beginning of class on October 15.