Deanza College News Article Online About Crime

What sources do news media rely on?

Sociologists who study the news media have found that the organization of news work leads to a reliance on official sources (people who work in government). This reliance on official sources results in a distortion of how problems are constructed in ways that reaffirm the status quo, exclude diverse viewpoints and protect elite interests. Elites, through their access to journalists, can increase the likelihood that public opinion will coincide with their own beliefs. As a class, we are going to investigate this for ourselves.

Choose a recent news article online about crime

This should be from a credible news outlet. If you are worried about whether the article you choose is from a credible news outlet, email me about it. 🙂 Read the article and look for anyone who is quoted or consulted to give information in the article.

Code the news article for sources

“Coding” is a process used in content analysis. It involves categorizing and counting patterns of meaning in a piece of culture. In this case, the piece of culture will be a single news article about crime of some sort. And I am providing a categorization of SOURCES–people who are quoted or paraphrased or consulted for information in the article. You will make a count of how many sources in each category are referred to in the article.

Types of sources

• Federal government officials
• State government officials
• Local government officials
• Military
• Justice system
• Lawyers
• Judges
• Police
• Corrections
• Interest groups
• Activists
• Victims
• Witnesses
• Experts
• Citizens
• Media

Post about your findings

Report on your findings to the class. Who’s quoted most frequently? Who gets the most space? Who comes earliest in the article? What do you think about what you found? Do you agree or disagree that the type of sources used resulted in “a distortion of how problems are constructed in ways that reaffirm the status quo, exclude diverse viewpoints and protect elite interests”? Why or why not? You must write at least one full paragraph (roughly 150 words) to get credit. PLEASE INCLUDE A LINK TO THE ARTICLE YOU ANALYZED!!

Read and respond to your classmates’ findings

You only analyzed one article, but as a class, we have analyzed a whole pool of articles. Read what your classmates found. What surprised or interested or disturbed you? Respond to one of your classmates’ posts by Friday at midnight.