More  Bad  News

Bad  News

Authors:  Glasgow University  Media  Group
Published by Routledge and Kegan Paul, 
1980. 
483pp. 
Price:  Approx.  R38.35

Represented in South Africa by
HacMillan

The first volume, Bad News, published in 1976, exploded  the  illusion  that
television  news in Britain, on whatever channel, is more objective, more  trust-
worthy, more neutral  than press reporting,  Undertaking an exhaustive  monitoring
of all TV news broadcasts over the six months  from January to June  1975, the
authors took as their subject  industrial  news broadcasts.  Their analysis
showed  that TV news  'favours' certain  individuals by giving  them more time and
status.  But beyond merely denying  the neutrality of the news, their  findings
gave a new insight  into the picture of industrial  society that TV news constructs.

More Bad News is the second  volume and develops  the analytic  methods and findings
of Bad News through a series of case studies of television  news coverage. It
atgues that much of what passes as balanced and factual  news reporting is pro-
duced from a highly partial  viewpoint.

The authors focus on three main  levels of activity, examining  their material in
terms of the story, the language and the visuals.  The story concerns the bul-
letin presentations of the British  economy in crisis, and its thematic  linkage
with  the social  contract during  the first four months of 1975.  In analysing the
structure of news language, features  such as the use of headlines, the organi-
zation of talk within  the news  item, and the use of reported  speach are all ex-
amined, the vocabulary of industrial  news talk being  investigated in detail.
The final  part of the study deals with  the visual  organization of the news,
looking at the flow of visual  presentation, the rules for opening and  ending
sequences, and the visual  rules governing  interviewing.

The Group's analysis shows how special  status and credibility is given to some
sectional  interests and opinions, particularly  the economic  views of the  Treasury.
As the book unpacks each level of routine news coverage, a picture emerges which
the authors maintain  has the surface appearance of neutrality  and balance, but
is in fact highly partial and restricted.

Both Bad News and More Bad News are available from  HacMillan.

Taken from the flyleaf.

Peter  Davis'  Film View  of  South  Africa:
An American  Review

The White Laager  (1977)  58 min.  Prod, by P Davis and United  Nations
Generations of Resistance  (1980).  52 min.  Produced by Peter Davis
The Nuclear File  (1979)  54 min.  Produced by Peter  Davis

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