Title: Issue Selection in Science Journalism: Towards a Special Theory of News Values for Science News?
Abstract: When does a science topic become a topic in journalism? Whereas for other fields of (especially political) journalism several news factors have been identified as key factors in the selection process of the mass media, it is unclear to what extend these factors are applicable to selection processes in science journalism. This chapter analyses issue selection processes of science topics from a practitioner's point of view and from the perspective of the general theory of news values as a starting point. The catalogue of news factors used by the general theory is adapted with regard to some identified specialities in science reporting. This adapted catalogue is tested qualitatively by guided interviews with leading science editors and quantitatively by a content analysis of major German broadsheets. Our results clearly indicate that a certain adaption of the classical approach is reasonable to improve the description of selection processes for science news. Some of our conclusions also raise the general question in how far the classical news theory is still up to date in the fast changing crossmedia world of journalism.
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-11-11
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 107
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