Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of Communication
First Advisor
Cynthia-Lou Coleman
Term of Graduation
Winter 2005
Date of Publication
2-4-2005
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.) in Communication
Department
Communication
Language
English
Subjects
Television broadcasting of news -- Oregon -- Portland, Television -- Production and direction -- Oregon -- Portland
DOI
10.15760/etd.5674
Physical Description
1 online resource (2, 119 pages)
Abstract
This study examines the infotainment versus social responsibility debate as it applies to local television newscasts in the United States. An overview of the concerns surrounding infotainment as news follows, including a look at a newsroom's traditional responsibilities to its viewers, as well as its current role in adding to parent company profit. Socially responsible hard news and infotainment characteristics are defined as they apply to television news broadcasts, both within the context of news story content and in presentation style.
A descriptive content analysis examines these characteristics within the late night local newscasts airing in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a large broadcast news market with over one million potential local news viewers. It is also a community with an exceptionally high rate of civic engagement (Abbott, 2001; Putnam & Feldstein, 2003). Its media coverage of the city, however, has been the subject of criticism by local columnists and national journalism scholars. A socially responsible news product would provide the city's residents with the information needed to continue the trend of participation, community betterment, and overall citizenship knowledge.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/21209
Recommended Citation
Higgins, Carey Lynne, "Does the "News" Come First? Social Responsibility, Infotainment, and Local Television Newscasts in Portland, Oregon: A Content Analysis" (2005). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3790.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5674
Comments
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Communication Studies.
If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to pdxscholar@pdx.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.