The Construction of News: A Multidisciplinary Explanation

Abstract

The study presented in this book is based on a constructionist understanding of society.¹The actors it describes are politicians, journalists, editors, as well as sources journalists approach in the newsgathering process. All these social actors interact within more or less material structures—governmental institutions, international alliances, national institutional practices, existing political agendas, media systems, editorial policies, media organizations’ routines and budgets— that constrain their behavior at different levels. At the same time as acting within these structures, social actors contribute over time to changing and reshaping them. Political actors, for example, might exploit an international crisis situation for rearranging the priorities on an existing policy agenda. Editors, while respecting the mission statement of a news organization, might want to readjust the focus of the coverage it produces so that it better suits audience interests in an increasingly competitive market.²