Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. Created by Roone Arledge,^[2] the program featured Ted Koppel as its main anchor from March 1980 until his retirement from the program in November 2005. As of February 25, 2011, the Executive Producer is Jeanmarie Condon.^[3] The program airs weeknights on local ABC stations at 11:35pm ET or later.

In 2002, Nightline was ranked twenty-third on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.^[4]

[edit] The Iran Crisis—America Held Hostage: 1979

The program had its beginnings on November 8, 1979, just four days after the Iran hostage crisis started. ABC News president Roone Arledge felt the best way to compete against NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was to update Americans on the latest news from Iran. At that time, the show was called: "The Iran Crisis—America Held Hostage: Day xxx" where xxx represented each day Iranians held hostage the occupants of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. Originally, World News Tonight lead anchor Frank Reynolds hosted the special report. Shortly after its creation, Reynolds stopped hosting the program. Ted Koppel, then ABC News's State Department Correspondent, took on the hosting duties. It wasn't until a few days later that a producer had the idea of displaying the number of days on "America Held Hostage": Day 15, Day 50, Day 150, and so on.

[edit] Ted Koppel's Nightline: 1980–2005

At the end of the hostage crisis in 1981 (after 444 days), Nightline had entrenched itself on the ABC programming schedule, and made Koppel a national figure. The program has prided itself on providing a mix of investigative journalism and extended interviews which would look out of place on World News Tonight. Thanks to a video sharing agreement with the BBC, Nightline also repackages some of the BBC's output for an American audience. Nightline broadcasts also reappear in a condensed form on the overnight program World News Now.

The program aired four nights a week until 1982, when the sketch comedy program Fridays was shifted to air after Nightline.

The format of the show was as follows: first there was the introduction by the host, then a taped piece on the specific topic of the night, then after a commercial break, there was a live interview related to the topic of the piece. In 1983, there was an unsuccessful attempt to change the format of the show to multi-topics and an hour as opposed to a single topic in a half hour. This switch proved to be unsuccessful, and after a few months, the old program was restored. Once the original format was restored, it would remain unchanged through the end of Koppel's tenure; it was changed following his retirement.

The program remains unique in American media, considering its nightly broadcasts. Most other similar shows only air once a week, though usually in a prime time slot for a full hour. Nightline is usually less sensationalistic than the weekly newsmagazines (which often emphasize soft news programming), though the program has caused controversy on occasion.

Memorable subjects[link]

Nightline devoted each episode to a unique subject. Since its inception, they have covered all types of subjects (science, education, politics, economics, society, and breaking news). Many candidates for government offices, such as David Duke (November 1991) have appeared on Nightline to try to promote themselves. Seeing that there are so many prisons in the United States, they created an ongoing series in 1994 called "Crime and Punishment." Over the years Nightline had a number of technological firsts. They did the first live report from the base of Mount Everest. In November 1992, Science reporter Michael Guillen did the first ever live broadcast from Antarctica. There were times where there was breaking news as late as 11:00 ET, and they had to change the subject of the show and cover the breaking news. Examples of this were the deaths of John Lennon (1980) and Yasir Arafat (2004).

Other important series were "America: In Black and White" and " A Matter of Choice." Nightline held a series of townhall meetings. Some of the more important ones include the Israeli-Palestinian Town Meeting in 1987 and the one discussing the War of Iraq in 2003. The interview was a major portion of the episode where important people were asked tough questions on the spot. Another series of townhall meetings featured public discussions and appearances by Japanese officials on the poor performance of American business during the 1980s, contrasted with the success of Japanese businesses. These townhall meetings coincided with the corporate takeovers of US companies by Japanese corporations during the early 1990s (i.e. MCA by Matsushita, CBS Records and Columbia Pictures by Sony Corporation, etc.)

Perhaps the most infamous episode of Nightline occurred on April 15, 1987. During the episode, longtime Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis made racially insensitive comments. When Ted Koppel asked Campanis about why there were not that many black field or general managers in Major League Baseball, Campanis responded by saying that blacks may lack the "necessities." What soon followed was what many observers believed was Campanis coming off worse and worse despite the numerous chances from Koppel to clarify himself. Shortly after the interview, the Dodgers fired Campanis.

On December 3, 1990, Nightline played the Madonna's controversial music video "Justify My Love" (the video contained imagery of sadomasochism, voyeurism and bisexuality) in its entirety, then interviewed Madonna live about the video's sexual content and censorship. When asked whether she stood to make more money selling the video than airing it on MTV, she shrugged and answered, "Yeah, so? Lucky me." She also mentioned that the banning was hypocritical as male artists were able to show music videos on the channel which contained sexist and violent imagery. She also mentioned that in her "Vogue" music video she had worn a see-through lace top which exposed her breasts, but this was passed by the channel.^[5][6]

Highlights[link]

• 2008 - John Edwards admits on Nightline to cheating on his wife with a campaign staffer.
• 2005 - Ted Koppel's last show as host of Nightline.
• 1997 - Nightline airs "ABC Exclusive" footage of Pol Pot's trial, in violation of an agreement with journalist Nate Thayer^[7]
• 1988 - Nightline goes on location to Jerusalem.
• 1987 - Nightline is seen in U.S.S.R. for first time.
• 1987 - Gary Hart admits on Nightline to cheating on his wife.
• 1987 - Nightline presents its first "Town Meeting" the subject is AIDS and the show runs until 3:47 AM
• 1987 - Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker appear on Nightline after PTL scandal.
• 1987 - Al Campanis, Los Angeles Dodgers executive for more than forty years, resigns after making racially insensitive remarks on Nightline.
• 1986 - Corazon Aquino and Ferdinand Marcos appear on Nightline.^[8]
• 1985 - First remote location for Nightline (South Africa).
• 1984 - 40th Anniversary of D-Day. Nightline "covers" the D-Day landings as though modern TV news, along with satellite reports, had existed at the time.
• 1984 - First live TV appearance by Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.
• 1983 - Nightline expands from a half-hour to a full-hour program.
• 1982 - PLO chief Yassar Arafat appears on Nightline.
• 1981 - Nightline extends from four nights to five nights a week (Friday).
• 1981 - Nightline with Ted Koppel premieres on ABC.
• 1981 - Nightline with Ted Koppel extended from twenty minutes to thirty minutes.
• 1980 - ABC's nightly Iran Hostage crisis program renamed Nightline.
• 1979 - ABC broadcasts "Iran Crisis: American Held Hostage" with Frank Reynolds (forerunner to Nightline).

Reading of the names[link]

On April 30, 2004, Koppel read the names of the members of the United States Armed Forces who were killed in Iraq. This prompted controversy from conservatives who believed Koppel was making a political statement and from Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which felt that ABC was undermining the war effort in Iraq. Others, most notably the Washington Post television columnist, thought it was a ratings stunt for sweeps, and indeed Nightline was the highest-rated program during that time period, and had about 30% more viewers than other Nightline programs that week. Sinclair stations did not air the program.

Koppel repeated the format on May 28, 2004, reading the names of service members killed in Afghanistan, and on May 30, 2005, reading the names of all service members killed in Afghanistan or Iraq between the last program and the preparation of the program. This time, Sinclair stations aired the program as scheduled.

Ratings and threats of cancellation[link]

Rumors have spread for many years about the show's cancellation. However, during the so-called "late show wars" of 1993, when The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno were battling it out for viewers, Nightline would often place second and occasionally be in first place.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, ABC attempted to hire David Letterman from CBS, a move that would likely have forced Nightline's cancellation. However, Letterman opted to re-sign with CBS (When ABC added Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2003, it was placed at the 12:06 timeslot instead of the 11:35 slot of Nightline, again preventing cancellation).

Koppel anchored his final Nightline broadcast on November 22, 2005, despite his contract ending in December. He announced in March 2005 he was leaving the show at the end of his contract.

Ratings have been up since the new format has begun, even beating The Late Show with David Letterman for three consecutive weeks in August 2006 and again in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Koppel's final "Closing Thought"[link]

On November 22, 2005, Ted Koppel retired from Nightline after 25 years on the show, and left ABC News after 42 years. Koppel's final broadcast of Nightline did not feature clips, or highlighting moments, as typical when an anchor retires. Instead it featured Koppel's 1995 interview with college professor Morrie Schwartz, who was suffering with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Every so often, Koppel ended the program with a "Closing Thought". This segment is usually when he expressed his opinion on the subject of the nights show. On his final night, the following was his "Closing Thought".

[edit] Post-Koppel Nightline: 2005–present

On November 28, 2005, Koppel was succeeded by a three-anchor team: Martin Bashir and Cynthia McFadden at Times Square Studios in New York City and Terry Moran in Washington, D.C.. Along with the new anchors, Nightline is now live every night and has a multi-topic format—that covers multiple stories in each broadcast. There are many critics of the multi-topic format due to the fact that it is more difficult to focus on a subject in depth when there is much less time devoted to the subject, and that more stories seem to be focusing on popular culture, rather than news events.^[9]

On July 11, 2006, Ted Koppel made a surprise appearance on Nightline to discuss with co-anchor Terry Moran the prisoner situation at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and to discuss his upcoming series for Discovery Channel. It was his first appearance on the broadcast since leaving the show in November 2005.

As of August 7, 2006 ABC had ceased Nightline's New York operations from Times Square and moved to ABC News Headquarters in Lincoln Square, citing high production costs and logistical problems. Even though Nightline moved to ABC Headquarters in Lincoln Square, several shows have been taped at ABC's Times Square location, mainly with Martin Bashir's coverage.

Nightline is developing an online program hosted by the show's anchors through Twitter, encouraging viewer discussion on the website.^[10]

In November 2009, ABC News Nightline achieved the number-one spot in the Nielsen ratings for a late night broadcasts, the first time averaging 4.15 million viewers. It beat The Tonight Show and The Late Show in total viewers.

2010s[link]

In August 2010, Martin Bashir left Nightline to be an anchor on NBC and MSNBC, he was subsequently replaced by Bill Weir.

On January 20, 2011, ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live would start at midnight, shortening Nightline to a 25-minute newscast. It was also announced that Nightline would gain 13 primetime hours to produce content for the network.

International broadcasts[link]

Country	TV Network(s)	Weekly Schedule (local time)
Australia	Sky News Australia	Airs at 1:30AM (AET)
Canada	CHCH/CHEK/CJNT	Simulcast of ABC
Japan	NHK-BS1	4:30PM(JST)

See also[link]

List of late night network TV programs

Lateline, an Australian program similar to Nightline

References[link]

1. ^ EXCLUSIVE: World News Kicks Off HD Expansion at ABC - World News with Charles Gibson , Nightline to begin broadcasting in 720p HD Aug. 25. Broadcasting & Cable August 25, 2008
2. ^ Trimel, Suzanne. "Roone Arledge Auditorium And Cinema Dedicated April 25", Columbia University, April 26, 2000
3. ^ Leno's primetime move at NBC good news for ABC Reuters December 10, 2008
4. ^ TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows
5. ^ Interviewer: Forrest Sawyer (1990-12-03). "Nightline". ABC.  Video on YouTube. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.
6. ^ Rich, Joshua (1998-11-20). "Madonna Banned | News". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,285759,00.html. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
7. ^ Paul McCann, "Your scoop? Nah. It's ours if we want it."
8. ^ http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9044413
9. ^ Steve Gorman (17 October 2005). "ABC News unveils new 3-anchor 'Nightline' format". http://www.redorbit.com/news/entertainment/274738/abc_news_unveils_new_3anchor_nightline_format/. Retrieved September 16, 2009. 
10. ^ "‘Nightline’ developing Twitter show". The Live Feed. May 12, 2009. http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/05/nightline-developing-twitter-show.html. 

External links[link]

• Nightline website
• Nightline Official Twitter Page
• Nightline Official Facebook Page
• ABC Medianet Website
• Nightline Story on Spam Arrest & Hormel Trademark Battle
• Nightline at the Internet Movie Database
• Nightline at TV.com
• Nightline show on YouTube

U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories. In recent years, it has become particularly known for its ranking system and annual reports on American colleges, graduate schools and hospitals.

Since June 2008, the magazine has gradually reduced its publication frequency three times, switching first from weekly to biweekly,^[2] then going monthly in November 2008.^[3] In November 2010, it was reported that U.S News & World Report would be switched to an online-only format, effective after it published its December issue; it will still publish special issues in print on colleges, hospitals, and personal finance.^[4]

Publication history[link]

United States News was founded in 1933 by David Lawrence (1888–1973), who also started World Report in 1946. The two magazines initially covered national and international news separately, but Lawrence merged them into U.S.News & World Report in 1948 and subsequently sold the magazine to his employees. In 1984, it was purchased by Mortimer Zuckerman, who is also the owner of the New York Daily News.

The editorial staff of U.S.News & World Report is based in Washington, D.C., but the magazine is owned by U.S.News & World Report, L.P., a privately held company based in the Daily News building in New York City.

It conforms to the owner's political point of view, and tends to be more conservative than its two primary competitors, Time and Newsweek. It also eschews sports, entertainment and celebrity news.^[5]

In 1995, its web site, 'usnews.com' was launched providing access to all articles from the print edition.

In 2007, U.S. News published its list of the nation's best high schools for the first time. Its ranking methodology includes state test scores and the success of poor and minority students on these exams, and schools' performance in Advanced Placement tests.

In June 2008, citing the decline in overall magazine circulation and advertising, "U.S.News & World Report" announced that it will become a biweekly publication, starting January 2009.^[6] It hoped advertisers would be attracted to the schedule, which allowed ads to stay on newsstands a week longer. However, five months later the magazine changed its frequency again, becoming monthly.^[7]

In August 2008, U.S. News expanded and revamped its online opinion section. The new version of the opinion page included daily new op-ed content as well as the new Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

An internal memo^[4] was sent on Friday, November 5, 2010 to the staff of the magazine informing them that the "December issue will be our last print monthly sent to subscribers, whose remaining print and digital replica subscriptions will be filled by other publishers." The memo went on to say that the publication would be moving to a primarily digital format, but that it would continue to print special issues such as "the college and grad guides, as well as hospital and personal finance guides."

America's Best Colleges[link]

In 1983, U.S. News & World Report published its first "America's Best Colleges" report. It has been compiled and published annually since 1985 and are the most widely quoted of their kind in the U.S.

These rankings are based upon data which U.S. News & World Report collects from each educational institution, either from an annual survey sent to each school, or from the school's website. They are also based upon opinion surveys of university faculties and administrators who do not belong to the schools.

The popularity of U.S. News & World Report's college rankings is reflected in its 2007 release^[8]

• within 3 days of the rankings release, U.S. News website received 10 million page views compared to 500,000 average views in a typical month
• 80 percent of visitors access the ranking section of the website directly rather than navigating via the magazine’s home page
• the printed issue incorporating its college rankings sells 50 percent more than its normal issues at the newsstand

U.S. News also publishes comprehensive college guides in book form.^[9]

Criticism of college rankings[link]

1990s[link]

During the 1990s, three educational institutions in the United States were involved in a movement to boycott the U.S.News & World Report college rankings survey. The first was Reed College which stopped submitting the survey in 1995. The survey was also criticized by Alma College, Stanford University, and St. John's College^[10] during the late 1990s.

2000s[link]

Washington, D.C. region headquarters.

On 19 June 2007, during the annual meeting of the Annapolis Group, members discussed the letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the "reputation survey" section of the U.S.News & World Report survey (this section comprises 25% of the ranking).

As a result, "a majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting said that they did not intend to participate in the U.S. News reputational rankings in the future." ^[11] The statement also said that its members "have agreed to participate in the development of an alternative common format that presents information about their colleges for students and their families to use in the college search process." ^[12] This database will be web based and developed in conjunction with higher education organizations including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges.

On 22 June 2007, U.S.News & World Report editor Robert Morse issued a response in which he argued, "in terms of the peer assessment survey, we at U.S. News firmly believe the survey has significant value because it allows us to measure the 'intangibles' of a college that we can't measure through statistical data. Plus, the reputation of a school can help get that all-important first job and plays a key part in which grad school someone will be able to get into. The peer survey is by nature subjective, but the technique of asking industry leaders to rate their competitors is a commonly accepted practice. The results from the peer survey also can act to level the playing field between private and public colleges."^[13] In reference to the alternative database discussed by the Annapolis Group, Morse also argued, "It's important to point out that the Annapolis Group's stated goal of presenting college data in a common format has been tried before [...] U.S.News has been supplying this exact college information for many years already. And it appears that NAICU will be doing it with significantly less comparability and functionality. U.S.News first collects all these data (using an agreed-upon set of definitions from the Common Data Set). Then we post the data on our website in easily accessible, comparable tables. In other words, the Annapolis Group and the others in the NAICU initiative actually are following the lead of U.S. News." ^[13]

Some higher education experts, like Kevin Carey of Education Sector, have argued that U.S. News and World Report's college rankings system is merely a list of criteria that mirrors the superficial characteristics of elite colleges and universities. According to Carey, "[The] U.S. News ranking system is deeply flawed. Instead of focusing on the fundamental issues of how well colleges and universities educate their students and how well they prepare them to be successful after college, the magazine's rankings are almost entirely a function of three factors: fame, wealth, and exclusivity." He suggests that there are more important characteristics parents and students should research to select colleges, such as how well students are learning and how likely students are to earn a degree.^[14] In January 2011, US News and World Report became associated with the National Council for Teacher Quality to begin an evaluation of teacher education programs across the nation. Because NCTQ's methodology in previous rankings of teacher education programs across the country was highly controversial, this undertaking raises serious questions about the validity of these rankings and US News as an unbiased reviewer.^[15]

America's Best Hospitals report[link]

For the past 20 years, U.S. News has compiled a list of America's Best Hospitals^[16] after evaluating thousands of hospitals across multiple medical specialties.^[17] U.S.News & World Report evaluates hospitals, excluding military and veterans hospitals, based upon sixteen specialties. Specialty rankings include Cancer, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Ear Nose & Throat, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Gynecology, Heart & Heart Surgery, Kidney Disorders, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Psychiatry, Pulmonology, Rehabilitation, Rheumatology, and Urology. To be considered one of the top hospitals overall, medical centers must score at or near the top (at least two standard deviations above the mean) in a minimum of six specialties.

In the latest 2010-2011 rankings, 4,852 hospitals were considered of which only 152 were ranked in any one of 16 specialities. Fourteen hospitals ranked highly enough within at least 6 specialties to qualify them for the Honor Roll.^[18] Johns Hopkins Hospital has been ranked #1 for 21 consecutive years.^[19] It should also be noted that U.S. News & World Report does not offer archives of previous rankings for U.S. hospitals,^{[citation needed]} which inhibits the longitudinal tracking of hospital rankings.

Rankings[link]

Notes[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Images from U.S. News & World Report

External links[link]

• Official website, which includes:
  • U.S.News & World Rankings – Rankings main website
  • America's Best High Schools
  • Reviews and Rankings for the Best Cars and Trucks
  • Vacation Destination Guides and Rankings for Best Travel
  • America's Best Hospitals
  • America's Best Leaders
  • U.S. News University Directory

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

a sample section of a news broadcast by Pentagon News

A news program, news programme, news show, or newscast is a regularly scheduled radio or television program that reports current events. News is typically reported in a series of individual stories that are presented by one or more anchors. A news program can include live or recorded interviews by field reporters, expert opinions, opinion poll results, and occasional editorial content.

A special category of news programs are entirely editorial in format. These host polemic debates between pundits of various ideological philosophies.

In the early twentyfirst century news programs, especially those of commercial networks, tended to become less oriented on hard news, and often regularly included "feel-good stories" or humorous reports as the last items on their newscasts, as opposed to news programs transmitted thirty years earlier, such as the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. From their beginnings until around 1995, evening television news broadcasts continued featuring serious news stories right up to the end of the program, as opposed to later broadcasts with such anchors as Katie Couric, Brian Williams, and Diane Sawyer.

See also[link]

• 24-hour television news channels
• 24-hour news cycle
• Broadcast Journalism
• Electronic field production (EFP)
• Electronic news-gathering (ENG)
• Journalism
• Local news
• News broadcasting
• News presenter
• Newsroom
• Outside broadcast
• Reporter

This television-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

News is the communication of selected^[1] information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third-party or mass audience.

Etymology[link]

One theory claims that the English word "news" developed in the 14th century as a special use of the plural form of "new". In Middle English, the equivalent word was newes, like the French nouvelles and the German neues. Similar developments are found in the Slavic languages – the Czech and Slovak noviny (from nový, "new"), the cognate Polish nowiny and Russian novosti – and in the Celtic languages: the Welsh newyddion (from newydd) and the Cornish nowodhow (from nowydh).

History[link]

Before the invention of newspapers in the early 17th century, official government bulletins and edicts were circulated at times in some centralized empires.^[2]

The first documented use of an organized courier service for the diffusion of written documents is in Egypt, where Pharaohs used couriers for the diffusion of their decrees in the territory of the State (2400 BC).^[3] This practice almost certainly has roots in the much older practice of oral messaging and may have been built on a pre-existing infrastructure.

In Ancient Rome, Acta Diurna, or government announcement bulletins, were made public by Julius Caesar. They were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places.

In China, early government-produced news sheets, called tipao, circulated among court officials during the late Han dynasty (second and third centuries AD). Between 713 and 734, the Kaiyuan Za Bao ("Bulletin of the Court") of the Chinese Tang Dynasty published government news; it was handwritten on silk and read by government officials. In 1582 there was the first reference to privately published newssheets in Beijing, during the late Ming Dynasty.^[4]

In Early modern Europe, increased cross-border interaction created a rising need for information which was met by concise handwritten newssheets. In 1556, the government of Venice first published the monthly Notizie scritte, which cost one gazetta.^[5] These avvisi were handwritten newsletters and used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently to Italian cities (1500–1700) — sharing some characteristics of newspapers though usually not considered true newspapers.^[6] Due to low literacy rates, news was at times disseminated by town criers.

Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, from 1605, is recognized as the world's first newspaper.^[7]

The oldest news agency is the Agence France-Presse (AFP).^[8] It was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas.

In modern times, printed news had to be phoned in to a newsroom or brought there by a reporter, where it was typed and either transmitted over wire services or edited and manually set in type along with other news stories for a specific edition. Today, the term "breaking news" has become trite as commercial broadcasting United States cable news services that are available 24-hours a day use live satellite technology to bring current events into consumers' homes as the event occurs. Events that used to take hours or days to become common knowledge in towns or in nations are fed instantaneously to consumers via radio, television, mobile phone, and the Internet.

Newspapers[link]

Most large cities in the United States historically had morning and afternoon newspapers. As the media evolved and news outlets increased to the point of near over-saturation, most afternoon newspapers were shut down. Morning newspapers have been gradually losing circulation, according to reports advanced by the papers themselves. Commonly, news content should contain the "Five Ws" (who, what, when, where, why, and also how) of an event. There should be no questions remaining. Newspapers normally place hard news stories on the first pages, so the most important information is at the beginning. Busy readers can read as little or as much as they desire. Local stations and networks with a set format must take news stories and break them down into the most important aspects due to time constraints. Cable news channels such as BBC News, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, are able to take advantage of a story, sacrificing other, decidedly less important stories, and giving as much detail about breaking news as possible.

News organizations are often expected to aim for objectivity; reporters claim to try to cover all sides of an issue without bias, as compared to commentators or analysts, who provide opinion or personal point-of-view. The result is a laying out of facts in a sterile, noncommittal manner, and then standing back to "let the reader decide" which view is true.^[9] Several governments impose certain constraints or police news organizations against bias. In the United Kingdom, for example, limits are set by the government agency Ofcom, the Office of Communications. Both newspapers and broadcast news programs in the United States are generally expected to remain neutral and avoid bias except for clearly indicated editorial articles or segments. Many single-party governments have operated state-run news organizations, which may present the government's views.

Even in those situations where objectivity is expected, it is difficult to achieve, and individual journalists may fall foul of their own personal bias, or succumb to commercial or political pressure. Similarly, the objectivity of news organizations owned by conglomerated corporations fairly may be questioned, in light of the natural incentive for such groups to report news in a manner intended to advance the conglomerate's financial interests. Individuals and organizations who are the subject of news reports may use news management techniques to try to make a favourable impression.^[10] Because each individual has a particular point of view, it is recognized that there can be no absolute objectivity in news reporting.^[11]

Newsworthiness[link]

Newsworthiness is defined as a subject having sufficient relevance to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage.^[12]

In some countries and at some points in history, what news media and the public have considered "newsworthy" has met different definitions, such as the notion of news values.^[13] For example, mid-twentieth-century news reporting in the United States focused on political and local issues with important socio-economic impacts, such as the landing of a living person on the moon or the cold war. More recently, the focus similarly remains on political and local issues; however, the news mass media now comes under criticism for over-emphasis on "non-news" and "gossip" such as celebrities' personal social issues, local issues of little merit, as well as biased sensationalism of political topics such as terrorism and the economy. The dominance of celebrity and social news, the blurring of the boundary between news and reality shows and other popular culture, and the advent of citizen journalism may suggest that the nature of ‘news’ and news values are evolving and that traditional models of the news process are now only partially relevant.^[14] Newsworthiness does not only depend on the topic, but also the presentation of the topic and the selection of information from that topic.

New ecology of news[link]

“Everything we thought we once knew about journalism needs to be rethought in the Digital Age”,^[15] professor of Sociology and Communication Michael Schudson points out. Today the work of journalism can be done from anywhere and done well. It requires no more than a reporter and a laptop. In that way, journalistic authority seems to have become more individual- and less institution-based. But does the individual reporter always have to be an actual journalist? Or can journalistic work be done from anywhere and by anyone? These are questions that refers to the core of journalistic practice and the definition of “news” itself. As Schudson has given emphasis to, the answer is not easily found; “the ground journalists walk upon is shaking, and the experience for both those who work in the field and those on the outside studying it is dizzying”.^[15]

Schudson has identified the following six specific areas where the ecology of news in his opinion has changed: 1. The line between the reader and writer has blurred 2. The distinction among tweet, blog post, newspaper story, magazine article, and book has blurred 3. The line between professionals and amateurs has blurred, and a variety of “pro-am” relationships has emerged 4. The boundaries delineating for-profit, public, and non-profit media have blurred, and the cooperation across these models of financing has developed 5. Within commercial news organizations, the line between the news room and the business office has blurred 6. The line between old media and new media has blurred, practically beyond recognition ^[16]

These alterations inevitably has fundamental ramifications for the contemporary ecology of news. “The boundaries of journalism, which just a few years ago seemed relatively clear, and permanent, have become less distinct, and this blurring, while potentially the foundation of progress even as it is the source of risk, has given rise to a new set of journalistic principles and practices”,^[17] Schudson puts it. It is indeed complex, but it seems to be the future.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Stephens, Mitchell. "The History of News - 3rd Ed" Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.

External links[link]

• News media by country at the Open Directory Project

Look up programme or program in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Program (UK and U.S.) may refer to:

• Computer program
• Program (machine), those executed by machines that are not computers
• A synonym for patch, a synthesizer setting stored in memory.
• The trade name for lufenuron, a veterinary flea control medication

Programme (British English, from the French programme) or program (American English) (from the Ancient Greek: πρόγραμμα, προ pro "before", γράμμα gramma "letter, writing") may refer to:

• Programme (booklet), a printed leaflet for patrons of a live event such as a theatre or sports performance
• Radio programming
• Television programme
• Programme music, a type of art music that attempts to render musically an extra-musical narrative
• Programme management, the process of managing several related projects, e.g. in business or science
• Twelve-step programme, a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioural problems
• Education programme

Artistic creations[link]

• Programme, (books) art and society series by Zoltan Deme
• "Program", a short film in The Animatrix series
• The Programme (comics), a miniseries by Wildstorm Comics

Organisations[link]

• Program (German non-profit), a project space in Berlin for art and architecture

See also[link]

• The Program (disambiguation)

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