Category Archives: Sociology/culture

When things don’t make sense

These are trophies. I’ll tell you in a minute why they are there.

As I have discussed before, news serves a cultural function. It tells people what to believe, how to believe it, and sometimes why they should believe it. Such a cultural role maintains the dominant ideology and maintains the power of those in charge.

News narratives — familiar stories that construct a way of telling about issues that otherwise would be confusing to the audience — is an example of how journalists construct culturally significant tales. See my post on mothers who kill their children, for instance.

But what can be confusing about this conversation can be understanding how news “makes sense” or how it doesn’t. It’s the news, you might say. What’s not to understand? Continue reading →

At what point do you get rid of a local newspaper?

Within the past week, The Iowa City Press-Citizen has lost one reporter to Patch.com, a sports reporter to The Des Moines Register (owned by Gannett, which also owns the PC), and this week let go of its city editor and its executive editor. I also hear there may be more people leaving. That said, the PC is bringing in two reporters, but they will be getting marching orders for coverage from Des Moines.

There is talk about when the PC will fold into the an Iowa City bureau of the Register. Already, the two papers share tons of content. Many times, it seems we are reading the same paper twice when stories appear same-day in both places.

When will the Press-Citizen stop publishing altogether?

At what point do you get rid of a local newspaper?

Maybe it should be now. Continue reading →