Just under a decade ago the term “churnalism” moved into mainstream journalism discourse, describ... more Just under a decade ago the term “churnalism” moved into mainstream journalism discourse, describing in less-than-complimentary terms the recycling process of news production which drew increasingly on wire service copy and public relations (PR) subsidies. Davies’ 2008 book Flat Earth News and Cardiff University researchers Lewis, Williams, and Franklin (2008) were to popularise the term that would become part of the vernacular of an industry on the brink of major change. To be fair, the concept of “churn” and churnalists was earlier coined by Tony Harcup in his book Journalism (Harcup 2004), in which he cites BBC journalist Waseen Zakir’s description of how wire service copy had eroded original news production. However, the “assembly line in the news factory” and the “two primary conveyor belts” of wire services and PR (Davies 2008, 74) were to be seared into the journalistic psyche forever by Davies’ polemic, which laid the blame of churnalism on the “dark arts”, “pseudo-events” and out-ofcontrol commercialism.
This paper examines the role of Australia’s single news agency, Australian Associated Press (AAP)... more This paper examines the role of Australia’s single news agency, Australian Associated Press (AAP) in the news media landscape and positions this within the broader international context. It uses a UK study which suggests news agency dominance of international news on the internet and investigates these claims in the Australian context. Specifically, we examine the prevalence of AAP copy in the ‘Breaking News’ sections of two major news websites to create a preliminary understanding of the impact of AAP on news content. The findings suggest an overwhelming reliance on wire copy – particularly AAP – in this section of two of Australia’s leading online newspapers. The paper and its associated data-gathering techniques form part of a broader examination of the role of wire services in Australian journalism, and particularly the evolving role of wire services as a source or origin for news stories in an increasingly 24/7 news environment. It raises issues of global significance about the political economy of news and the impact that an increasing use of syndicated news copy from wire services is having on news agendas, diversity and journalistic practice.
... Download, http://hdl.handle.net/10072/4177. Herausgeber, Journalism Education Association, Ad... more ... Download, http://hdl.handle.net/10072/4177. Herausgeber, Journalism Education Association, Adelaide. Mitarbeiter, Ian Richards. Archiv, Griffith University Research Online (Australia). Keywords, Faculty of Arts, 400101, Centre for Public Culture and Ideas, Journalism. ...
Just under a decade ago the term “churnalism” moved into mainstream journalism discourse, describ... more Just under a decade ago the term “churnalism” moved into mainstream journalism discourse, describing in less-than-complimentary terms the recycling process of news production which drew increasingly on wire service copy and public relations (PR) subsidies. Davies’ 2008 book Flat Earth News and Cardiff University researchers Lewis, Williams, and Franklin (2008) were to popularise the term that would become part of the vernacular of an industry on the brink of major change. To be fair, the concept of “churn” and churnalists was earlier coined by Tony Harcup in his book Journalism (Harcup 2004), in which he cites BBC journalist Waseen Zakir’s description of how wire service copy had eroded original news production. However, the “assembly line in the news factory” and the “two primary conveyor belts” of wire services and PR (Davies 2008, 74) were to be seared into the journalistic psyche forever by Davies’ polemic, which laid the blame of churnalism on the “dark arts”, “pseudo-events” and out-ofcontrol commercialism.
This paper examines the role of Australia’s single news agency, Australian Associated Press (AAP)... more This paper examines the role of Australia’s single news agency, Australian Associated Press (AAP) in the news media landscape and positions this within the broader international context. It uses a UK study which suggests news agency dominance of international news on the internet and investigates these claims in the Australian context. Specifically, we examine the prevalence of AAP copy in the ‘Breaking News’ sections of two major news websites to create a preliminary understanding of the impact of AAP on news content. The findings suggest an overwhelming reliance on wire copy – particularly AAP – in this section of two of Australia’s leading online newspapers. The paper and its associated data-gathering techniques form part of a broader examination of the role of wire services in Australian journalism, and particularly the evolving role of wire services as a source or origin for news stories in an increasingly 24/7 news environment. It raises issues of global significance about the political economy of news and the impact that an increasing use of syndicated news copy from wire services is having on news agendas, diversity and journalistic practice.
... Download, http://hdl.handle.net/10072/4177. Herausgeber, Journalism Education Association, Ad... more ... Download, http://hdl.handle.net/10072/4177. Herausgeber, Journalism Education Association, Adelaide. Mitarbeiter, Ian Richards. Archiv, Griffith University Research Online (Australia). Keywords, Faculty of Arts, 400101, Centre for Public Culture and Ideas, Journalism. ...
Uploads
Papers
Williams, and Franklin (2008) were to popularise the term that would become part of the vernacular of an industry on the brink of major change. To be fair, the concept of “churn” and churnalists was earlier coined by Tony Harcup in his book Journalism (Harcup 2004), in which he cites BBC journalist Waseen Zakir’s description of how wire service copy had eroded original news production. However, the “assembly line in the news factory” and the “two primary conveyor belts” of wire services and PR (Davies 2008, 74) were to be seared into the journalistic psyche forever by Davies’ polemic, which laid the blame of churnalism on the “dark arts”, “pseudo-events” and out-ofcontrol
commercialism.
Williams, and Franklin (2008) were to popularise the term that would become part of the vernacular of an industry on the brink of major change. To be fair, the concept of “churn” and churnalists was earlier coined by Tony Harcup in his book Journalism (Harcup 2004), in which he cites BBC journalist Waseen Zakir’s description of how wire service copy had eroded original news production. However, the “assembly line in the news factory” and the “two primary conveyor belts” of wire services and PR (Davies 2008, 74) were to be seared into the journalistic psyche forever by Davies’ polemic, which laid the blame of churnalism on the “dark arts”, “pseudo-events” and out-ofcontrol
commercialism.