Understanding and Analysing Influences on the Production of News

This chapter introduces the framework that structures the book’s critical reflections and exploration of the question, how can we understand the factors that influence the production of news and the implications they have in shaping the democratic qualities of news? A macro-level mapping of the most prevalent ways in which the production of news has been researched and theorised in the fields of journalism studies and political communication identifies five factors that are consistently attributed an influential role in shaping practices for producing news. These five spheres of influence—journalism norms, values, and role perceptions; journalism ethics; the news organisation; news audiences; and news sources—are visualised in a ‘Framework for analysing influences on the production of news’. This conceptual framework structures the book’s critical reflection and analyses of the shaping role of each sphere of influence, the interconnections between them, and the consequences for the democratic qualities of news.