News Sources

This chapter focuses on the interdependent relationship between journalists and news sources. Three key concepts in source-media relations are introduced: official sources dominate and have power over news narratives; sources have power by providing journalists with an ‘information subsidy’; and sources vary in their value to journalists, resulting in inequitable access to the news and a lack of diversity in who gets a voice in the news. Next, the chapter explores the powerful and potentially contentious relationship between journalism and a key news source: public relations. It establishes how the proliferation of public relations professionals and the associated practice of ‘churnalism’ (when news is not original because it is produced by recycling existing material) have increased the potential for sources to influence the production of news. The last part of the chapter considers how the move towards online sourcing practices has increased the voice of the public as a source through user-generated content, citizen journalism, and social media.