Page 111 - Culture Media Language Working Papers in Cultural Studies

100 ETHNOGRAPHY

world is seen as more interesting and relevant to them, it is also seen as
secondary in rank to the ‘real’ or ‘masculine’ world. In terms of what the news is
seen to present, they only select items which they do not wish to see. Comments
or judgements are made in terms not only of what the items are but also of the
effect which they have on the individual. Thus the items are not judged solely for
their ‘news value’ but also for the way they affect the individual. There would
appear to be a model for the programmes which are discussed and then rejected.

The news
The women’s interpretation of news and current affairs programmes is an
accurate reflection of the news items which are contained in these programmes.
They may mis-identify the foci of some news reports, but this perhaps reinforces
their claim not to watch these programmes. For instance, when Lorraine says
‘It’s all Vietnam, on the news’, she is not necessarily identifying specific
examples. In fact, Northern Ireland is much more likely to have been the exact
focus of the news at the time. The general point is clear enough: ‘Vietnam’ has
become a generic term for war.
The grouping together of the news and current affairs programmes by the
women is a response to the circularity of these programmes, which is determined
by the interrelation between the news and current events programmes and the
prior selection of news items for their news value. A news ‘story’ becomes a
‘current events topic’, and the selection of news items according to the hierarchy
of ‘news value’ puts political and military concerns, industrial relations and
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economic affairs at the head of topics for inclusion. The editorial selection of
these items is premised on their ‘news value’, and this also reflects a masculine bias
in terms of the ideology of the subjects of the items included. The women find
little of interest for them in the news except for any ‘human interest’ items,
which are necessarily low in news value and rarely occur. When domestic affairs
do reach the news it is often in terms of deviation or murder, and this in turn
reinforces the accepted absence of these items from ‘normal’ news bulletins.
This is illustrated when Anne says that she likes to hear news about murders (see
page 111 above). It is not the fact that someone has been murdered which she
finds interesting in the news but the fact that there are elements within the
situation to which she can relate.