Page 182 - Communication Cultural and Media Studies The Key Concepts

OBJECTIVITY

information between a sender and a receiver. Aside from its literal
meaning, the concept refers to those outside influences that may alter
or disrupt the original meaning of the information being sent.
Noise can be either mechanical or semantic. The former includes
static interference on radio and television, as well as crackle over the
phone. Semantic noise refers to confusion over the meaning of the
message. This can be caused by language and cultural differences as
well the use of jargon or slang that may not be familiar to the receiver.
While not central to contemporary media studies, the term is
nevertheless useful for communication practices such as public
relations. Here, noise refers to a broad range of interference to
optimum communication such as lobby and interest groups, as well as
competing discourse.

OBJECTIVITY

Within the media claims to objectivity revolve around non-fictional
genres such as news, current affairs and documentary. The general idea
is that despite the processes and techniques of production, and the
personal views of the production team, a given sequence portrays an
accurate rendering of an objective situation that exists independently
of its representation in that sequence. Clearly there are important
issues at stake here, for on the reputation for objectivity rests the
reputation and credibility of broadcasting and news organisations. But
at the same time the claim of objectivity can itself be ideological –
seeking to impose a particular perspective on a situation that may be
imported into it by the producer or organisation. In other words, in
the end, paradoxically, media objectivity is not about ‘reality’ or
‘truth’, so much as it is about trust between addresser and addressee.
Documentary often employs an ethnographic discourse as a means
of claiming objectivity (see ethnography). Ethnography, however, is
itself a method whose outcomes may well be influenced by the
ideologies and subjectivity of the researcher. In news and current
affairs, suspected lack of objectivity attracts accusations of bias. But
like other genres, news is constructed through representation.
Additionally, codes and conventions unique to news and current affairs
limit what gets reported, who gets to speak and who is excluded.
Rather than understand this as falling short of the ideals of objectivity,
it is useful instead to consider, for instance, generic boundaries, the
role of gatekeepers and consensual news values. In other words,

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