The cultural meaningfulness of a worldwide narrative will decide its status as a narratable piece of news. The meaningfulness comes due to the familiarity of the cultures as stated by Harcup and O’Neill [1] “The culturally similar is likely to be selected because it fits into the news selector’s frame of reference…news from the United States would is seen as more relevant to the UK than is news from other countries that are less culturally familiar.”
However unexpectedness and reference to negative also are the big factors in deciding what is news worthy. [2] This makes the Tsunami in Japan a narrative that deal with these factors. On the one hand the destruction cause by the event will not be relatable to many Americans due to the cultural barriers. This is recognized by Edward Said’s definition of “The Other”[3] But because unexpected, combined with negative is so shocking it will still be relevant to people from all cultures long after it has happened. The earthquakes and Haiti and Indonesia, 9/11, and hurricane Katrina are all examples of negative unexpected events that will still be relevant to all cultures.
[1] “What is News? Galtung and Ruge Revisited”, Tony Harcup and Deirdre O’Neill, Journalism Studies Volume 2 Number 2, 2001, pg 263
[2] “What is News? Galtung and Ruge Revisited”, Tony Harcup and Deirdre O’Neill, Journalism Studies Volume 2 Number 2, 2001, pg 263-264
[3] “Orientalism” Edward Said, 1978
I thought it was interesting how you explored the role of culture and its effect on news value. Additionally, the use of negative events having longer staying power than positive events. I've always been drawn as to why societies tend to remember the negative. For example Hitler will be remembered for a long time for his atrocities to minority groups but I doubt hardly any one, outside the field of Holocaust history, remembers Janusz Korczak.If only news were more inclined to focus on the positive. Perhaps societies would have to change their perception of entertainment. However it is kind of silly that news is valued for its entertainment qualities in the first place rather than for its information.
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