How News Becomes the News

“Every news story is a reflection of the reporter who tells the story. Most news does not inhere in the event.  An event becomes news.  And it becomes news because it is selected for notice out of the buzzing, booming confusion around us.  This may seem a fairly obvious point but keep in mind that many people believe that the news is always out there, waiting to be gathered or collected.  In fact, the news is more often made rather than gathered.  And it is made on the basis of what the journalist thinks is important or what the journalist thinks the audience thinks is important. a viewer must know something about the political beliefs and economic situation of those who provide the news. It is after all, not the world as it is that they present day after day in their reports, columns, stories, and broadcasts; it is the world as they believe it is--or even, as they believe it ought to be." Neil Postman

"There are certain news organizations, newspapers, news magazines, wire services, and news broadcasts which have the ability to generate news.  They are the newsmakers, and when an item appears in them, it becomes news.  When it is omitted, it is not news." Francis Schaeffer