Mass media news must gain and hold audience attention. Presenting hard news as drama is a way to structure a story to do just that. Drama begins with what is called an "inciting action," an event that disrupts normal routines (this is the event that becomes the "news peg," discussed in the next section). Conflict Links Of London Bracelets(http://www.buylinkslondon.com/bracelets-c-141.html) escalates in rising action to a climax, the high point of tension, which is followed by an unraveling or resolution. Such structure, as illustrated by jokes, plays, novels, and the episodes of television series, is beloved by audiences and can evoke intense participation and identification. The typical news story is organized dramatically to identify a problem, to describe it in a narrative of rising action, to locate the protagonists and set them against each other (usually in short interviews), and to create some sort of resolution. This format gives coherence to data, and it makes an item a "story" in the most literal sense, a story that is likely to gain and hold an audience. Hard news is exciting, and the essence of excitement is drama. Conflict is an intrinsic element in drama; drama's rising action unfolds through increasingly intense conflict. Conflict disrupts routine and is thus novel and unusual (an-other criterion discussed in the next section). Conflicts are newsworthy events, and re-porting conflict is a way to create interest. The presidential election campaign that runs for more than a year is treated as a horse race or a sports contest in part so that it can be divided into specific events: primary victories, caucus defeats, slugging it out in de-bates, going one-on-one with hecklers during a speech. Such events are filled with the drama and conflict characteristic of hard news. News coverage emphasizes conflict by interviewing and quoting opposing sides on an issue; such interviews not only allow a reporter to remain detached, but they also create an impression of fair and balanced coverage. This focus on conflict creates imbalance in the reporting of both international and domestic affairs. Reporting of foreign affairs tends, for example, to stress conflict, whereas some in elected positions might instead be trying to reach accommodation on particular foreign policy questions. Thus, for example, early in 2000 when U.S. immigration officials ruled that a young Cuban boy, the lone survivor in an attempt by his mother to reach Florida by boat, should be returned to his father Links Of London Charms(http://www.linksukstore.com/charms-c-181.html) in Cuba, news cover-age gravitated toward those who challenged that decision and as a result prolonged the confrontation with the Cuban government. When Republican Congressman Dan Burton issued a congressional subpoena that would require the boy to remain in the United States to testify, he received national news attention. Meanwhile, President Clinton, who repeatedly noted that he wanted to keep politics out of it and who sup-ported the decision of the immigration officials, received less news play.
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