Annotated Bibliography

Word Count: 899




Reuters - Online News

Slosson, M. (2012, May 20). Status update: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg gets married. Reuters.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/20/us-usa-facebook-marriage-idUSBRE84J01I20120520

This story, written by Mary Slosson and published by well-respected news provider; Reuters, is effectively split into two parts. The first is a description of the happenings during the wedding with details such as Chan’s dress and the wedding dinner. The second half illustrates why Zuckerberg’s marriage is newsworthy by stating that he was Times magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ in 2010 and that he is worth over $20 billion. The details Slosson provides in the story correlate with many of the accepted news values such as; celebrity, good news, simplicity, relevance, personality and continuity, thus conveying why this story is of public interest.  Slosson gives details from other sources such as ‘People’ magazine and ‘tweets’ from Tim Carvell of ‘The Daily Show’, giving a well-rounded response to the news, which makes the article a credible source. Although ‘People’ magazine may not be the type of news provider that Reuters would usually source information from, because it is celebrity news means that it is acceptable to use information from a source that specializes in this. The article is written in a clear and concise manner and though just 496 words long, includes all the important information, such as the marriage announcement and such. It also includes a small and superfluous photo gallery containing one picture from the wedding and two paparazzi shots from their recent holiday to Shanghai. Slosson concludes, in typical short story reporting style; that the couple hadn’t responded for comment.

Good Morning America - News Video

Harris, Dan (Anchor). (2012, May 21). Good Morning America [Television Broadcast].  New York, U.S.A.: ABC News.

Dan Harris of ABC news tells the story in a light-hearted fashion but gives a good overall description of the event as well as hints at what might have happened despite the secrecy that shrouded the event. The story appears quite credible as ABC supports the story with pictures/video, enabled by the medium. The fact that he is a celebrity and has an intriguingly private personality, makes this story more fascinating. Similarly to the Reuters story, it focuses on giving details that draw a parallel to the news values of the piece such as his net worth and company. The video includes a clip from Gizmodo’s Editor-in-chief Joe Brown about the style of the wedding announcement and opinions from legal experts that the timing of the wedding will make it more difficult for his new wife to legally claim any ownership on the company. Outsourcing for expertise provides the video with a more educated tone. The video medium allows the presenters to include photos of the venue, potential performers of the wedding, the attendees as they arrived, the caterers and more, thus allowing more details than the Reuters print story. Considering that this piece was shown on a morning show (generally after the time most people leave for work), it makes sense for the style of the piece to be very jocular, as it is not targeting people who are looking for the most important news stories.

Media, Culture & Society - Journal Article

Gorin, V., & Dubied, A. (2011). Desirable people: Identifying social values through celebrity news. Media, Culture & Society, 33(4), 599-618.

This journal article is especially well written because it introduces the terms and develops the argument very clearly. It starts out with defining ‘celebrity news’ and highlighting its relationship to news values. Gorin and Dubied also explained the public interest in celebrity behaviour. This article is well researched with many sources from French and Western journals giving an international perspective on the issue. The charts and subsequent analyses shed light on topics such as the categories that rep­resent the main themes composing the events involving celebrities. It is interesting to note how many of these categories relates to the news of Zuckerberg’s nuptials including; relationships, love life, lifestyle, professional life and personality. The research in the article is consistent with the aforementioned reasons why the Zuckerberg story was treated with a high level of importance and is because the general values of celebrity news, and primary news values in general, correlate with the main aspects of the story. Moreover, we learn that whilst it is common for bad news to attract high levels of media attention, it is true that good news also has a weighty level of news worthiness in celebrity news. This article gives an interesting and encompassing perspective on celebrity news which analyses, in an in-depth manner, the interest and intrigue surrounding celebrity news and how it constitutes as news.

Sarah & Vinnie – Radio Podcast

Sarah (presenter), Vinnie (presenter). (2012, May 21). Sarah & Vinnie [Radio series episode]. San Francisco, U.S.A.: CBS Local.

This form of media is a locally produced radio podcast. It contrasted the other forms of media because it was much more informal and less detail oriented, which could be attributed to the fact that they don’t have access to the same level of information as more reputable news operators. The program is hosted by CBS local media, which is a division of CBS Radio Inc. They discussed his marriage, the ring, his company going public, whether they signed a pre-nuptial agreement and if he will move out of his current home which is rather modest. Despite not being highly factual, the medium allows the presenters to give their opinion on the subject, which is not encouraged in more traditional media outlets such as; Reuters for example. They avoided giving specific information unlike the Reuters article and the ABC News video. Keeping with the casual approach, there is no formal conclusion. This source does not appear to be the most credible of news sources but it does provide an alternative, entertaining style of presentation.

Reference List:

Gorin, V., & Dubied, A. (2011). Desirable people: Identifying social values through celebrity news. Media, Culture & Society, 33(4), 599-618.

Harris, Dan (Anchor). (2012, May 21). Good Morning America [Television Broadcast].  New York, U.S.A.: ABC News.

Slosson, M. (2012, May 20). Status update: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg gets married. Reuters.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/20/us-usa-facebook-marriage-idUSBRE84J01I20120520

Sarah (presenter), Vinnie (presenter). (2012, May 21). Sarah & Vinnie [Radio series episode]. San Francisco, U.S.A.: CBS Local.