Choosing the News

We often see a newspaper s front page and wonder
about the choices that were made to elevate a certain
story above another. Why does Britney Spears end up
on the cover and above-the-fold while news of local,
national or international importance is buried
inside? Why do newspaper editors choose the news that
they do? In this book, Dr. Elaine Gale, a former
journalist with a ten-year career in the newspaper
business, dissects exactly why newspaper editors make
the choices they do in assembling a daily newspaper.
This book presents her findings from observing and
recording over thirty newsroom meetings at a major
metropolitan daily newspaper in the United States
where top editors of the paper gathered together
twice a day to discuss the next day s paper. The
editors engaged in daily choices about what was
newsworthy and what wasn t. Gale examines the themes
that emerged in their decision-making as she listened
to and transcribed the talk in the newsroom meetings.
She shares both what goes through an editor s mind
generally when planning the next day's paper, and
also the specific recipe for cooking up the front
page as revealed during the talk in the daily
editors meetings.

Autorentext
Elaine Gale, PhD in Human Communication from University of Denver
and MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, is an
assistant professor at California State University, Sacramento,
and a freelance writer. She was a religion reporter for the Los
Angeles Times and an advice columnist and pop culture reporter at
the Minneapolis Star Tribune.