Media essay

Which news values apply in the story?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1900790/kim-kardashian-paris-robbery-apartment-jewellery-fashion-week/
The story in which I would be deeply analysing in terms of news values is the Kim Kardashian's Paris robbery attack. The reason why I specifically chose this news story is, I believe many news values have been incorporated in this story so it keeps viewers updated in what happened personally in Kim Kardashian's lifestyle at that moment. This news story ideally invades the privacy of a celebrity which numerous viewers find interesting to read. My mini essay would consist of an introduction, followed on by 6 main bodies and an conclusion which summarises my points on news values.

News values are when news professionals decide on what story is newsworthy so it can be seen all over different social media platforms, TV, or make the front page of a newspaper etc. The first news value which is transparently evident through this story is negativity as, something immoral occurred to a celebrity which is more likely to grab the audience’s attention. Since numerous people adore and idolise Kim Kardashian, journalists are more likely to publish stories which invade the privacy of a highly known protagonist in society. Negativity is visibly seen from the headline when it says ‘so heartless what happened during Kim Kardashian’s Paris robbery, what jewellery was stolen and what has she said about it?’ instantly the headline provokes negativity and portrays Kim Kardashian in a materialistic way as, it heavily involves all her valuable possessions being stolen. The news story uses statistics to show how wealthy Kim Kardashian is, by stating 'more than £9 million worth of jewellery is believed to have been nabbed during the attack – including a £5 million jewellery box and one ring worth £3.5 million. Also stolen was the £3.5 million ring could be the 20-carat second engagement ring given to her by husband Kanye West. A police source said: 'They then helped themselves to millions of euros', before making their escape'. By stating the worth of her valuable possessions, many people are able to feel the huge lost she experienced which means the audience can easily sympathise with her.

Another news value which has been used in this news story is personalisation. This news value is significant as, Kim Kardashian is an influential, famous celebrity who is known by several people. This means that, many people will be interested to know more details about her Paris robbery in depth by reading the news online, through social media, or the TV etc. Since Kim Kardashian is widely known by the media and a big user of social media, her fans might want to be updated with her well-being. This news value is significant as, many people would already know who she is, therefore they would feel more connected to the struggle.

The 3^th news value which has been used is unexpectedness as, the Paris robbery attack was out of the ordinary and not anticipated from a celebrity. This is because, Kim Kardashian has several bodyguards who escorts and protects her. This news definitely shook her fans and her family members as; the apartment is believed to have the best security measures due to the amount of high profile celebrities who live there. Many of her fans might be equally stunned and concerned as, she couldn’t attend Paris Fashion Week in which her family is widely part of also, a source told radar online ‘Kim will most likely not be returning to Paris for a very, very long time’. This statement is negative as, the company in where she does Paris Fashion Week suffers a huge loss if she stops attending to do the shows for them. 

The 4^th  news value which has been used in this news story is frequency as, the time and scale of the robbery event was crowded with paparazzi, police force, and her fans etc. This can show how chaotic and hectic the area was at that time as; numerous people were clustered together to see if Kim Kardashian was fine. The place in which Kim Kardashian stayed for the Paris fashion week was a prestigious, luxury apartment which was situated at Rue Tronchet in Paris's Madeleine District. This place is well-known for expecting numerous celebrities to live in the apartment which means, many paparazzi are expected to be present at the event.

The 5^th news value that was used in the news story is proximity as; this news story was widely known all over the UK due to the amount of news coverage she got. This is because, major news companies decided to write about the incident which have been shared all over different social media platforms. Kim Kardashian also decided to be more vocal on the incident by filming the robbery episode on ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ in which she explained the whole conspiracy in depth. 

The 6^th news value that has been used is continuity and narrative as, many police investigations have to be held in order to arrest the gang who made the robbery take place. Finding the gang who robbed Kim Kardashian’s possessions was a process which took a long time as, more than one person was held guilty for doing this wrong doing. By using continuity and narrative, it certainly kept her fans waiting for more interesting news about the robbery. The reasons why the robbery took place and who was in charge of the robbery definitely unfolded as the investigation went on. This was a surprise equally for Kim Kardashian as; the gang was planning this robbery for a long time by tracking her every move on social media which definitely alarmed her.

The type of imagery the journalists used in this news story portrays the acquisitive side of Kim Kardashian as; she flaunts all her jewellery in social media which obviously made some of her fans envious of her. We can tell from these pictures, that she doesn’t consider the consequences of what could happen to her. Since Kim Kardashian is a wealthy, rich person who has an insane amount of followers on numerous social media sites, we can tell she is from the ABC1s in terms of social grading. This is because; she has her own companies which are known worldwide by numerous people. In terms of her age, she is 37 years old and is from the upper class which can indicate how young she is to become the richest member in her family (£48 million). Kim Kardashian is American which can provoke an idea on how she became successful to open up her business as, in some countries which are wealthy (like America) people can instantly start their own business and let it develop to become a bigger one. Kim Kardashian is also a Gun safety activist which means she deplores the idea of using guns in term of defence. By becoming an activist, Kim Kardashian received a lot of backlash from the media. The amount of negativity in which Kim Kardashian receives from the media can be why several people want to conspire against her and portray her in the negative light.

For example...

Considering the newspaper company 'The Sun' who wrote this news story, we can clearly tell that the journalists are more likely to feature celebrity news stories which instantly grab the audience's attention. This is because, 'The Sun' is a tabloid newspaper which creates news stories that appeal to more human interest stories and celebrity gossips.

The prevailing dominant ideology in this news story is how women should be withdrawn from society. This is because when Kim Kardashian posts pictures on her social media site, many people decided to conspire against her. While if she was in Paris with her husband (Kanye West), not much people would conspire against her. This is because; the gang told the court that they wanted Kim Kardashian to not be with her husband or with any security guards. This clearly portrays Kanye West as a dominant figure in society as, the gang fears the authority in which Kanye West has. This also reflects the idea of patriarchy as, it is suggesting that men hold more power and women are largely excluded from it. An example of this is the gang as; they tied her hands and legs together and then locked her up in the bathroom. At that moment in the situation, Kim Kardashian is clearly vulnerable and inferior as, she didn’t have much dominance to fight back instead, she solely relied on the security guards and her companion to help her out. I believe in this news story the idea of binary opposition is present as, men are portray mutually exclusive to women in terms of power and status in society. This is because; the gang who robbed Kim Kardashian were all male which can oppose an idea that man have more supremacy and courage to rob women in society which is clearly not right. The ways in which Kim Kardashian presented herself in society clearly fits in with the clear conventions of how a stereotypical woman is portrayed e.g. being weak and dependant on others etc. The idea that male and female are totally opposite concepts mirrors Levi-Strauss theory in binary opposition as, from the news story Kim Kardashian was left physically traumatized while, the gang felt dominantly powerful as they was able to achieve their motive in stealing her possessions.

In this news story, the theory of the 'other' which was created by Paul Gilroy was not really talked about as, maybe the journalists didn't want to intend or discriminate any religions or faith groups. However in this news story, the journalists wrote on how some suspects are well known to the police for their criminal history. This can show how proficient the group is as, they decided to rob a celebrity who has many bodyguards and protection in society. Throughout the whole news story 'the gang' which is an archetype was used to not discriminate certain religious groups out there. This can show how considerate the journalists are as, the phrase doesn’t indirectly point out a religion in particular. Instead, the journalists try to create a simple term which is not discriminate towards others. 

The theory in which news values was invented was by Galtung & Rung in 1981. News values in how news professionals decide on what stories are newsworthy. The story which scores highly on each value is more likely to appear on the front page of the newspaper, billboards, and TV etc. In this news story, a range of different news values were used which made this story more attention-grabbing and intriguing to read e.g. proximity, negativity and unexpectedness etc. For example, if the news story didn’t feature anything negative or conflicting many people might not be allured to read the news story. This is because; some online users browse through numerous news websites and select articles which sound interesting to read. I believe news values are significantly important as, it helps journalists to write news stories which are newsworthy to the consumers to read. Without news values, not much consumers will be interested by the news stories which are published by the media. This is because, the story wouldn't prompt the consumers to find more information about the news stories which are being published.

In conclusion, I believe most of the common news values were incorporated within this story. This is because; the main news value 'negativity' was used to highlight the harsh reality in which Kim Kardashian was facing at the time. By publishing this story worldwide for everybody to see, many people might be extra cautious in how they protect themselves from any future incidents from occurring. I like how Kim Kardashian took a more public approach in sharing her story with others, by sharing her viewpoints in 'Keeping up with the Kardashians'. Overall the news values which were used within this news story really helped to attract more people to read this story as; the story was filled with intriguing information which draws the audience’s attention.