Consonance in depiction of violent material in television news

“Consonance” is the tendency for journalists to exhibit uniformity or similarity in reporting. Television news gatekeepers viewed six versions of a story, ranging from one with no violent video to a very violent version. Each chose a version representing his/her perception of an “acceptable” level of violence for broadcast. Most considered the shooting and the victim falling to the floor acceptable, but excluded images of the dead body. This was consistent (consonant) regardless of market size or preference for “neutral” versus “participant” journalism. However, gatekeepers who labeled themselves “objective” cleared a more violent version for air than self‐labeled “interpretive” journalists.