This post is due by Tuesday, April 8 @ midnight for full credit.
Email late posts to rob.williamsATmadriver.com for partial credit.
Read our MEDIA@CULTURE book, assigned chapter(s) above.
In a SINGLE blog post below for ALL chapters in the section, provide for EACH chapter:
1. A single sentence, IYOW, that captures the THESIS (main argument) for each chapter.
In a SINGLE blog post below for ALL chapters in the section, provide for EACH chapter:
1. A single sentence, IYOW, that captures the THESIS (main argument) for each chapter.
2. THREE specific pieces of supporting documentation - ideas, concepts, stats, data - to bolster your thesis for each chapter. (Use 2 - 3 sentences for each.)
3. A single PERSONAL story of 3-4 sentences that connects the chapter directly with your own personal media experiences.
4. A SINGLE specific question you have after reading and blogging on ALL chapters of assignment.
Game on,
Dr. W
Chapter 14:
ReplyDelete1. Chapter fourteen discusses the culture of journalism touching on the values and ethics behind the field and the transformation of journalism over the years.
2. “News is defined here as the process of gathering information and making narrative reports- edited by individuals for new organizations- that offer selected frames of reference; within those frames, news helps the public make sense of important events, political issues, cultural trends, prominent people, and unusual happenings in everyday life” (488). Not all news though is deemed to be “newsworthy.” Newsworthiness is information that is deemed most important to share with the public and worthy of a transformation into a story.
“Although newsworthiness criteria are a useful way to define news, they do not reveal much about the cultural aspects of news. News is both a product and a process. It is both the morning paper or evening newscast and a set of subtle values and shifting rituals that have been adapted to historical and social circumstances, such as the partisan press ideals of the 1700s or the informational standards of the twentieth century” (489).
Pairing journalism with ethics can be tricky. “What is the moral and social responsibility of journalist, not only for the stories they report, but also for the actual events or issues they are shaping for millions of people? Wrestling with such media ethics involves determining the moral response to a situation through critical reasoning” (493).
3. I can definitely see how trying to be ethical while also trying to deliver an interesting story that people are going to want to read about could be tricky. Now a day, the stories people are drawn to are not your run of the mill day-to-day stories, but ones that catch ones attention because something outrageous occurred. People are drawn to stories they can argue against, and often times trying to create a moral story is difficult.
4. How will journalism ethics change, and will the idea of being ethical fade completely in the world of journalism?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1. This chapter discusses the culture of journalism through the years and how the values and ethics have evolved over the years.
2. "When watchdogs, bird dogs, and bull dogs morph into lap dogs, lazy dogs, or yellow dogs, the nation is in trouble." (Stannard, p.487) This reporter believes that it takes determination and hard work to get the good stories. This quote reminds me of Assange because he works so hard to get information out to the public and does not just lie down and take no as an answer. In 1964 Marshall McLuhan said, "Real news is bad news- bad news about somebody, or bad news for somebody." This reveals the fact that news is never good for everybody, but it is the job of reporters to get the stories and the whole stories, as to not leave out any facts that may be crucial. Van Jones, a former advisor to Obama, said, "In the era of YouTube, Twitter, and 24-hour cable news, nobody is safe." We live in a time that has changed everything that we do for journalism. There are kids that work for companies and their job is to tweet information about said company. This shows how different journalism is today as compared to the past. Media has made information much easier to attain; even the secret information that the government never wanted anyone to see.
3. I am at an interesting age in the evolution of journalism. As a kid, I can remember my parents reading the paper and watching the news to get all their information. Through the years everyone has grown to use the internet and certain websites to gain their information. It has become much cheaper and much faster. There is no need to go to the convenience store for a paper because we can pull up many newspapers on our iPhone or Laptop.
4. If, and when will journalism go 100% viral? When will physical, nation wide newpapers become obsolete?
Thesis:
ReplyDeleteThis chapter documents the ethical problems facing modern-day journalists, while placing those problems into the context of modern-day media outlets.
Three Supporting Arguments:
1. “The old ‘mass’ media audience has morphed into smaller niche audiences who embrace particular hobbies, storytelling, and politics. News media outlets that hope to survive no longer appeal to mass audiences, but to interest groups – from sports fans and history buffs to conservatives or liberals” (490).
2. “For most journalists, balance means presenting all sides of an issue without appearing to favor any one position. The quest for balance presents problems for journalists. One the one hand, time and space constraints do not always permit representing all sides; in practice this value has often been reduced to ‘telling both sides of the story.’ In recounting news stories as two-sided dramas, reporters often misrepresent the complexity of social issues” (502).
3. “Public journalism offers people models for how to deliberate in forums, and then it covers those deliberations. This kind of community journalism aims to reinvigorate a deliberative democracy in which citizen groups, local governments, and the news media together work more actively to shape social, economic, and political agendas” (513).
Personal Story:
- In recent months, I’ve found myself becoming increasingly frustrated and angry with modern new coverage. Growing up, I tended to watch ABC News with my family in the evenings. But as I return home during college, even this reputable news source has become distasteful to me. The news stories, more often than not, jump between stories of fires and gang violence in Philadelphia, to light-hearted hopeful stories of donations to organizations. Through that news station, as well as on the internet, reporting has ceased to be politically informative and thought-provoking, and has instead become depressing and one-sided.
Question:
- What can be done to change the niche-oriented tendencies of modern-day media coverage?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1. Journalism has a definite purpose, to keep citizens informed, but the means by which this is accomplished varies dramatically with different definitions of what news should be, how it should be presented, and for whom it is presented.
2. This chapter defines news as, “the process of gathering information and making narrative reports… helps the public make sense of important events, political issues, cultural trends, prominent people, and the unusual happenings in everyday life.”
There is an ongoing debate of whether news should be presented in a neutral informational fashion or if it should tell a story that will keep the readers engaged in the news. Most journalist generally believe that they are observers who gather facts without passing judgment, but they have also acknowledged that news presented in that fashion rarely sparks debate or prompts reform.
It has also become increasingly important to understand for whom reporters are writing. They should be writing for citizens, but it is common for conflicts of interest to arise that may alter how a journalist may portray the person or event that they are writing about. It is also possible that stories can be altered in an effort to please journalists’ editors, if they work for papers, or for TV producers, if they are live reporters.
3. I can relate to the confusion over which news sources are the most reliable and most neutral. I used to watch news on TV a lot when I was home, but became frustrated over the vast number of stories that I viewed as being unimportant or just single sided. So I turned to the internet for my news, but now my concern has become that I never really know if what I am reading is first of all true, there are so many fake stories published through social media, or if it’s a blog rather than a credible news source.
4. As news becomes more skewed due to the vast number of media reporting on a single story, will there ever be a set of guild lines imposed on journalists to ensure that readers are receiving unbiased stories?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1. Journalism has a defined purpose to keep citizens informed, but the means by which this is accomplished varies dramatically with different opinions and definitions of what news should be, for whom it is presented, and how it should be presented.
2. “Public journalism offers people models for how to deliberate in forums, and then it covers those deliberations. This kind of community journalism aims to reinvigorate a deliberative democracy in which citizen groups, local governments, and the news media together work more actively to shape social, economic, and political agendas” (513).
“Although newsworthiness criteria are a useful way to define news, they do not reveal much about the cultural aspects of news. News is both a product and a process. It is both the morning paper or evening newscast and a set of subtle values and shifting rituals that have been adapted to historical and social circumstances, such as the partisan press ideals of the 1700’s or the informational standards of the twentieth century” (489).
“News is defined here as the process of gathering information and making narrative reports- edited by individuals for new organizations- that offer selected frames of reference; within those frames, news helps the public make sense of important events, political issues, cultural trends, prominent people, and unusual happenings in everyday life” (488).
3. I can relate to the confusion over which news sources are the most reliable and most neutral. I used to watch news on TV a lot when I was back home in New York when I had more time to sit down to watch the news, but once I got up here at school I got really busy. With my limited number of hours in the day, I have to use my time wisely. I started out the school year setting aside time to watch the news, but I was just frustrated by the lack of objectification in the news and as a result, I cut that time out of my schedule and turned to online news sources to learn about what is going on in the world around me. My concern with online news sources is whether or not what I am reading is true or not.
4. As news becomes more biased due to the lack of objectified media reporting, will there ever be a set of guidelines put in place for reporters to abide by in order to ensure that readers are receiving unbiased news?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1. This chapter explores the values and ethics of journalism, and how the present day is changing journalism.
2. One of the main values of journalism is newsworthiness. This means that people need to decide if the information at hand is interesting and worthy enough to be made into news stories. The common quality of a story is that it is timely and new. These are the stories told just after something happens. Another value in journalism is individualism. This value is a very prominent in daily journalism today. This profession is favored because it rewards the tenacity that one uses to confront others and expose information. Journalism is not just telling the story, but it is shaping the story for the public to jumpstart their thoughts a certain way. There are two definite terms with regard to ethics in journalism. The first is absolutist ethics. This suggests that the general moral society has laws and codes that everyone has to live by. On the other hand, there is situational ethics. This promotes ethical decisions on a case-by-case basis. Overall, truth is the overall goal of a journalist. Online journalism offers a solution to the restrictions TV and newspapers put on news stories. For TV, they have to fit stories in between commercials and in their time slots. In newspaper, stories are restrained to a certain space. However, the internet solves this problem providing unlimited amount of space for news stories, pictures and videos. Journalism’s convergence with the internet has changed the news in other ways too. Now, there is no more waiting for the newspaper to come to your house the next morning, you can just go online and see what’s happening almost as soon as it happens. Problems also come up in keeping journalism online though. While some think online interviews are conductive to more thoughtful insights, some think that the lack of face to face conversation allows for the interviewee to form their answers in a way they would not normally.
3. I have had experience with journalism in high school, I took a journalism class my junior year and I became editor in chief my senior year. I think the part I enjoyed most was designing the newspaper, but I also had to edit a lot of articles. Most of the time, I would have to tweak some articles to take the obvious opinion out, because news isn’t technically supposed to be biased (even though it is.) Being editor was pretty fun, but it gets tricky when value and ethical decisions need to be made.
4. Will technology ever completely take over the traditional forms of journalism? Will this affect the truth in new stories?
Chapter 14
ReplyDeleteJournalism is a necessity to keep citizens informed on what is going on in different parts of the world, yet journalism seems to be facing on-going problems as to what journalism should be like and how to transform journalism in the present day technological world.
2. -Some people believe that there should be a neutral perspective when it comes to news, in order to let the reader decide what they believe is right versus wrong, but the journalists are having such a hard time giving all sides of a story due to limited space, therefore making their articles only two-sided.
-Some journalists use the absolutist ethics, which means that they try to stick to all of the values that come with journalism, and attempt to not deceive the reader into thinking one way against another way. Other journalists use the situational ethicshich means they might consider each circumstance individually to see if getting an important story might be worth bending a general rule against using deception.
-With all the new technology that today has, journalists are facing the problems of never actually having to leave the office, being able to report everything online. This takes away a big aspect to journalism which was once to get out in the world and experience the news that they were going to be writing about. The technology lets news spread faster and more efficiently though, making it a double-edged sword.
3. I honestly do not really like watching the news because it is all so sad and depressing. This may be childish of me, but I feel like there is nothing neutral about the news system, and they constantly are focusing on the horrible things that are happening, and showing them as horrible. When they have an uplifting story, they show it as uplifting. Nothing about the news is really neutral.
4. Is it possible that there will ever be a day when news is actually neutral?
Chapter 14:
ReplyDelete1. This chapter focuses on modern journalism in technologically advanced age of society, the ethics of news media, and reporting traditions of news across electronic forms of communication.
2. Modern journalism delivers information that permits citizens to use their own judgment when making decisions that will be beneficial to their living of daily life, but we have a plethora of stories published that it makes it difficult to carry out unbiased discussion. A significant part of journalism is determining newsworthiness that way journalists are able to provide information worthy of transition into print media which is done with a vast range of criteria. This criterion includes timeliness, proximity, conflict, prominence, human interest, consequence, usefulness, novelty, and deviance. A major value of journalism incorporates neutrality otherwise known as an unbiased opinion of not including your own personal view into your writing material because your job is just to pass the straight up facts while allowing others to form an opinion of a situation.
Journalists have to grapple with making difficult decisions in many cases when it comes to ethical viewpoints that are both in the right. This brings up many issues because they have to make a choice of reporting information they believe needs to be released to the public because of one’s right to know or be held in private for example when it comes to government information that’s related to national security. Ethical guidelines can test individuals’ values in many circumstances because of journalist’s expectations to avoid conflicts of interest at all costs. The situation among the two parties can arise from trying to gain an upper-hand by producing a story that could help their personal career that would potentially lead to an argument with the company you are employed by and immense repercussions for crossing boundaries.
With the new culture of journalism that is in existence today, there is a lack of historical background from years past on the main issues discussed in stories because writers solely focus on producing an attention grabbing article that gets out to the public before all other corporations leading to them receiving the credit. However, these accounts have the potential of limited investigative work that is not enough assurance of concrete information, leading to entirely false commentary that involved a waste of valuable time. With television coming into play in the mid to late 1900s, there was the early introduction of investigative media in terms of reporting as well as screen programs such as 60 Minutes, 20/20, and Dateline. Television also allows for broadcasting news from live locations both national and international, the ability to coordinate news (sometimes with only small sound bites of full interviews) at best within the confines of times allotted outside of commercial advertisements, and screen news viewers determine their interest based upon credibility of the network in addition to the employed news anchors. Lastly, the internet has given businesses a wider variety of ways to gets news information out to the public with specific company websites able to update their databases with up to the minute breaking news.
3. I understand that there is always the itch for reporters to spice up stories with remarks that are not realistic, but as workers in the profession they have to remain truthful to the ideals of the industry so that they do not mislead consumers. I have seen unethical information given to the public on the CBS program 60 Minutes by accident in one of their segments from contacts with an untrustworthy source on an international matter in Benghazi. Readers get absolutely fixated on articles that to them seem the opposite of what to expect and that are rare happenings in society, sometimes wanting to debate heavily.
4. How will social media continue to impact the ethics of journalism in terms of the early reporting of stories before they hit the Web and the airwaves no matter if they are valid or not?
1.) Journalism is the one form of media we may never see become obsolete because it is something we will always need.
ReplyDelete2.) "Journalism is the only media enterprise that democracy absolutely requires-and it is the only media practice and business that is specifically mentioned and protected by the U.S. Constitution. However, wit the major decline in traditional news audiences, the collapse of many newspapers, and the rise of twenty-four hour cable news channels and internet news blogs, mainstream journalism is searching for new business models and better was to connect with the public." (pg 487)
"When a journalist is criticized for ethical lapses or questionable reporting tactics, a typical response might be "I'm just doing my job" or "I was just getting the facts." Such explanations are troubling though, because in responding this way, reporters are transferring personal responsibility for the story to a set of institutional rituals." (Pg 496)
"The shift from a print-dominated culture to an electronic-digital culture requires that we look carefully at differences among various approaches to journalism. For example, the visual language of TV news and the Internet often captures events more powerfully than words." (Pg 506)
3.) Being a journalism major I found this chapter very interesting. I have grown up always looking to Nellie Bly, Walter Cronkite, or even Katie Couric. These journalists and reporters have been the posters on my wall instead of pop idols and boy bands. I like how this chapter gave a look at both the good side and bad side of journalism, not just highlighting the great moments or reprimanding the bad ones.
4.) How will journalism form and shape itself to fit into our changing world?
1. Chapter 14 talks abut the culture of journalism and how there is an unwritten code of conduct that goes on in order to keep values in order.
ReplyDelete2. “By ethnocentrism Gans means that, in most news reporting, especially foreign coverage reporters judge other countries and cultures on the basis of how “they live up to or imitate American practices and values.”(P.490). This was the starting format on how the United States took control of the right way to go about the coverage and holding a certain standard in the media. “ In terms of ethics, there are at least two major positions and multiple variations. First, absolutist ethics suggest that a moral society has laws and codes, including honesty, that everyone must live by.” This is the first step in the code of trying help figure out what you can put into the media and what you can’t put into the media.” To achieve “the truth” or to “get the facts,” journalists routinely straddle a lone between “the public’s right to know” and a person’s right to privacy.” There is a difference between knowledge of something that would help the public out and then there is the difference of information the could hurt someone so they don’t end up releasing it.
3. I have never really been a person who is worried about the drama of other people’s lives. Although I do feel bad for the people whose lives are under the microscope it is part of the life choice they chose when they were able to do the things they love while making a lot of money.
4. Will the ethics ever get over ridden in order to sell more newspapers or media information?
1. The methods and content of journalism are transforming while its practices remain under scrutiny for being unethical and sometimes biased.
ReplyDelete2. In the 1980s, urban drug stories dominated the news, but by the 90s, such stories virtually disappeared. This rapid change in content can be credited to editors and reporters wanting to tell new and current stories, and drug stories were considered a thing of the past.
Debate over whether it is ethical for reporters to lie or invade a person's privacy in order to obtain news has been present since Nellie Bly faked insanity in order to investigate an asylum in the 1800s. Supporters of absolutist ethics would argue that the ends don't justify the means if a reporter uses deception whereas someone who agrees with situational ethics would say that deception is justified if the information received serves the greater good.
Reporters have traditionally striven for objectivity in their writing to appeal to the widest audience possible. Now, with so many different places for people to get their news, journalism has become more biased and appeals to certain smaller niche groups.
After a volleyball game in high school I got interviewed by a local news station and got my first taste of an interview being a little investigative and in a way persuading. My team hadn't lost a league match in 22 years and most people in our conference referred to it as "the streak." After a somewhat close game that we had a possibility of losing a reporter asked my teammate and I separately how we felt about the streak. We had been taught by our coach to ignore the streak and focus on the current team and just doing our best, and I said that to the reporter but my teammate got nervous and admitted that "no one wants to be part of the team that loses the streak." This was obviously the response the reporter wanted and that night my teammate's response was the one that aired on the news.
4. Will reporting techniques continue to become more unethical in the eyes of some people?
1. Journalism has always been about getting information to people, but in the digital age, the way this happens has changed for the better and worse to fit our modern needs.
ReplyDelete2. Today journalism is facing issues of processing too much information that most of it has become "garbage" and that this large amount is having questionable impacts on it's viewers. The content and delivery of this news has also changed; boosting the conflict presented, telling the information as neutrally as possible, and appealing to niche audiences instead of the general public. Throughout the years, news has had to deal with the ethical issues such as how far journalists are allowed to go to get their story, privacy of the people they are investigating, and their conflicts of interests. The change from print journalism to TV and internet has changed the way the news is given to us. When a TV crew is sent to a location they are expected to report, instead of waiting for a large story to come up naturally. On TV and the internet, ads are placed either in carefully selected sections between stories or are cut out all together online. The on-the-spot journalism also creates a credibility that is harder to create in print journalism. The internet allows journalists to post their reporting online before they put it on TV or in print.
3. Is is more dangerous or more convenient that news can be funneled to only give us what they know we are interested in?
4. I personally do not watch the news, mostly because I do not own a TV at college. I also sometimes feel like a lot of the stories are filler and that I'd rather be able to get the important stories quickly instead of in drawn out segments. This is why most of my news comes from online because I can read short snippets of the major stories. I know, however, that this means I am usually not getting the full story or am only focusing on a certain "genre" of news.
Chapter 14:
ReplyDelete1. This chapter discusses the values and ethics surrounding journalism, along with the transformation that journalism has undergone over the past years.
2. Not all news that would be considered actual news to people is deemed “newsworthy” to the big news companies and some journalists. Noteworthy news has to be big and effective to everyone or else it doesn’t get told. It needs to be deemed most important to share with the general public and worthy, if the news is not big enough, it often goes untold.
Based off the books, news companies, and journalist’s definition of noteworthiness, I think the definition should be changed. News also possess a cultural aspect as well, but sometimes journalists either possess too much of this culture or not enough of it in their stories.
Journalism and ethics walk a thin line with one another, they often times like to cross this line. Often times the stories they report push the lines of what people find ethical but that is what can make good journalism. Today, if you do not push the boundaries you will not be in the journalism world for long.
3. Ethical and interesting is getting harder and harder for journalists; I can only imagine how tricky it is for them. I don’t know if the stories would be as interesting without the journalist pushing the boundaries that they do. But other than that I don’t know that I really relate much to journalism.
4. How far will the ethics of journalism be pushed in the future? Will the ethics be foregone completely one day?
chapter 14 focuses on the ethics and values formed in journalism and how they have changed since then, and how valued journalism is in the industry because it keeps people up to date and informed on all the necessary topics.
ReplyDeleteSerious journalism has sought to provide information that enables citizens to make intelligent decisions, however today this principle faces a serious threat. Also the amount of data that the media provide has a very questionable impact on the greater good. Items that are considered newsworthiness are broken down into specific categories: timeliness, proximity, conflict, prominence, human interest, consequence, usefulness, novelty and deviance. Even though journalists turn news into stories they always think that they should remain neutral on the topic, many current journalists believe that their credibility comes from their self detachment.
I find journalism to be a particularly interesting topic because I myself was once interested in the matter. I love to playback stories to my mother from days past and I can usually tell them in great detail, however I don’t usually remain neutral on the subject matter, everyone has an opinion. What I find interesting is that there is a general consensus from the republicans, democrats and independents that there is a bias in reporting the news. This book states that most modern journalists believe that remaining neutral on a topic gives them better credibility but it just turns up a different way in the news.
How will journalists adapt to the changes in how news is presented? Will it ever be neutral?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1) Chapter 14 describes what journalism is and how it is used and valued in the media market.
2) Journalism is another form of media that helps circulate different types of news. “News is defined here as the process of gathering information and making narrative reports – edited by individuals for news organizations – that offer selected frames of reference; within those frames, news helps the public make sense of important events, political issues, cultural trends, prominent people, and unusual happenings in everyday life,” (488).
Neutrality is greatly valued in journalism mostly because it boosts creditability and sales. “Even though journalists transform events into stories, they generally believe that they are – or should be – neutral observers who present facts without passing judgment on them,” (489). Journalism shouldn’t be about judging the story being told but it should be about simply telling the story in an unbiased why.
“Modern journalism tends to reject “old news” for whatever new event or idea that disrupts today’s routines,” (498). Old news is exactly what it sounds like, old news. Journalists focus on the new and current events because that is what their audience is looking for. If journalists start to focus on old news they loose their audience because that’s not what they are interested in.
3) I personally have never much been into journalism. I have never been one to read newspapers religiously but when I do I do notice that there is never any “old news”. Most of the stories are about things that happened within days of the newspaper coming out.
4) Will journalism ever change or progress?
1. Chapter 14 discusses the purpose, obligation, and evolution of journalism over time.
ReplyDelete2. “Since the rise of cable and the Internet, today's media marketplace offers a fragmented world where appealing to the widest audience no longer makes the best economic sense.” pg.490
“But today, the 24/7 news cycle means that we can get TV news anytime, day or night, and constant new content has led to major changes in what is considered news.” pg.505
“The code 'requires journalists to perform with intelligence, objectivity, accuracy, and fairness,' but it also says that 'the truth is our ultimate goal.'” pg.494
3. I definitely feel like I can relate to this chapter because, as a student, I am constantly forced to write papers on important issues, current or not, that require some form of research. I find that looking for credible content can be difficult at times because there are so many resources that provide very different views and all claim to be credible and true. Thus, I usually rely on newspaper websites, such as the New York Times, or news channels to provide me with accurate information.
4. Will Journalism ever require a shift from the the objective to subjective perspective for more accurate news coverage?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1.) Chapter 14 revolves around the culture of journalists and the problems they face, such as matters of ethics and opinion concerning how they manage their work.
2.) The first section of the chapter revolves around how news is defined, as well as the values held by American journalists. The second section of the chapter revolves around ethical guidelines and problems faced by journalists. The third section then focuses on the rituals of journalists and the methods they use and rely on, like experts and stories. The fourth section looks at convergence, the fifth section looks at alternatives to traditional journalism like public journalism and satiric journalism, and the final section looks at journalism's interaction with American democracy.
3.) Uh, I don't really know what to say here. I mean, we kind of already covered this with the newspaper and television chapters. I guess all I have to say is that I enjoy some satirical news shows on occasion, generally hate the majority of them and believe that as funny as they are, they really should never be included on any network which is trying to be taken seriously as a news network, since their clearly embracing bias and humor prevents me from believing anything the other pundits and anchors say.
4.) Why are the authors focusing on journalism separately?
As journalism encounters new developments of the digital age, it’s purpose, audience, and standards of behavior have changed.
ReplyDeleteAs society changes, journalism has integrated a new set of standards to determine its newsworthiness. “Journalists are taught to select and develop news stories relying on one or more of these criteria: timeliness, proximity, conflict, prominence, human interest, consequence, usefulness, novelty, and deviance,” (488) Partisanship has succeeded neutrality, audiences want a product specific to their personal views and journalism is leaning more towards that route. Journalists face the objective of informing the public, but when can that information be too detrimental for the nation to know? “What makes the predicament of these national editors so tricky is that in the war against terrorism, some politicians claimed that one value terrorists truly hate is our freedom; yet what is more integral to liberty than the freedom of an independent press- so independent that for more than two hundred years U.S. courts have protected the news media’s right to criticize our political leaders, and within boundaries, reveal government secrets?” (493) How free is American freedom? Journalists can find themselves in conflict of interests “that is, any situation in which journalists may stand to benefit personally from the stories they produce” (494) This muddles the moral responsibilities of writers to educate the people, not for any personal gain.
I think it’s important for journalist to distance themselves from politicians. Watergate is one example of reporters exposing a corrupt situation and acting as watchdogs for the American people. Muckraking is a practice that should not fade away, as it’s vital to a country “for the people.”
Should there be checks on journalists who don’t act as agents of democracy?
Chapter fourteen focuses on the ethics and values concerning journalism and speaks to the changes in the field that have occurred over the years.
ReplyDelete“The idea of respectable detachment wasn’t conceived as a moral principle so much as a marketing device. Once newspapers began to mass market themselves in the mid-1800s, publishers ceased being working, opinionated journalists. They mutated instead into businessmen eager to reach the broadest number of readers and antagonize the fewest. Objectivity works well for publishers protecting the status quo and keeping journalism’s voice militantly moderate.” 489
“Today, in the digital age, when reporters can gain access to private e-mail messages, Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages as well as voice mail, such practices raise serious questions about how far a reporter should go to get information. … Although journalism’s code of ethics says, ‘the news media must guard against invading a person’s right to privacy,’ this clashes with another part of the code: ‘the public’s right to know of events of public importance and interest is the overriding mission of the mass media.’” 494
“Today’s cable and Internet audiences seem to prefer partisan ‘talking heads’ over traditional reporting. This suggests that in today’s fragmented media marketplace, going after niche audiences along political lines is smart business- although not necessarily good journalism.” 506
I generally seek out news via the internet. I find the constant gloom and death on TV news programs to be very tiring, upsetting, and very often clearly opinionated. I feel like accessing news from the internet you are able to find the most up-to-date reports and have a plethora of differing opinions that you can easily seek out to understand more aspects of an event or story.
As the internet does not constrain news to the length of a written article or the airtime of a TV news story, will there be a return to journalism that gives in depth analysis and historical context?
Chapter 14:
ReplyDelete1. This chapter discusses how the culture of journalism has evolved, including the values, ethics, and democracy.
2. There are three core values to American journalism. The first is that it naturally boosts credibility and sales. A journalist’s job is to turn an event into a story, preferably without passing judgment about it. Being detached from an event is essential to a journalist’s credibility. The second value of American journalism is to keep in mind other cultural views when reporting. CNN is criticized for portraying international stories from an American’s point of view, which is ethnocentrism. Sociologist Herbert Gans defines responsible capitalism as when journalists assume that the business world competes not to maximize profits, but to increase prosperity for everyone. Small-town pastoralism Gans defines as when journalists fantasize small towns over the larger urban ones. Gans concludes with defining individualism as journalists who focus on personal triumph over collaboration. The third and final core value of journalism providing facts and not giving value or bias. After an article has presented the facts, it is up to the reader to interpret and find a meaning.
3. I’ve never been big on reading newspapers because they always seemed so bulky and difficult to maneuver while reading. Now that I am in the age of technology and can get news from sources such as the internet, I’ve found that I prefer getting my news from sources like twitter.
4. As journalism shifts from print to online, will the ethics of journalism begin to shift?
Chapter fourteen discusses journalism as a, business, ethical discipline, as well as its convergence to the digital age. The chapter opens with a broad statement in regard to the big picture goal of journalism, “Serious journalism has sought to provide information that enables citizens to make intelligent decisions” (487). In order to reach that goal the chapter goes into what makes a good news story. Ironically they begin by explaining what makes good news as more of a story than news, “Every news story should… display attributes of fiction, of drama. It should have structure and conflict, problem and denouement, rising and falling action, a beginning, a middle, and an end” (487,488). The next step in this process is deciding what information is news worthy; the book also provided a general guideline for what characteristics journalists look for in a story, “Criteria: timeliness, proximity, conflict, prominence, human interest, consequence, usefulness, novelty, and deviance” (488). From there they discuss the importance of appearing neutral when covering a story. They explain that the appearance of a neutral stance adds to the credibility of a story. However contradicting the argument for striving towards neutrality, it is explained that it makes more economic sense to prepare news stories for specific groups of people; republicans, democrats, etc. In terms of ethics within the realm of journalism, problems arise through deception, privacy invasion, and conflicts of interest. They use an example of a man who faked mental health problems in order to infiltrate an insane asylum for a story as a prime example of the types of deception that could raise problems. Issues of privacy invasion occur often out of concern for the timeliness of a story. The book gives the example of reporters rushing to hospitals in attempts to get quotes from injured citizens. The concerns of the reporters are having a timely story as well as trying to get information before their competitors. In terms of conflicts of interest, the book identifies that it is a conflict of interest anytime the reporter stands to have personal gains through a news story. In terms of convergence with the digital age, the Internet has added an entirely new platform for the world of journalism to explore. With the Internet journalists can update their stories in real time, eliminating the need to wait for the morning paper. In addition the ability to post pictures, videos, and interviews creates a more interactive and engaging news experience. Like all things news has encountered its own set of problems adjusting to the Internet. For instance online news sources have to compete with the overwhelming amount of information on the Internet. With this the issue of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism has become more prevalent.
ReplyDeleteI found this chapter to be particularly interesting since it touched on the topics of news ethics and deception. As a viewer of news I always have wondered if what I am reading is an honest well-rounded perspective of a given issue. Although the book gives examples of dishonesty within the world of reporting I found the text to be more re-assuring then not.
What is the future for online news? Will more traditional news like the New York Times be able to successfully adapt? Or will we see a take over of something completely new?
ReplyDelete1. Chapter 14 talks about the cultural aspect of journalism like its values and ethics.
2. In this modern age information is so ubiquitous but that does not necessarily means it is news. In fact much of what is now considered news is not journalistically speaking “newsworthy”. Neutrality of news story, reports that do not have an agenda were promoted for various reasons but became usurped by money incentives to slanted reports as certain bases became more reliable money sources than average consumers. Partisan news became good. A few thematic values that exist within American journalism are ethnocentric perspectives, naïve view of free capitalism, and a value of individualism. There are numerous aspects of information gathering for the purpose of news proliferation that carries with it deep ethical and moral decisions. Usually these decisions arise from the actual process of attaining information, whether it is attained under false pretenses, through the invasion of privacy, or because there is a conflict of interest is present. Various rituals of news media are practiced like getting a good story and getting it first or exclusively. The reliance of “experts” creates an authority on certain information that gives news legitimacy although this title can be vague, arbitrary, and downright mislabeled. Showing both sides of an argument/conflict is a basic ritual but has become skewed in the age of partisan news. While much of these rituals are the same across media, there a is separation of journalistic rituals between print, TV, and internet news industries. A shift from written word to image took place as television and internet became more dominant. News has shifted how it is presented as public journalism involving the reporters or satiric journalism mocking news, either way news has become increasingly gray whether through its content, presentation, or how it gathered.
3. It interesting to consider the various perspectives that there can be regarding news. I am certainly glad that journalistic integrity is even a thing, because of how much sway a certain story can have on a populous even it fabricated. I think the whole 24 hour news machine is a bit crazy, I am not sure whether tracking news constantly makes us smarter or dumber.
4. I am curious if partisan news is becoming less valued by people. Especially because it would seem that partisan news has become more slanted and more divisive. Aren’t people just getting sick of it, people shouldn’t want to be so easily brainwashed.
Fantastic observations here, REV colleagues.
ReplyDeleteWe Steal Secrets,
Dr. Rob
Media revolution ch 14
ReplyDelete1) Chapter 14 goes inside the culture of journalism and expands the ideas of ethics and the evolution of journalism.
2) Ethics is a big part of journalism and expands on what is right and what is wrong within the journalism field. Privacy has been a large topic of ethics in journalism and has been disputed a lot. Journalists choose to either invade the privacy of those under the scope, such as politicians, musicians and other celebrities. Another piece of journalism culture is the conflict of interest. Large corporations control some large newspapers and news stations economically. These companies control the news channels by what they choose to report in order to maintain a good public relations image. There also have evolved news channels that have made different ways to give the news through the culture of journalism. Some may include fake news, such as “The Onion”. Others are based on comedy like The Colbert Report or John Stewart.
3) The culture of journalism has affected me mostly through the new ways of journalism. I watch The Colbert Report to gain information of my news. As well as television, I read blogs that are based on my interest, such as Barstool. The culture and evolution of journalism has gained interest through aiming for a certain audience such as these two examples.
4) Will journalism begin to be based more on these aimed interests like blogs, magazines, and satire television news programs?
Chapter 14:
ReplyDelete1.This chapter illustrates the importance of journalism, as the media form that never dies, although not all journalism is credible and ethical.
2.Journalism is the source of information that the people need in order to make informed decisions, and it is the medium that the governments and public need to maintain democracy. With the huge rise of news blogs on the internet and the specialized TV news channels, journalism is facing a risk of being late news reporters. With that risk, some journalists run unethical and perhaps false news for the sake of being ahead of the race; nonetheless, running those news allows for mistakes in reporting and creates an opportunity for biases that the public refrain from asking for objective news.
3.I don't really follow news reporting in the form of newspaper, but I use the TV news channels websites to be informed with the happenings. On those websites, as well there is a huge chance of reporting false news, and it has happened, more than once, that the website of the Arabic news channel Al Arabiya, which I usually go to to find the news, has published an apology on their website about reporting false news.
4.With the shift of journalism towards the online networks and websites to present itself there, will journalists ethics and credibility further decline?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1. This chapter focuses on the culture of journalism, and how it has developed over the years.
2. Journalism is about getting the correct information about events to the people. Without journalism the way that news is circulated wouldn’t be the same and it probably would be incredibly bias. It’s part of journalism to keep a neutral viewpoint in your writing, and only give readers the facts. Keeping up with what’s current is also incredibly important for journalists, if they don’t do so they will loose their audience, on one wants to hear about “old news”. There is also a code of ethics that journalists use to get their stories; they have to choose what is right or wrong. One major issue is privacy; journalists have to choose when they are invading someone’s privacy and if they’re taking it a little bit too far.
3. I enjoyed this chapter and I think that it opened my eyes up to quite a bit. I hope to be a Photojournalist; because of this journalism is something that interests me. I enjoyed reading about just how much of an effect journalism has on the media. It also made me think about where I get my news from a little bit more carefully.
4. What is in store for Journalism in the future, how will the media cause it to change over the next decade?
Chapter 14
ReplyDelete1.) Chapter 14 is an overview of the evolution of journalism throughout the years based on where it came from, what it means, and the goals.
2.) Nellie Bly’s story of fully immersing herself into the culture to get the inside look at her assignment is the template for what reporters nowadays strive for. When a reporter goes to a foreign place, they must learn everything from the most basic ways of life to the general atmosphere they are in. For a woman in the 1800s this was impressive and it remains so today.
News which is the process of gathering information and making narrative reports edited by individuals is all around us. We as a culture always look to the major news stations first as our information. Nowadays though things are changing and social media allows us to share our side through Twitter and other platforms.
The line between invading privacy is generally thin in the field of journalism. It is however easier to gather information now because mass media provides more and more of it. If there is information to be found on a person, chances are you could look at their Facebook or other site for a basic idea.
3.) Hopatcong Police Department which is in my hometown has a Facebook account. On it they share a place to anonymously submit tips, share wanted criminals, and other sorts of activity. Once in awhile on arrest write-ups there are stories of how a kid was caught through social media. This just shows that our culture has an enormous amount of information out there about us and it is accessible by all.
4.) How will information’s accessibility effect journalism in the future when it is as easy as logging on to a website to obtain?