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Chapter 14:
The Culture
of Journalism:
Values, Ethics,
and Democracy
Some guiding questions
What key values underlie modern
journalism?
What ethical issues face journalists?
What legacy has print journalism left in
the era of electronic journalism?
What is public journalism, and how does
it differ from conventional journalism?
Problems facing
modern journalism
INFORMATION OVERLOAD:
Are we producing too much
information?
PUBLIC ALIENATION: Does
all this news improve public or
political life? Does it involve
citizens in public life?
Food for thought:
What is
NEWS,
anyway?
Is what we call NEWS:
Process of gathering
information?
A kind of narrative
storytelling?
Or both?
Criteria for
NEWSWORTHINESS
Timeliness
Proximity
Conflict
Prominence
Human interest
Consequence
Usefulness
Novelty
Deviance
VALUES IN
AMERICAN
JOURNALISM
THE MYTH OF NEUTRALITY
What does it mean to remain neutral?
Detached? Objective?
Can reporters be detached observers
of social experience without opinions?
Doesn’t the subjective process of
story-writing involve interpretation and
shaping of facts?
Food for thought:
Are journalists merely
neutral channels of
factual information -- or
are they well-informed
citizens actively
shaping public
opinion?
“Enduring values”
of journalism
Ethnocentrism
Responsible capitalism
Small-town
pastoralism
Individualism
ETHICS AND THE
NEWS MEDIA
Food for thought:
What is the moral and
social responsibility
of journalists -- not
only for their stories,
but also for the actual
events or issues they
shape?
ETHICAL PREDICAMENTS
Deploying deception
Invading privacy
Conflict of interest
SPJ Code of Ethics
Seek truth and
report it
Minimize harm
Act independently
Be accountable
THE LEGACY OF
PRINT
JOURNALISM
Rituals that underlie the
practice of journalism
REPORTING RITUALS
Focusing on the present
Getting a good story
Getting a story first
Relying on experts
Balancing story conflict
Acting as adversaries
JOURNALISM IN
THE AGE OF
TELEVISION
Print News vs. TV News
Broadcast news driven by technology
Broadcast news must limit stories to fit
into time slots between commercials.
TV news derives its credibility from live,
on-the-spot reporting, believable
imagery, and viewers’ trust in reporters.
Common criticisms of TV news
Format too slick and homogenized
Too much emphasis on crimes and
disasters
Overemphasis on “sound bites”
Overemphasis on youth and
attractiveness of anchors
Dislike of chatty “happy talk”
CONVENTIONAL
NEWS, PUBLIC
JOURNALISM, AND
DEMOCRACY
COMPETING MODELS of
JOURNALISM
INFORMATION or MODERN model:
emphasizes describing events and
issues from a neutral perspective
PARTISAN or EUROPEAN model:
emphasizes interpretive analysis of
happenings and journalistic
advocacy
Alternative model:
PUBLIC JOURNALISM
Rather than just “telling the news,” has a
broader mission of helping public life
Journalists participate in public life rather
than being detached observers
Rather than just describing wrongs, tries
to imagine what society COULD be like
Sees readers not as consumers but as
active public citizens
Criticisms of Public Journalism
Merely panders to what readers want
Compromises journalists’ credibility
Removes editorial control over stories
Undermines opposing-viewpoint
conventions by seeking community
consensus and middle ground
Doesn’t address changing economic
structures of news industry
Food for thought:
What are the
strengths and
limitations of each
model of
journalism?
MORE food for thought:
What is DELIBERATIVE
DEMOCRACY, and how
does it differ from
REPRESENTATIVE
DEMOCRACY?
How can journalism help?