Transcript of journalism

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:
 a 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?