What is Journalism for?

Part II.Vivian 10 (and some of K&R 2, 3 and 4)

We are government watchdogs.

In the system of checks and balances, we are the Fourth Estate.

Is that good or bad?

Journalism is independent from government censorship

and control.

Do you believe that?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the

freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to

assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

- The First Amendment

Is independence from the government a good or

bad thing?

Why?

Should the media actively try to mold government policy?

General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Vietcong captain Nguyen Van Lem during the Tet Offensive in 1968.

During the Gulf War I, the media were escorted by

military and government officials.

The vast majority of journalists covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are embedded with troops or working out of military protected buildings.

Are we seeing what is really happening there?

Do you have a voice in government?

Laws are made in your name.Do you have any say in those laws?

Does one vote make a difference?

Journalism can make a difference.

The news media is and should be a forum for debate.

Independent media = democracy

"...were it left to me to decide whether we should have a

government without newspapers, or newspapers

without a government, I should not hesitate a moment

to prefer the latter."

- Thomas Jefferson, 1787

Benjamin Day and the daily newspaper.

• 1833: Day starts the New York Sun, the first daily newspaper.

• Stories were more general and universal, rather than specifically about topics like politics or finance.

• This began the era of the Penny Press (sometimes known as the Penny Period).

• Newspapers soon became heavily based upon advertisers rather than subscription.

Other notable items of early American journalism

• Newspapers represented society, and they focused on social improvement.

• The inverted pyramid style of news writing evolved during the Civil War.

• The Associated Press was started in 1848, and a non-partisan, objective style of journalism was born.

European papers

maintain partisanship.

The partisan media say that objectivity binds the American media to identifiable sources and therefore, they rely upon

the government too much.

What do you think?

Should the media have an opinion?

Europeans read more newspapers.

And they have a lot more newspaper competition.

Seeing their success, some American media outlets have moved more towards news

analysis and opinion.

Which is better?

Knowing that the media outlet has a

bias, or leaving media to try to be

objective?

• Fox plays it down the middle in news.• The evening shows have an opinion.• Fox differentiates between news and opinion.• Talent have massive egos.• Rupert Murdoch does not control the message at all.

Everyone has baggage, Kevin says.

So can you really be objective?

Can you really be objective?

• Take a moment and write down who you are (by race, ethnicity, gender, hometown, favorite sports teams, favorite foods, beliefs, religion, major, color shirts, facebook fan or not, allergies, rural vs. urban, commuter vs. resident, athlete vs. non-athlete, etc).

Me?

• Journalist.• Baseball fan

(specifically Phillies).• Japanese-American.• City dweller.• Dog owner.• Home owner.• Unmarried but

attached.

• College journalism professor.

• Photographer.• Bike rider.• Wear ties.• Traveler.• Aspiring NBA star.• Reader.

When I work, I am nothing.

Can you put aside who you are and cover a story without

thinking about your own heritage and/or preferences?

Aren’t the people who attacked America on 9/11 terrorists?

Whose decision is it to make?

The gatekeepers of information(hopefully trained journalists).

News Variables?• Gatekeepers, government and special

interest groups.• News hole: how much time or space is

available.• News flow: what else happened?• Audience: who is paying attention?• Availability: can you get the story?• Competition: what is everyone else doing?

• LA controls information by not revealing everything. He represents the team.

• He is not a journalist.

• LA controls information by not revealing everything. He represents the team.

• He is not a journalist.

• The players don’t trust the media.

• He thinks the media will punish players they don’t like.

Is there a universal definition of what is news?

Isn’t a bomb

scare a big story?

Shouldn’t news always be news?

Shouldn’t news always be news?

Variables?Newsworthiness?

Newsworthiness Criteria:

• Timeliness• Proximity• Unusualness• Celebrities/

prominent people• Human interest

• Conflict• Impact• Relevance

Local News = Philly

NY based = national

• A package is a prerecorded story that has been edited, and often has a reporter stand-up.

• A voice over (VO) is edited video which the anchor reads over during the newscast.

• A VO/SOT (voice over sound on tape) is a VO that also contains a sound byte.

Journalists set the agenda for what is considered relevant

information.

Which is why we are supposed to offer a comprehensive view of the world

(the marketplace of ideas).

That is a massive responsibility.

And we face many challenges.

Journalism is constantly changing, largely because of

three reasons:

• Technology. • The conglomeration of media

outlets.• Globalization.

Journalism is a business.

• Rupert Murdoch owns FOX, myspace, the Wall Street Journal, and magazines, newspapers and TV outlets around the world.

• Disney owns ABC.• General Electric owns NBC.

The Philadelphia Inquirer is owned by the same company

that owns the Daily News.

They also publish numerous neighborhood papers around the region.

• The Fishtown Star’s office is in Trevose, PA.

• The stories that run in the Star also run in the Art Museum News and other papers in the chain.

Signs of quality journalism:

• Accuracy, balance and fairness.• Reporting (as opposed to

interpreting).• Original content: did someone from

this new outlet create this package, or did they recycle information from other outlets?

The Bottom Line?

Journalists need to be truth seekers.

And we need to suppress our personal feelings as much as possible.

Because we aren’t the story.

Don’t ever forget that.

Please be up to date on the class reading.

We’ll finish K&R chapters 3 and 5 on Thursday (unless there is a snow day).