The Culture of Journalism

Chapter 14

“The government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press

would remain forever free to censure the government. The press was protected so

that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people.”

—Justice Hugo Black, 1971

“A journalist…is there to watch over the safety and the welfare of the people who

trust him.”

—Joseph Pulitzer

Information Glut

Social critic Neil Postman– As a result of developments in media

technology: Too much information Too many channels

– Causes stress– News comes too late for people to act– Public alienation– Public passivity

“The ‘information’ the modern media provide leaves people feeling useless not because it’s so bleak but because it’s so

trivial.”

—Susan Faludi

Newsworthiness

What is news and what is not?– Gatekeeper function of media

Conflict Prominence Human interest Consequence Usefulness Deviant...the bizarre

News in the 20th century helps the public make sense of prominent people, important events, and unusual happenings in everyday life.

American Journalism Values

General belief that journalists should present news from neutral standpoint

Herbert Gans: media sociologist Media claims for balance Gans offers four subjective beliefs that shape

news judgments:– Ethnocentrism– Responsible capitalism– Small-town pastoralism– Individualism

Reporters as neutral “channels” of information– As opposed to citizens actively involved in public life

Journalism Ethics

Absolutist ethics

Situational ethicsRole of deception (Nellie Bly)

SPJ code

Ethical Dilemmas

Deploying deception– Is truth the only goal?

Invading privacy– Microphone in the face of the bereaved– Going through someone’s trash

Conflict of interest– Any situation where a journalist may stand to benefit

personally from the story he produces SPJ code warns against accepting gifts or favors.

Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)

Code of Ethics on p. 496

Reporting Rituals

Cult of the new– Immediacy of the present– Origins in print– 1840s rise of telegraph

Old news doesn’t run.– Thus, news often lacks historical context.

Don Hewitt: “Tell me a story.” Getting the story first (scoop)

Herd journalism Reliance on experts

Rituals (cont.)

“Balance”– Two-dimensionality of news– Helps generate story conflict– Misrepresents the multifaceted complexity of social issues

Adversarial relationship between prominent leaders and major institutions

– Gotcha story– Tough-questioning style

Becomes an end in itself– Reporter located between “them” and “us”

Might be better to improve the quality of political discussions by asking, “Why is this going on?” and “What ought to be done about it?”

Print vs. Television

TV journalism’s origins in print– Edward R. Murrow

TV driven by its technology– Going “live for live’s sake”– The image is everything

Broadcast format forces compression TV journalists become celebrities Sound bite news

Bias and the News

A June 2006 Harris Poll found 38 percent of adults detect a liberal bias in news coverage, while 25 percent sense a conservative bias.

Can a news story ever be truly unbiased?

Public Journalism

News accepts broader mission No longer detached Suggests policy alternatives Recasts public as actors alive in the process Intended to combat alienation Not a substitute for investigative work

Critics

Fear that public journalism panders Fear losing credibility built up over decades

of “objective” reporting Removes traditional editorial role Changes reporting style to conversational No balance Just a marketing facade

Fake News and Satiric Journalism

Appeals to many cynical young people Critiques the unimaginative quality of traditional

news stories– The Daily Show and The Colbert Report– Is it time for journalism to break free from tired formulas?

“There’s no journalist today, real or fake, who is more significant for people 18 to 25.”

–-Seth Siegel, advertising and branding consultant, on Jon Stewart

Online News

“Mainstream media need to search for the right business model that integrates the online experience into what they do.”

—John Horrigan, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2006

Role of Reporting

Social responsibility: James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

Deliberative democracy: journalists should be activists for public life– Representative democracy– Deliberative democracy