The Professional

MYTH OF JOURNALISM

“One of the myths, of journalism, often used as a cornerstone of criticism by its detractors, is that there is somehow a uniform approach or perspective that all journalists share about the world?

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Why would the naysayers of journalism believe this? What type of stereotypes do we potentially face as we enter the world of journalism?

RUSH IS RIGHT!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/neuharth/2004-10-28-endorsing-candidates-neuharth_x.htm

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Is it possible for journalists to practice perfect objectivity and distance in their reporting? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/tags/objective.html

What is a 'worldview?'

http://www.worldji.com/pages/view/francis-a-schaeffer-chair-of-apologetics

Worldview:

· a way to protect us from confusion,· an ability to focus on what we think is important· a way of defining what we see. · Definitions are the result conforming what we SEE in the world in regards to what we already think we know about the world

DEFINE BEFORE WE

SEE

Define Before We See

“We pick out what our culture has already defined for us, and we tend to perceive that which we have picked out in the form stereotyped for us by our culture.” Walter Lippmann

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Does information prove our critics right? That journalists try, on purpose, to bend events and issues to their viewpoint and opinion?

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WORLDVIEW VS. BIAS. Is there a difference?

Worldview cont.

It is impossible for all journalists to have the same “worldview,” on every subject. And given the same task, two journalists with two different worldviews, can gather the same facts and present them in a similar fashion. HOWEVER, worldviews do determine what a journalist thinks is newsworthy on a given day and also how the facts are gathered.

EXAMPLE

The importance of time. West vs. East

OPTIMISM

Expect good things to happen. Bad things are the MOST newsworthy. How does this differ from the news of the rest of the world?

AMERICA

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jour/parvin/parvwrite.html

Ethnocentrism

What is Ethnocentrism? Where is this prevalent? http://www.john-zhu.com/blog/2010/01/11/relax-its-just-chicken-and-american-ethnocentrism/

Cultural Immersion

Should we expect to be able to shed our cultural values and views in order to be more objective?

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Should we even place high expectations on ourselves to be completely objective, or should we accept the fact that is it impossible to shed all worldviews and culturual norms that we were raised

Involvement vs. Detachment

● "New Journalism"○ Believed that to get the most accurate information

one had to immerse themselves in the story○ George Plimpton-trained with the Detroit Lions

● Professional Detachment ○ "Some reporters seem to put professional

detachment on some sort of pedestal. I've heard it asked, "If a man is dying at your feet, do you try to save his life or note the color of his lips?" Some journalists would say your job is to let the person die and record the death accurately. "

-Barry Bearak, The Mind of a Journalist pg 34-35

Ambiguity

How can we interpret the needs of the public?● High- Context: needs all the blanks filled-in,

the specifics of an event● Low- Context: comfortable with vague details

and generalizations " Less is more" ● Make sure that what you write is interesting

yet clear and concise

Diversity Among Journalists

● Journalists resent the idea that their background influences their reporting in any way

● There is not a proportionate representation of reporters to the American population ○ Example: Hispanics make up 13.4% of the US

population but only 3.3% of reporters are Hispanic

Journalists as Gatekeepers

" News consumers are dependent upon a person they do not know-or often do not know about-to bring them a focused and accurate picture of reality." -The Mind of a Journalist, pg. 39

Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values

● The combination of these 3 things is what makes us unique individuals

● There are always exceptions to the rules, we can choose who we are despite how we are raised

The Priesthood of Journalism

"Journalists see journalism as a kind of professional priesthood in which they, much like the clergy or even police officers, surrender to the higher calling of serving others."

- The Mind of a Journalist

The Fourth Estate

- Journalism as the fourth branch of government.

Journalistic Inbreeding

Journalists learn real skills form other journalists who learned them from other

journalists, etc. Journalistic organizations like the

Society of Professional Journalists and the American Society of

Newspaper Editors publish codes of ethics and standards that

journalists are expected to live by.

Necessary Separation

● Social● Distance in order to see clearly any other side of the argument● Emotional self- preservation

Fourth aspect to the priesthood of journalists- Confidentiality

What is confidentiality is journalism?

Is confidentiality good or bad?

When-and when not-is it ok to grant confidentiality to sources?

Hotly debated question in journalism.

Is confidentiality good for journalism?

Protects the source from fear of:● Loss of job● Personal Harm● Being ostracized● Damage to reputation

Is confidentiality bad for journalism?

1. Anonymous sources are often perceived by readers or viewers as less credible than stories in which the source is named. 2. Granting confidentiality means that the source can say whatever he or she wants without having to be accountable. 3. Anonymous sources making allegations of ethical or legal wrongdoing against another person. If the accused person decides to sue the newspaper, magazine, or television station for libel- and if the reporter refuses to identify the source of these allegations- the judge can find the reporter in contempt of court.

● Reporters usually only have to prove that they had good reason to believe that what they printed was true, to avoid serious legal offenses. However, this becomes extremely difficult when they can't name the source of the incorrect information.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/20anthrax.html

Editors strongly discourage confidentiality.

Janet Cooke- "Jimmy's world"● Fabricated story of an 8-year-old boy who

had become hooked on heroin by his mother's boyfriend.

● The story was rewarded the Pulitzer Prize.● Discovered that there was no "Jimmy."

Suffered humiliation and discredited. ● Cooke lost her job as a result and became

ostracized in the journalistic community. ● http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bradlee/background_cooke.html

Editors strongly discourage

confidentiality.

Stephen Glass● American former journalist fabricated several magazine articles.● Glass fabricated quotations, sources, and even entire events in articles he

wrote for that magazine and others● Film created after him called, "Shattered Glass."● Caught upon Upon the publication of "Hack Heaven" when competitor

found that none of the sources of his story even existed. ● At least 27 of his 41 stories were proved to contain fabricated material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1fcF9LLjYE&feature=related