978-1319102852 Chapter 14 Part 2

subject Type Homework Help
subject Pages 12
subject Words 4304
subject Authors Bettina Fabos, Christopher Martin, Richard Campbell

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Bloggers are significantly affecting journalism by demanding more transparency from
journalists and media outlets. Leading this conversation are bloggers such as Jeff Jarvis
(http://buzzmachine.com; director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism
at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism), Jim Romenesko
(http://jimromenesko.com), and Jay Rosen (http://pressthink.org; professor of journalism at
New York University).
Bloggers have become important conduits for journalists, who depend on bloggers’
independent investigations and often expert knowledge to uncover, contextualize, and sustain
important stories. Bloggers can often dig and aggregate information en masse faster than a
single journalist can pull and organize information.
Bloggers have been key voices in the debate about objectivity in journalism practice. They
argue that objectivity doesn’t exist, that opinions matter in the public discourse, and that
transparency is needed in journalism—a key tenet in the blogosphere.
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V. Alternative Models: Public Journalism and “Fake” News
The Project for Excellence in Journalism (http://www.journalism.org) released a study in
2004 revealing the pressure that media outlets are facing, owing to the Internet and twenty-
four-hour cable, to “tell the news” rather than “collect the news.” In other words, the “added
value” of context and thoughtfulness, both in print and broadcast, is diminishing. Here are
some specific points from the study:
Continuous on-air reports don’t give correspondents any time to do any reporting.
Perhaps fading context and thoughtfulness are leading people to turn away from news
reading and viewership.
Students do not pay close attention to the news (unless you count The Daily Show with
Trevor Noah).
Day-to-day cable news ratings have been flat since 2001 (1.4 million daytime, 2 million
prime time).
The Big Three networks experienced a 34 percent drop in viewers between 1993 and
2004 (although solid investigative news reports like 60 Minutes continue to make substantial
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profits, which again points to the value of context in news). The network news decline has
also been countered by a rise in Internet news readership.
Trust in the media has steadily declined.
In 2013, the Project for Excellence in Journalism released updated information about
television journalism. The study found:
The average length of a TV news story remained steady from 2007 to 2012, at around
142 seconds.
Commentary and opinion were far more prevalent on cable news networks (63
percent of airtime) than straight news (37 percent). In 2012, CNN was the only cable
news network to offer more reporting than commentary.
Explain some of the conventions of journalism that are being undermined by The Daily Show
with Trevor Noah (or with Jon Stewart in the past), HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John
Oliver, The Colbert Report (until it ended in 2015), and online sites.
With bandwidth costs plummeting and video cell phones and digital video cameras widely
available, sites like YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, and Snapchat offer places to upload visuals.
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Bill Moyers and Jon Stewart engaged in two interesting dialogues about the relationship
between comedy and journalism, first in 2003 on Now and then in 2007 on Bill Moyers
Journal. Transcripts and video recordings of both shows are available: “Bill Moyers
Interviews Jon Stewart,” Now, July 11, 2003 (video:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/archives/stewart_vid.html; transcript:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04272007/transcript1.html).
VI. Democracy and Reimagining Journalism’s Role
Discuss some of the issues surrounding WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden’s actions. Point out
how these cases might relate to other instances of whistle-blowing, such as the Pentagon
Papers.
MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES
QUESTIONABLE/ILLEGAL REPORTING PRACTICES AND ETHICAL ISSUES
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Make a short list of questionable or illegal methods that reporters might use to get a story (e.g.,
withholding their identity as a reporter). Discuss the circumstances under which these methods
might be justified.
candidates for any public office, and they “may not wear campaign buttons or themselves display
any other insignia of partisan politics. They should recognize that a bumper sticker on the family
car or a campaign sign on the lawn may be misread as theirs, no matter who in their household
actually placed the sticker or the sign.”
NEWS VALUES
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Then have students react to Gans’s conclusion that these values do not fit neatly into a
particular political ideology. Responsible capitalism seems more centrist or liberal, but the news
is conservative in that it is biased toward tradition, nostalgia, and the defense of social order.
Gans writes, “If the news has to be pigeonholed ideologically, it is right-liberal or left
conservative.”
EXAMINING EXPERT SOURCES
The purpose of this Critical Process exercise is to extend your critical approach to the news.
your focus to local, national, or international news.
1. Description. Count the total number of sources used by each newspaper or network program.
Do the sources work in jobs that require professional degrees, or do they work in blue-collar
jobs?
2. Analysis. After completing your charts, write one or two paragraphs discussing patterns that
emerge. Who seems to get quoted most frequently? Among those quoted, what kinds of
occupations generally appear? Do male sources or female sources dominate?
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3. Interpretation. Write a one- or two-paragraph critical interpretation of your findings. How
are the sources used? Why do you think certain sources appear in this day’s news more
frequently than others? Why do reporters seek out certain types of sources rather than others?
Does the gender of sources mean anything?
4. Evaluation. Discuss the limitations of your study; compare whether print or television
handles sources better. Did circumstances on the particular day you chose suggest why one
type of expert appears more often than other types?
5. Engagement. Contact a print reporter, a TV reporter, and/or an editor responsible for your
selected stories. Report your preliminary findings, and document how the reporters came to
choose their sources.
(Note: This assignment works either as an in-class presentation or as a written project. Either
way, it should include charts that help organize the material.)
CONVENTIONAL NEWS AND PUBLIC JOURNALISM
Pre-Exercise Questions: Are there any important issues about your college or university
community that have not been in the local news? If so, why do you think they’re missing from
news reports?
1. Identify a problem on your college or university campus or in the larger community. For
example, “There’s not enough student participation at university events,” “Rising tuition is
forcing some students out of college,” or “There’s a new incident in the longtime adversarial
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relationship between the ‘townies’ and the college students.” (Realize that even as you decide
how to frame the question of any topic, you’re suggesting parameters for your story.)
2. Identify the information you’ll need to write the story from conventional- and public-
journalism perspectives. First, start with the conventional-news approach. Where do you go
for information? Do you think you already “know” what these sources would say? Does your
approach mean that there are some people you will or will not consider as sources? Because
you are a member of the campus/community in which this problem exists, what do you know
about the problem? Can you include your knowledge in the story? If so, how? Does the
information change if it is a broadcast story (television or radio) instead of a print story?
Address these questions using a public-journalism approach.
3. How will you organize the two stories? Does all the information fit into a two-sided story
framework? How many “sides” might there actually be to this problem?
4. Analyze the ways in which each approach framed the story. What story details did you
select? Which were emphasized the most? Which story details were excluded? Why? What
do the stories seem to suggest as the cause of the problem? What solutions, if any, do the
stories advance?
5. Evaluate each story approach. Which is more deliberative? Which is easier to write? Which
is more interesting to write? Which story do you think would be most interesting to readers?
What do you think was the ultimate goal of each story approach?
Options: This exercise could also be adapted as an individual or group paper assignment. You
might consider having advanced students actually report and write stories from both
perspectives.
ANALYZING THE QUALITY OF NEWS
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Method: Content analysis and comparison of various news outlets
One of the major jobs of news media is to keep the public informed about the nation’s
political institutions and the actions of its military. The goal of this assignment is to evaluate how
well the media report these important issues and then to compare the different forms of media.
1. As a group, select a pertinent topic (a political campaign or overseas military engagements
are good examples).
2. Each group member must take responsibility for a specific media outlet to monitor. Each
group should have a mix of TV newscasts, newspapers, and one Internet news site.
3. Your group must monitor the news for the same five consecutive days. The newspapers
should be daily. Those of you monitoring newspapers must use the paper editions, not the
online editions. However, it is okay for one person to monitor the print version of the San
Francisco Chronicle, for example, and another http://www.sfgate.com.
4. You must be consistent. If you are monitoring the 10 P.M. Channel 2 newscast for five nights,
it is not okay to skip a night or to substitute Channel 11 at 11 P.M.
5. Each person should keep a log of what stories relating to the chosen topic were covered,
noting what it was about. If there was no coverage that day, take note of the kind of stories
that were covered.
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6. Each group should generate one summary of the information that each member can use. You
can put this information in lists, tables, or any other form that is easy for your group to
digest.
7. Groups have a right to drop a member who does not perform the assigned monitoring.
Anyone dropped from a group will have to do all the monitoring alone.
Part 2: Individual Analysis
TRACKING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN JOURNALISM: A SEMESTER-LONG
CRITICAL PROCESS EXERCISE AND PAPER
In this exercise students discover the most recent developments in the industry, and they become
familiar with industry trade sources. The paper they produce is due in sections, which correspond
with the steps in the Critical Process.
1. Description. Read industry trade sources to get a sense of the main issues affecting
journalism. Look at the Web sites of industry trade associations and professional societies.
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commentary in industry sources? (Focus only on information from the current year—and
only from trade sources.) Write a one-page synopsis of the information you found about
current topics in the industry. Cite your sources properly.
2. Analysis. Look for one development or pattern that has received significant attention on trade
sites and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend, and write one
or two pages with details about the information you found about that trend. Continue to track
news about your topic as the semester progresses. Cite sources properly.
3. Interpretation. What does the trend mean for the state of the industry? Is it evolving? How?
What does it tell you about media in general at the current time? What might it say about our
culture or our society? Can your information help us interpret the role of the industry in our
lives? Write up your interpretation in a five-page paper. (The first page should be a synopsis
4. Evaluation. Is the trend “good” or “bad”? For the industry? society? culture? democracy? us?
What do you think might happen in the future?
5. Engagement. Are there any actions you can take (related to your trend and the industry)?
Possibilities include posting your views on social media, creating a petition, contacting
people in the industry to see what they think of your interpretation and evaluation, or going
to an industry event if any are held nearby. (This step need not be required if students are not
motivated to take action.)
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with information on how to access industry trade sources.
CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES
LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE:
launchpadworks.com
The Contemporary Journalist: Pundit or Reporter? (2010, 3:12 minutes). In this video, journalist
Clarence Page and journalism professor and author Richard Campbell discuss how today’s
new media age has blurred the distinction between a “journalism of verification” and a
“journalism of assertion” for contemporary reporters.
The Objectivity Myth (2010, 3:00 minutes). Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Clarence Page and
Onion editor Joe Randazzo explore how objectivity began in journalism and how reporter
biases may nonetheless influence news stories.
Shield Laws and Nontraditional Journalists (2010, 3:06 minutes). James Rainey and Frank
LoMonte discuss shield laws and their effect on journalism.
VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS
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Beyond the Frame: Alternative Perspectives on the War on Terrorism (2004, 126 minutes).
Fear and Favor in the Newsroom (1996, 57 minutes). The testimony of some of the nation’s
most distinguished journalists, including four Pulitzer Prize winners, shatters the myth
perpetuated by the media themselves that editorial decisions are made “without fear or
favor.” Available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTYmSe5xg2U.
Kill the Messenger (2014, 112 minutes). Based on the true story of San Jose Mercury News
reporter Gary Webb’s 1996 “Dark Alliance” investigative journalism series implicating the
CIA in the crack cocaine epidemic in the United States because of the CIA’s involvement
with Nicaraguan contras who were drug traffickers.
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news is produced and in whose interests it works. Distributed by the Media Education
Foundation, 800-897-0089; http://www.mediaed.org.
NOW with Bill Moyers (2004, December 17, 60 minutes). In his final episode, Bill Moyers
reports on the intersection of media and politics and on how Republicans have used it so
successfully. Distributed by PBS Home Video, 800-531-4727; http://www.shoppbs.org.
Pew Research Center Takes an Inside Look at Fake News (2017, 18:13 minutes). ABC News
visits Pew Research Center. Available at http://abcn.ws/2kvdXIr.
Spotlight (2015, 128 minutes). Film about the work of Boston Globe reporters to expose sexual
abuse in the Catholic Church and the subsequent cover-up of the scandal by the Archdiocese
of Boston.
Truth (2015, 125 minutes). The story of the controversial 60 Minutes report about President
George W. Bush’s military record and the embattled producer, Mary Mapes, and network
anchor, Dan Rather.
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Veronica Guerin (2003, 98 minutes). Starring Cate Blanchett, this feature film is based on the
story of a devoted Irish journalist who wrote about organized crime and was ultimately
gunned down in her car. Directed by Joel Schumacher.
WEB SITES
American Press Institute: https://www.americanpressinstitute.org
American Society of News Editors: http://asne.org
Associated Press Media Editors: http://www.apme.com
Nieman Journalism Lab: http://www.niemanlab.org/about/.
News Media Alliance: https://www.newsmediaalliance.org
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism: http://www.journalism.org
Poynter Institute Online: http://www.poynter.org
Reporters without Borders: http://www.rsf.org
Society of Professional Journalists: http://www.spj.org
Vanderbilt Television News Archive: http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu
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FURTHER READING
Agee, James, and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1939, 1969.
Campbell, Richard. “60 Minutes” and the News: A Mythology for Middle America. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1991.
Carey, James W. “The Press and the Public Discourse.” Kettering Review (Winter 1992): 9–22.
Commission on Freedom of the Press (Hutchins Commission). A Free and Responsible Press.
Gans, Herbert J. Deciding What’s News: A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News,
Newsweek, and Time. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2004.
__________. Democracy and the News. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Glasser, Theodore L., ed. The Idea of Public Journalism. New York: Guilford, 1999.
Gray, Jonathan, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson, eds. Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in
the Post-Network Era. New York: New York University Press, 2009.
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Guttenplan, D. D. American Radical: The Life and Times of I. F. Stone. New York: Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 2009.
Hallin, Daniel C. “Sound Bite News: Television Coverage of Elections, 1968–1988.” Journal of
Communication 42.2 (Spring 1992): 5–24.
Lasch, Christopher. “Journalism, Publicity and the Lost Art of Argument.” Gannett Center
Journal 4.2 (Spring 1990): 1–11.
Lippmann, Walter. Liberty and the News. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920.
MacPherson, Myra. “All Governments Lie”: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I. F. Stone.
New York: Scribner, 2006.
McChesney, Robert W., and John Nichols. The Death and Life of American Journalism: The
Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again. Philadelphia: Nation Books, 2010.
McChesney, Robert W., and Victor W Pickard. Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the
Lights: The Collapse of Journalism and What Can Be Done to Fix It. New York: New Press,
2011.
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