Journalists and the public often tend to identify objectivity in its absence. Few journalists would make a claim to total neutrality or impartiality. However, most strive toward a certain modicum of detachment from their own personal biases in their news work. In Discovering the News (1978), sociologist Michael Schudson argues that "the belief in objectivity is a faith in 'facts,' a distrust in 'values,' and a commitment to their segregation." In the United States, an objective story is typically considered to be one that steers a middle path between two poles of political rhetoric. The tenets of objectivity are violated to the degree to which the story appears to favor one pole over the other.
According to some, it refers to the prevailing ideology of newsgathering and reporting that emphasizes eyewitness accounts of events, corroboration of facts with multiple sources and "balance." It also implies an institutional role for journalists as a fourth estate, a body that exists apart from government and large interest groups.[citation needed]
Others hold it should mean reporting things without bias, as if one just came to Earth from another planet and had no preconceived opinions about our behavior or ways. This form of journalism is rarely practiced, although some argue it would lead to radical changes in reporting. (See, for example, Noam Chomsky, and The Journalist from Mars).
Still others hold it to mean that journalists should have something like a neutral point of view, not taking a stand on any issues on which there is some disagreement. Instead, journalists are simply to report "both sides" of an issue. Some even extend this standard to the journalist's personal life, prohibiting them from getting involved in political activities, which necessarily requires taking a stand. For example, Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie, Jr. has stated that the Post maintains a code of ethics that forbids reporters and editors from all "political activities" except voting. Downie himself goes even further and "decided to stop voting when [he] became the ultimate gatekeeper for what is published in the newspaper"
Advocacy journalists and civic journalists criticize this last understanding of objectivity, arguing that it does a disservice to the public because it fails to attempt to find the truth.[citation needed] They also argue that such objectivity is nearly impossible to apply in practice — newspapers inevitably take a point of view in deciding what stories to cover, which to feature on the front page, and what sources they quote. Media critics such as Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky (1988) have described a propaganda model that they use to show how in practice such a notion of objectivity ends up heavily favoring the viewpoint of government and powerful corporations.
Another example of an objection to objectivity, according to communication scholar David Mindich (Just the Facts: How "Objectivity" Came to Define American Journalism, 1998), was the coverage that the major papers (most notably the New York Times) gave to the lynching of thousands of African Americans during the 1890s. News stories of the period often described with detachment the hanging, immolation and mutilation of men, women and children by mobs. Under the regimen of objectivity, news writers often attempted to balance these accounts by recounting the alleged transgressions of the victims that provoked the lynch mobs to fury. David Mindich argues that this may have had the effect of normalizing the practice of lynching
Some argue that a more appropriate standard should be fairness and accuracy (as enshrined in the names of groups like Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). Under this standard, taking sides on an issue would be permitted as long as the side taken was accurate and the other side was given a fair chance to respond. Many professionals believe that true objectivity in journalism is not possible and reporters must seek balance in their stories (giving all sides their respective points of view), which fosters fairness.
Notable departures from objective news work include the muckraking of Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens, the New Journalism of Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson, the underground press of the 1960s, and public journalism.
The term objectivity was not applied to journalistic work until the 20th century, but it had fully emerged as a guiding principle by the 1890s. A number of communication scholars and historians agree that the idea of "objectivity" has prevailed as a dominant discourse among journalists in the United States since the appearance of modern newspapers in the Jacksonian Era of the 1830s. The rise of objectivity in journalistic method is also rooted in the scientific positivism of the 19th century, as professional journalism of the late 19th century borrowed parts of its worldview from various scientific disciplines of the day.
Some historians, like Gerald Baldasty, have observed that "objectivity" went hand in hand with the need to make profits in the newspaper business by selling advertising. Publishers did not want to offend any potential advertising customers and therefore encouraged news editors and reporters to strive to present all sides of an issue. In a similar vein, the rise of wire services and other cooperative arrangements forced journalists to produce more "middle of the road" stories that would be acceptable to newspapers of a variety of political persuasions.
Ben H. Bagdikian, especially in his book "The Media Monopoly," (1983) writes critically about the consequences of the rise of "objective journalism." (One sample can be found in an online excerpt: "Democracy and the Media"Others have proposed a political explanation for the rise of objectivity, which occurred earlier in the United States than most other countries; scholars like Richard Kaplan have argued that political parties needed to lose their hold over the loyalties of voters and the institutions of government before the press could feel free to offer a nonpartisan, "impartial" account of news events. This change occurred following the critical election of 1896 and the subsequent Progressive reform era.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Other stuffs about journalism
Public relations (PR) is the managing of internal and external communication of an organization to create and maintain a positive image. Public relations involve popularizing successes, downplaying failures, announcing changes, and many other activities.
The term public relations was used by the US president Thomas Jefferson during his address to Congress in 1807 (in this use, however, the intended meaning seems to be closer to "policy" than the implication of communications central to the contemporary definition).
One of the earliest definitions of PR was created by Edward Bernays. According to him, "Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance."(see history of public relations).
Today "Public Relations is a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organization's ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values." (Robert L. Heath, Encyclopedia of Public Relations). Essentially it is a management function that focuses on two-way communication and fostering of mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics.
There is a school of public relations that holds that it is about relationship management. Phillips, explored this concept in his paper "Towards relationship management: Public relations at the core of organisational development" paper in 2006 which lists a range of academics and practitioners who support this view.
Modern public relations evaluates a product or individual's public perception through market research and situation analysis. Once data is collected and challenges are identified, solutions are presented in a campaign strategy to meet goals and objectives. Techniques may vary from campaign to campaign but some standard tools used are; press releases, press kits, satellite feeds, pod casts, web casts, wire service distribution of information, publishing of information material and internet placement. Others include entertainment product placement (television, events, celebrity), product launches, press conferences, media seminars, producing events, speech writing, establishing partnerships and community relationships. More is often required.
Although public relations professionals are stereotypically seen as corporate servants, the reality is that almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public arena employs at least one PR manager. Large organizations may even have dedicated communications departments. Government agencies, trade associations, and other non-profit organizations commonly carry out PR activities.
Public relations is an important management function in any organization. An effective public relations plan for an organization is developed to communicate a message that coincides with organizational goals and seeks to benefit mutual interests whenever possible.
As industry consolidation becomes more prevalent, many organizations and individuals are choosing to retain "boutique" firms as opposed to so-called "global" communications firms. These smaller firms typically specialize in only a couple of practice areas and thus, often have a greater understanding of their client's business. And because they deal with certain journalists with greater frequency, specialty firms often have stronger media contacts in the areas that matter most to their clients. Added benefits of smaller, specialty firms include more personal attention and accountability, as well as cost savings. This is not to say that smaller is always better, or others but there is a growing consensus that specialty firms offer more than once considered.
Organizations that cater to specialized or "boutique" practices include specific sub genres such as "Broadcast PR", and include firms like Medialink, WestGlen, DS Simon, Kelly Fogelman Group, and Mediahitman. These groups use traditional PR techniques but devote most of their efforts towards gaining exposure via broadcast and cable television news outlets. As newspapers downsize across the country due to the impact of Internet news, television has become an important vehicle in establishing customer acquisition. Reputable firms create solid stories for broadcast which appear on talk shows like Oprah, Good Morning America or news broadcast etc. Questionable public relation firms create "spin", which is slanted stories that serve their client's interest. Recent pressure from watch groups like the Center for Media and Democracy has resulted in Federal review of "spin" practices in the US.
A number of specialties exist within the field of public relations, such as Investor Relations or Labor Relations.
Methods, tools, and tactics
Public relations and publicity are not synonymous but many PR campaign include provisions for publicity. Publicity is the spreading of information to gain public awareness for a product, person, service, cause or organization, and can be seen as a result of effective PR planning.
Audience targeting
A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target audience, and to tailor every message to appeal to that audience. It can be a general, nationwide or worldwide audience, but it is more often a segment of a population. Marketers often refer to economy-driven "demographics," such as "white males 18-49," but in public relations an audience is more fluid, being whoever someone wants to reach. For example, recent political audiences include "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads."
In addition to audiences, there are usually stakeholders, literally people who have a "stake" in a given issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. For example, a charity commissions a PR agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease. The charity and the people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money.
Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a PR effort necessitate the creation of several distinct but still complementary messages. This is not always easy to do, and sometimes – especially in politics – a spokesperson or client says something to one audience that angers another audience or group of stakeholders.
Lobby groups
Lobby groups are established to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public opinion. These groups claim to represent a particular interest. When a lobby group hides its true purpose and support base it is known as a front group.
Spin
In public relations, spin is a sometimes pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by commentators and political opponents, when they produce a counter argument or position.
The techniques of "spin" include Selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position (cherry picking), the so-called "non-denial denial," Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths, euphemisms for drawing attention away from items considered distasteful, and ambiguity in public statements. Another spin technique involves careful choice of timing in the release of certain news so it can take advantage of prominent events in the news. A famous reference to this practice occurred when British Government press officer Jo Moore used the phrase It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury, (widely paraphrased or misquoted as "It's a good day to bury bad news"), in an email sent on September 11, 2001. The furor caused when this email was reported in the press eventually caused her to resign.
Spin doctor
Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors", though probably not to their faces unless it is said facetiously. It is the PR equivalent of calling a writer a "hack". Perhaps the most well-known person in the UK often described as a "spin doctor" is Alastair Campbell, who was involved with Tony Blair's public relations between 1994 and 2003, and also played a controversial role as press relations officer to the British and Irish Lions rugby union side during their 2005 tour of New Zealand.
State-run media in many countries also engage in spin by selectively allowing news stories that are favorable to the government while censoring anything that could be considered critical. They may also use propaganda to indoctrinate or actively influence citizens' opinions.
Other
Publicity events, pseudo-events, photo ops or publicity stunts
The talk show circuit. A PR spokesperson (or his/her client) "does the circuit" by being interviewed on television and radio talk shows with audiences that the client wishes to reach.
Books and other writings
After a PR practitioner has been working in the field for a while, he or she accumulates a list of contacts in the media and elsewhere in the public affairs sphere. This "Rolodex" becomes a prized asset, and job announcements sometimes even ask for candidates with an existing Rolodex, especially those in the media relations area of PR.
Direct communication (carrying messages directly to constituents, rather than through the mass media) with, e.g., newsletters – in print and e-letters.
Collateral literature, traditionally in print and now predominantly as web sites.
Speeches to constituent groups and professional organizations; receptions; seminars, and other events; personal appearances.
The slang term for a PR practitioner or publicist is a "flak" (sometimes spelled "flack").
Defining the opponent
A tactic used in political campaigns is known as "defining one's opponent". Opponents can be candidates, organizations and other groups of people.
In the 2004 US presidential campaign, George W. Bush defined John Kerry as a "flip-flopper," among other characterizations, which were widely reported and repeated by the media, particularly the conservative media. Similarly, George H.W. Bush characterized Michael Dukakis as weak on crime (the Willie Horton ad) and as hopelessly liberal ("a card-carrying member of the ACLU"). In 1996, President Bill Clinton seized upon opponent Bob Dole's promise to take America back to a simpler time, promising in contrast to "build a bridge to the 21st century." This painted Dole as a person who was somehow opposed to progress.
In the debate over abortion, self-titled pro-choice groups, by virtue of their name, defined their opponents as "anti-choice", while self-titled pro-life groups refer to their opponents as "pro-abortion" or "anti-life".
Managing language
If a politician or organization can use an apt phrase in relation to an issue, such as in interviews or news releases, the news media will often repeat it verbatim, without questioning the aptness of the phrase. This perpetuates both the message and whatever preconceptions might underlie it. Often, something innocuous sounding can stand in for something greater; a "culture of life" sounds like general goodwill to most people, but will evoke opposition to abortion for many pro-life advocates. "States' rights" was used as code words for anti-civil rights legislation in the United States in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Front groups
Many of the techniques used by PR firms are drawn from the institutions and practices of democracy itself.[citation needed] Persuasion, advocacy, and education are instruments through which individuals and organizations are entitled to express themselves in a free society, and many public relations practitioners are engaged in practices that are widely considered as beneficial, such as publicizing scientific research, promoting charities, raising awareness of public health concerns and other issues in civil society.
One of the most controversial practices in public relations is the use of front groups—organizations that purport to serve a public cause while actually serving the interests of a client whose sponsorship may be obscured or concealed. The creation of front groups is an example of what PR practitioners sometimes term the third party technique—the art of "putting your words in someone else's mouth." PR Watch, a non-profit organization that monitors PR activities it considers to be deceptive, has published numerous examples of this technique in practice. Critics of the public relations industry, such as PR Watch, have contended that Public Relations involves a "multi-billion dollar propaganda-for-hire industry" that "concoct[s] and spin[s] the news, organize[s] phoney 'grassroots' front groups, sp[ies] on citizens, and conspire[s] with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy."Instances of the use of front groups as a PR technique have been documented in many industries. Coal mining corporations have created environmental groups that contend that increased CO2 emissions and global warming will contribute to plant growth and will be beneficial, trade groups for bars have created and funded citizens' groups to attack anti-alcohol groups, tobacco companies have created and funded citizens' groups to advocate for tort reform and to attack personal injury lawyers, while trial lawyers have created "consumer advocacy" front groups to oppose tort reform
The term public relations was used by the US president Thomas Jefferson during his address to Congress in 1807 (in this use, however, the intended meaning seems to be closer to "policy" than the implication of communications central to the contemporary definition).
One of the earliest definitions of PR was created by Edward Bernays. According to him, "Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance."(see history of public relations).
Today "Public Relations is a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organization's ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values." (Robert L. Heath, Encyclopedia of Public Relations). Essentially it is a management function that focuses on two-way communication and fostering of mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics.
There is a school of public relations that holds that it is about relationship management. Phillips, explored this concept in his paper "Towards relationship management: Public relations at the core of organisational development" paper in 2006 which lists a range of academics and practitioners who support this view.
Modern public relations evaluates a product or individual's public perception through market research and situation analysis. Once data is collected and challenges are identified, solutions are presented in a campaign strategy to meet goals and objectives. Techniques may vary from campaign to campaign but some standard tools used are; press releases, press kits, satellite feeds, pod casts, web casts, wire service distribution of information, publishing of information material and internet placement. Others include entertainment product placement (television, events, celebrity), product launches, press conferences, media seminars, producing events, speech writing, establishing partnerships and community relationships. More is often required.
Although public relations professionals are stereotypically seen as corporate servants, the reality is that almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public arena employs at least one PR manager. Large organizations may even have dedicated communications departments. Government agencies, trade associations, and other non-profit organizations commonly carry out PR activities.
Public relations is an important management function in any organization. An effective public relations plan for an organization is developed to communicate a message that coincides with organizational goals and seeks to benefit mutual interests whenever possible.
As industry consolidation becomes more prevalent, many organizations and individuals are choosing to retain "boutique" firms as opposed to so-called "global" communications firms. These smaller firms typically specialize in only a couple of practice areas and thus, often have a greater understanding of their client's business. And because they deal with certain journalists with greater frequency, specialty firms often have stronger media contacts in the areas that matter most to their clients. Added benefits of smaller, specialty firms include more personal attention and accountability, as well as cost savings. This is not to say that smaller is always better, or others but there is a growing consensus that specialty firms offer more than once considered.
Organizations that cater to specialized or "boutique" practices include specific sub genres such as "Broadcast PR", and include firms like Medialink, WestGlen, DS Simon, Kelly Fogelman Group, and Mediahitman. These groups use traditional PR techniques but devote most of their efforts towards gaining exposure via broadcast and cable television news outlets. As newspapers downsize across the country due to the impact of Internet news, television has become an important vehicle in establishing customer acquisition. Reputable firms create solid stories for broadcast which appear on talk shows like Oprah, Good Morning America or news broadcast etc. Questionable public relation firms create "spin", which is slanted stories that serve their client's interest. Recent pressure from watch groups like the Center for Media and Democracy has resulted in Federal review of "spin" practices in the US.
A number of specialties exist within the field of public relations, such as Investor Relations or Labor Relations.
Methods, tools, and tactics
Public relations and publicity are not synonymous but many PR campaign include provisions for publicity. Publicity is the spreading of information to gain public awareness for a product, person, service, cause or organization, and can be seen as a result of effective PR planning.
Audience targeting
A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target audience, and to tailor every message to appeal to that audience. It can be a general, nationwide or worldwide audience, but it is more often a segment of a population. Marketers often refer to economy-driven "demographics," such as "white males 18-49," but in public relations an audience is more fluid, being whoever someone wants to reach. For example, recent political audiences include "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads."
In addition to audiences, there are usually stakeholders, literally people who have a "stake" in a given issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. For example, a charity commissions a PR agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease. The charity and the people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money.
Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a PR effort necessitate the creation of several distinct but still complementary messages. This is not always easy to do, and sometimes – especially in politics – a spokesperson or client says something to one audience that angers another audience or group of stakeholders.
Lobby groups
Lobby groups are established to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public opinion. These groups claim to represent a particular interest. When a lobby group hides its true purpose and support base it is known as a front group.
Spin
In public relations, spin is a sometimes pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by commentators and political opponents, when they produce a counter argument or position.
The techniques of "spin" include Selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position (cherry picking), the so-called "non-denial denial," Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths, euphemisms for drawing attention away from items considered distasteful, and ambiguity in public statements. Another spin technique involves careful choice of timing in the release of certain news so it can take advantage of prominent events in the news. A famous reference to this practice occurred when British Government press officer Jo Moore used the phrase It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury, (widely paraphrased or misquoted as "It's a good day to bury bad news"), in an email sent on September 11, 2001. The furor caused when this email was reported in the press eventually caused her to resign.
Spin doctor
Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors", though probably not to their faces unless it is said facetiously. It is the PR equivalent of calling a writer a "hack". Perhaps the most well-known person in the UK often described as a "spin doctor" is Alastair Campbell, who was involved with Tony Blair's public relations between 1994 and 2003, and also played a controversial role as press relations officer to the British and Irish Lions rugby union side during their 2005 tour of New Zealand.
State-run media in many countries also engage in spin by selectively allowing news stories that are favorable to the government while censoring anything that could be considered critical. They may also use propaganda to indoctrinate or actively influence citizens' opinions.
Other
Publicity events, pseudo-events, photo ops or publicity stunts
The talk show circuit. A PR spokesperson (or his/her client) "does the circuit" by being interviewed on television and radio talk shows with audiences that the client wishes to reach.
Books and other writings
After a PR practitioner has been working in the field for a while, he or she accumulates a list of contacts in the media and elsewhere in the public affairs sphere. This "Rolodex" becomes a prized asset, and job announcements sometimes even ask for candidates with an existing Rolodex, especially those in the media relations area of PR.
Direct communication (carrying messages directly to constituents, rather than through the mass media) with, e.g., newsletters – in print and e-letters.
Collateral literature, traditionally in print and now predominantly as web sites.
Speeches to constituent groups and professional organizations; receptions; seminars, and other events; personal appearances.
The slang term for a PR practitioner or publicist is a "flak" (sometimes spelled "flack").
Defining the opponent
A tactic used in political campaigns is known as "defining one's opponent". Opponents can be candidates, organizations and other groups of people.
In the 2004 US presidential campaign, George W. Bush defined John Kerry as a "flip-flopper," among other characterizations, which were widely reported and repeated by the media, particularly the conservative media. Similarly, George H.W. Bush characterized Michael Dukakis as weak on crime (the Willie Horton ad) and as hopelessly liberal ("a card-carrying member of the ACLU"). In 1996, President Bill Clinton seized upon opponent Bob Dole's promise to take America back to a simpler time, promising in contrast to "build a bridge to the 21st century." This painted Dole as a person who was somehow opposed to progress.
In the debate over abortion, self-titled pro-choice groups, by virtue of their name, defined their opponents as "anti-choice", while self-titled pro-life groups refer to their opponents as "pro-abortion" or "anti-life".
Managing language
If a politician or organization can use an apt phrase in relation to an issue, such as in interviews or news releases, the news media will often repeat it verbatim, without questioning the aptness of the phrase. This perpetuates both the message and whatever preconceptions might underlie it. Often, something innocuous sounding can stand in for something greater; a "culture of life" sounds like general goodwill to most people, but will evoke opposition to abortion for many pro-life advocates. "States' rights" was used as code words for anti-civil rights legislation in the United States in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Front groups
Many of the techniques used by PR firms are drawn from the institutions and practices of democracy itself.[citation needed] Persuasion, advocacy, and education are instruments through which individuals and organizations are entitled to express themselves in a free society, and many public relations practitioners are engaged in practices that are widely considered as beneficial, such as publicizing scientific research, promoting charities, raising awareness of public health concerns and other issues in civil society.
One of the most controversial practices in public relations is the use of front groups—organizations that purport to serve a public cause while actually serving the interests of a client whose sponsorship may be obscured or concealed. The creation of front groups is an example of what PR practitioners sometimes term the third party technique—the art of "putting your words in someone else's mouth." PR Watch, a non-profit organization that monitors PR activities it considers to be deceptive, has published numerous examples of this technique in practice. Critics of the public relations industry, such as PR Watch, have contended that Public Relations involves a "multi-billion dollar propaganda-for-hire industry" that "concoct[s] and spin[s] the news, organize[s] phoney 'grassroots' front groups, sp[ies] on citizens, and conspire[s] with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy."Instances of the use of front groups as a PR technique have been documented in many industries. Coal mining corporations have created environmental groups that contend that increased CO2 emissions and global warming will contribute to plant growth and will be beneficial, trade groups for bars have created and funded citizens' groups to attack anti-alcohol groups, tobacco companies have created and funded citizens' groups to advocate for tort reform and to attack personal injury lawyers, while trial lawyers have created "consumer advocacy" front groups to oppose tort reform
who is a journalist then??
A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues and people.
Reporters are one type of journalist. They create reports as a profession for broadcast or publication in mass media such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, documentary film, and the Internet. Reporters find sources for their work, their reports can be either spoken or written, and they are often expected to report in the most objective and unbiased way to serve the public good. A columnist is a journalist who writes pieces that appear regularly in newspapers or magazines.
Depending on the context, the term journalist also includes various types of editors and visual journalists, such as photographers, graphic artists, and page designers.
Reporters are one type of journalist. They create reports as a profession for broadcast or publication in mass media such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, documentary film, and the Internet. Reporters find sources for their work, their reports can be either spoken or written, and they are often expected to report in the most objective and unbiased way to serve the public good. A columnist is a journalist who writes pieces that appear regularly in newspapers or magazines.
Depending on the context, the term journalist also includes various types of editors and visual journalists, such as photographers, graphic artists, and page designers.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Guest Column
Dhaka Memories
Supreeta Singh
It's been a little more than five months since I have been back from Dhaka and with the passage of time Bangladesh is ceasing to be a place, a geographical location, a physical reality which I can point in the map and exclaim “I have been here,” because I am no longer sure any more whether I have really been there. Feeling like a deserted lover, Bangladesh haunts me, creeps upon me when I least expect it, in the most unlikely of ways in the reflection of a woman's sunglass, in the tinkle of a certain laughter, in the rear view of a car, in the folds of a billowing shalwar, in the act of crossing roads, or in the columns of cigarette smoke. Abruptly out of nowhere bits and parts of experience rise in front of me, like sudden flashes of déjà vu, mingle with the sense, smell, din, traffic roar, twittering bird, thuk-thuk of keyboard keys, television volume, suffuse with the teeny-tiny particles floating in the air and play out its course. I pause, and become a mute witness, while deep, very deep in my heart something stirs. As one of the participants of an exchange program between South Asian countries, I was posted in Dhaka at Drik Bangladesh, a new media agency, for a period of ten months from November 2006 to August 2007. However, it was not a smooth sailing when the first obstacle came in the form of my parents' objection and the second, more potent, in the form of getting a long-term visa. While I knew that I could win over my parents over time, there was nothing I, or my colleagues at Drik India, could do about bureaucratic red tape. Finally, after long meetings with Bangladesh High Commission officials, I was handed a three-month multiple entry visa on 24 November. On the morning of 5 December 2006 I arrived in Bangladesh. Influenced by one-sided media reports, I carried a whole baggage of preconceived ideas about my host country. To begin with, there was the legendary poverty of Bangladesh. Then there was the horrible fundamentalist threat lurking everywhere, and thirdly, the need for caution in an extremely conservative society. I was warned, and given sermons on how to conduct myself in Bangladesh by my near and dear ones. And if truth be told, even though I was much more excited than apprehensive, I packed my bags with a year's supply of soaps, moisturizers, perfumes, clothes, books, pens and pencils, among many things, fearing it would be difficult to find anything in a poor country. I had inquired whether I would find any beauty parlor. From Zia International Airport I was first taken to Drik and then to Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography, which was to be my home for the coming months. Besides me, three more participants, Tulika from India, and Navraj and Balkrishna from Nepal were there too. Tulika and Balkrishna would be working with an NGO and Navraj and I were to work in Drik. The first few things that struck me about Dhaka, where I landed first, were the wide open roads, the innumerable universities, malls as well as hospitals, the splendid multicolored and festooned rickshaws and the traffic. Coming from Kolkata, I am used to all these in my home city, but the differences were in degree. Dhaka is a smaller city than Kolkata with almost all places connected by rickshaws. Unlike Kolkata, there seemed to be a surplus of malls and hospitals, and the traffic moved at a snail's pace. Also, the sudden appearances of fancy-looking apartments and houses, their structure and design overblown as if bursting out of the architect's drafting boards, looked far from poverty stricken. My notion of a poor country began to lose water. The ideas of an extremely rigid society also began to get jolts. There were less burqa clad women in Dhaka than in Kolkata, many young women were dressed in jeans, there were quite a few cafes, like Mango, Kozmo and Coffee World for lounging and meeting people, lovers were holding hands in the open and sitting huddled together in Dhanmondi Lake, and most of the people were friendly (which my friends informed me was because of my gender!). However, certain restrictions did apply. Wearing jeans meant a long kurta, and no short top, with a dupatta thrown on the shoulders. And one of the few frustrating things was being started at by curious eyes and gaping mouths whenever and almost wherever I walked. Men passed remarks. Although harassment of women is also a common feature in Kolkata too, the constant gaping and commenting was very unnerving in the beginning at least. In Kolkata things are comparatively better and I know how to handle them, but in Dhaka I was at a loss. After some time, however, I could ignore it easily. It helped very much that I was working in a communication project at Drik since it meant meeting a lot of photographers from not only in Bangladesh, but all over the globe. Some of my colleagues took me along with them for socializing after work, and many of them have now become my good friends too. Interestingly, many people I came across in Bangladesh had fairy tale ideas of Kolkata, that it was a magical city of art, culture, books and Sunil Gangopadhyay. Even if I sometimes detected some suppressed hostility towards India, Kolkata was seen differently. They were fascinated with the city. In the many moods of Bangladesh, I woke up to old signs in new postures. If Dhaka took me meandering to cramped by-lanes in rickshaws donning a burst of colors, bells and strings, then the backwaters of Chandpur cradled me in her formidable, resistant yet soft green rolls of wave and wisps of yellow mustard strands. If in Dhaka I felt immersed into the hectic wheel of everyday urban life between cups of tea and coffee, in Sunderbans I lapped up the luxuriousness of being in raptures at the sight of brilliant stars shining so palpably that I felt I could pick them out like pebbles and store them in my mind's vision. If in Dhaka I daily crossed the footbridge over a trickling river on my way to work, in Gaibandha I gently glided on the immense Brahmaputra, with the wind chafing my face and the buoyancy nurturing my soul. The places I frequented most were Old Dhaka and New Market. In Old Dhaka I would go to Dhakhineshwar temple, Ramkrishna temple, and visit a family I had become friends with on my way there. Tulika would sometimes accompany me to New Market and we would do window shopping, and occasionally came back with our hands full. Sometimes I would tag along with Drik personnel and we would buy all kinds of groceries, and treat ourselves to fuchkas. Food, though, was a difficult challenge. Being a vegetarian here was not easy. The very concept of a pure vegetarian was non-existent, where a “veg” soup would invariably consist of chicken! Only an eatery called Escape from Shanghai where I hung out with my friends came up with purely vegetarian sandwiches. Not even at Cooper's or King's Confectionary could I find a vegetarian patty. The only things I could eat when I was out were pizza and ice cream. And it began to show! On a personal level, looking back I remember Bangladesh mostly as a private adventure where I experienced the best feeling of all that of liberation. I had chalked out a life of my own, with my work, colleagues, friends, where I carved out an identity for myself without any prior belonging or attachment. I forged new ties and made abiding relationships that told me a lot of things about my character and nature I only hoped that I have. In the end all I can say is I had no inkling whatsoever that in the short span of ten months I would build such an enduring relationship with Bangladesh. I would never be able to do justice in writing about how I feel about the country because there is so much to her. And that says a lot. Supreeta Singh currently lives in Kolkata.
Supreeta Singh
It's been a little more than five months since I have been back from Dhaka and with the passage of time Bangladesh is ceasing to be a place, a geographical location, a physical reality which I can point in the map and exclaim “I have been here,” because I am no longer sure any more whether I have really been there. Feeling like a deserted lover, Bangladesh haunts me, creeps upon me when I least expect it, in the most unlikely of ways in the reflection of a woman's sunglass, in the tinkle of a certain laughter, in the rear view of a car, in the folds of a billowing shalwar, in the act of crossing roads, or in the columns of cigarette smoke. Abruptly out of nowhere bits and parts of experience rise in front of me, like sudden flashes of déjà vu, mingle with the sense, smell, din, traffic roar, twittering bird, thuk-thuk of keyboard keys, television volume, suffuse with the teeny-tiny particles floating in the air and play out its course. I pause, and become a mute witness, while deep, very deep in my heart something stirs. As one of the participants of an exchange program between South Asian countries, I was posted in Dhaka at Drik Bangladesh, a new media agency, for a period of ten months from November 2006 to August 2007. However, it was not a smooth sailing when the first obstacle came in the form of my parents' objection and the second, more potent, in the form of getting a long-term visa. While I knew that I could win over my parents over time, there was nothing I, or my colleagues at Drik India, could do about bureaucratic red tape. Finally, after long meetings with Bangladesh High Commission officials, I was handed a three-month multiple entry visa on 24 November. On the morning of 5 December 2006 I arrived in Bangladesh. Influenced by one-sided media reports, I carried a whole baggage of preconceived ideas about my host country. To begin with, there was the legendary poverty of Bangladesh. Then there was the horrible fundamentalist threat lurking everywhere, and thirdly, the need for caution in an extremely conservative society. I was warned, and given sermons on how to conduct myself in Bangladesh by my near and dear ones. And if truth be told, even though I was much more excited than apprehensive, I packed my bags with a year's supply of soaps, moisturizers, perfumes, clothes, books, pens and pencils, among many things, fearing it would be difficult to find anything in a poor country. I had inquired whether I would find any beauty parlor. From Zia International Airport I was first taken to Drik and then to Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography, which was to be my home for the coming months. Besides me, three more participants, Tulika from India, and Navraj and Balkrishna from Nepal were there too. Tulika and Balkrishna would be working with an NGO and Navraj and I were to work in Drik. The first few things that struck me about Dhaka, where I landed first, were the wide open roads, the innumerable universities, malls as well as hospitals, the splendid multicolored and festooned rickshaws and the traffic. Coming from Kolkata, I am used to all these in my home city, but the differences were in degree. Dhaka is a smaller city than Kolkata with almost all places connected by rickshaws. Unlike Kolkata, there seemed to be a surplus of malls and hospitals, and the traffic moved at a snail's pace. Also, the sudden appearances of fancy-looking apartments and houses, their structure and design overblown as if bursting out of the architect's drafting boards, looked far from poverty stricken. My notion of a poor country began to lose water. The ideas of an extremely rigid society also began to get jolts. There were less burqa clad women in Dhaka than in Kolkata, many young women were dressed in jeans, there were quite a few cafes, like Mango, Kozmo and Coffee World for lounging and meeting people, lovers were holding hands in the open and sitting huddled together in Dhanmondi Lake, and most of the people were friendly (which my friends informed me was because of my gender!). However, certain restrictions did apply. Wearing jeans meant a long kurta, and no short top, with a dupatta thrown on the shoulders. And one of the few frustrating things was being started at by curious eyes and gaping mouths whenever and almost wherever I walked. Men passed remarks. Although harassment of women is also a common feature in Kolkata too, the constant gaping and commenting was very unnerving in the beginning at least. In Kolkata things are comparatively better and I know how to handle them, but in Dhaka I was at a loss. After some time, however, I could ignore it easily. It helped very much that I was working in a communication project at Drik since it meant meeting a lot of photographers from not only in Bangladesh, but all over the globe. Some of my colleagues took me along with them for socializing after work, and many of them have now become my good friends too. Interestingly, many people I came across in Bangladesh had fairy tale ideas of Kolkata, that it was a magical city of art, culture, books and Sunil Gangopadhyay. Even if I sometimes detected some suppressed hostility towards India, Kolkata was seen differently. They were fascinated with the city. In the many moods of Bangladesh, I woke up to old signs in new postures. If Dhaka took me meandering to cramped by-lanes in rickshaws donning a burst of colors, bells and strings, then the backwaters of Chandpur cradled me in her formidable, resistant yet soft green rolls of wave and wisps of yellow mustard strands. If in Dhaka I felt immersed into the hectic wheel of everyday urban life between cups of tea and coffee, in Sunderbans I lapped up the luxuriousness of being in raptures at the sight of brilliant stars shining so palpably that I felt I could pick them out like pebbles and store them in my mind's vision. If in Dhaka I daily crossed the footbridge over a trickling river on my way to work, in Gaibandha I gently glided on the immense Brahmaputra, with the wind chafing my face and the buoyancy nurturing my soul. The places I frequented most were Old Dhaka and New Market. In Old Dhaka I would go to Dhakhineshwar temple, Ramkrishna temple, and visit a family I had become friends with on my way there. Tulika would sometimes accompany me to New Market and we would do window shopping, and occasionally came back with our hands full. Sometimes I would tag along with Drik personnel and we would buy all kinds of groceries, and treat ourselves to fuchkas. Food, though, was a difficult challenge. Being a vegetarian here was not easy. The very concept of a pure vegetarian was non-existent, where a “veg” soup would invariably consist of chicken! Only an eatery called Escape from Shanghai where I hung out with my friends came up with purely vegetarian sandwiches. Not even at Cooper's or King's Confectionary could I find a vegetarian patty. The only things I could eat when I was out were pizza and ice cream. And it began to show! On a personal level, looking back I remember Bangladesh mostly as a private adventure where I experienced the best feeling of all that of liberation. I had chalked out a life of my own, with my work, colleagues, friends, where I carved out an identity for myself without any prior belonging or attachment. I forged new ties and made abiding relationships that told me a lot of things about my character and nature I only hoped that I have. In the end all I can say is I had no inkling whatsoever that in the short span of ten months I would build such an enduring relationship with Bangladesh. I would never be able to do justice in writing about how I feel about the country because there is so much to her. And that says a lot. Supreeta Singh currently lives in Kolkata.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Adding to the distinction between journalists and anchors and reporters are "human interest", personality, or celebrity news stories, which typically are directed by marketing departments based on a demographic appeal and audience share. It's commonly accepted that anchors are also media personalities, who may even be considered celebrities. The very nature of corporate network news requires its media personalities to use their public appeal to promote the networks investments, just as network broadcasts themselves (morning shows, TV news magazines) schedule self-promotional stories, in addition to advertising. Critics might go so far as to view anchors as a weak link in the news trade, representing the misplacement of both the credit and the accountability of a news journalism organization—hence adding to a perceived erosion of journalistic standards throughout the news business. (See yellow journalism.)
Most infotainment, especially television programs on the networks or broadcast cable, only contain general factual information on the subjects they cover, and should not be considered as formal learning or instruction. For example you may learn that a motorcycle contains an engine, or how fast one can travel, on American Chopper, but you will not learn the inner-workings of the engine, the physics and chemistry involved when it is running, or how to customize a motorcycle on your own using schematics.
[edit] Hard news, soft news and infotainment
Hard news and soft news are terms for describing a relative difference between poles in a spectrum within the broader news trade—with "hard" journalism at the professional end and "soft" infotainment at the other. Because the term "news" is quite broad, the terms "hard" and "soft" denote both a difference in respective standards for news value, as well as for standards of conduct, relative to the professional ideals of journalistic integrity.
The idea of hard news embodies two orthogonal concepts:
Seriousness: Politics, economics, crime, war, and disasters are considered serious topics, as are certain aspects of law, science, and technology.
Timeliness: Stories that cover current events—the progress of a war, the results of a vote, the breaking out of a fire, a significant public statement, the freeing of a prisoner, an economic report of note.
The logical opposite, soft news is sometimes referred to in a derogatory fashion as infotainment. Defining features catching the most criticism include:
The least serious subjects: Arts and entertainment, sports, lifestyles, "human interest", and celebrities.
Not timely: There is no precipitating event triggering the story, other than a reporter's curiosity.
Timely events happen in less serious subjects—sporting matches, celebrity misadventures, movie releases, art exhibits, and so on.
There may also be serious reports which are not event-driven—coverage of important social, economic, legal, or technological trends; investigative reports which uncover ongoing corruption, waste, or immorality; or discussion of unsettled political issues without any special reason. Anniversaries, holidays, the end of a year or season, or the end of the first 100 days of an administration, can make some stories time-sensitive, but provide more of an opportunity for reflection and analysis than any actual "news" to report.
The spectrum of "seriousness" and "importance" is not well-defined, and different media organizations make different tradeoffs. "News you can use", a common marketing phrase highlighting a specific genre of journalism, spans the gray area. Gardening tips and hobby "news" pretty clearly fall at the entertainment end. Warnings about imminent natural disasters or acute domestic security threats (such as air raids or terrorist attacks) are considered so important that broadcast media (even non-news channels) usually interrupt other programming to announce them. A medical story about a new treatment for breast cancer, or a report about local ground water pollution might fall in between. So might book reviews, or coverage of religion. On the other hand, people frequently find hobbies and entertainment to be worthwhile parts of their lives and so "importance" on a personal level is rather subjective.
[edit] Concerns and criticisms
The label "infotainment" is emblematic of concern and criticism that journalism is devolving from a medium which conveys serious information about issues that affect the public interest, into a form of entertainment which happens to have fresh "facts" in the mix. The criteria by which reporters and editors judge news value - whether something is worth putting on the front page, the bottom of the hour, or is worth commenting on at all - is an integral part of this debate.
Some blame the media for this perceived phenomenon, for failing to live up to ideals of civic journalistic responsibility. Others blame the commercial nature of many media organizations, the need for higher ratings, combined with a preference among the public for feel-good content and "unimportant" topics (like celebrity gossip or sports).
A specialization process has also occurred, beginning with the rise of mass market special-interest magazines, moving into broadcast with the advent of cable television, and continuing into new media, like the Internet and satellite radio. An increasing number of media outlets are available to the public that focus exclusively on one topic such as current events, home improvement, history, movies, women and Christianity. This means that consumers have more choice over whether they receive a general feed of the most "important" information of the day, or whether they get a highly customized presentation that contains only one type of content, which need not be newsworthy, and which need not come from a neutral point of view. Some publications and channels have found a sizable audience in the "niche" of featuring hard news. But controversy continues over whether the size of that audience is too small, and whether those outlets are diluting content with too much "soft" news.
[edit] What counts as journalism?
Some journalists define "journalism" to include only report on "serious" subjects, where common journalistic standards are upheld by the reporter. The larger "news business" or news trade encompasses everything from professional journalism to so-called "soft news" and "infotainment", and support activities such as marketing, advertising sales, finance and delivery. Professional journalism is supposed to place more emphasis on research, fact-checking, and the public interest than its "non-journalistic" counterparts.
[edit] Entertainment and news crossovers
Infotainers are entertainers in infotainment media, such as news anchors or "news personalities" who cross the line between journalism (quasi-journalism) and entertainment within the broader news trade. Notable examples in the U.S. media are Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Bill O'Reilly, Maury Povich, Deborah Norville, and Geraldo Rivera among others.
Barbara Walters, though not the first to cross the line between news and personality stories, is for many the quintessential news-media icon. Her career dates back to the 50s, and her current prominence at ABC is largely celebrity interviews, with a long running co-anchorship on 20/20 with Hugh Downs and, later, John Stossel until 2004 and her overlapping morning infotainment show The View.
When Geraldo Rivera became the host of his own news-oriented talk show on CNBC, others within the NBC organization voiced their protest, including Tom Brokaw who was reported to have threatened to quit. Rivera had a notorious history as a "sleaze reporter" and daytime talk show host, where he and one or two others were representative of "trash TV"; television seen to have little social value or redeeming intelligence, but still popular with viewers.
A particular example is of the career of Andrea Thompson, formerly an actress on Babylon 5 and NYPD Blue, who quit acting to become a reporter for KRQE News in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was later hired by CNN Headline News. She later quit CNN, citing a desire to spend more time with her son. Some[attribution needed] speculated that others at CNN resented the presence of the former actress, and had some degree of influence on her decision to quit.
[edit] Infomercials
The infotainment concept is taken to its logical extreme by the increasingly ubiquitous "infomercial", which is blatant, thinly disguised advertising presented as though it were infotainment. This is not the same thing as Home Shopping, which doesn't attempt to disguise its real purpose. This technique can be quite insidious, depending on the skill of the presenter, and his/her ability to seamlessly transfer focus from the lead topic to the advertising.
The terms "Infotainment" and "Infotainer" were first used in September 1980 at the Joint Conference of Aslib, the Institute of Information Scientists and the Library Association in Sheffield, UK. The Infotainers were a group of British information scientists who put on comedy shows at their professional conferences between 1980 and 1990.
Discussion of "Soft Journalism" Is First in Spring Ethics Series
The Center for Applied and Professional Ethics (CAPE) at California State University, Chico will hold the first in a spring series of three forums on ethics and the media on Tuesday, March 6. "That's Infotainment! Is Soft Journalism Undermining Journalistic Integrity?" is free and open to the public. It will be held in Holt 170 at 7:30 p.m.
Marcel Daguerre and Tony Graybosch, both members of the Department of Philosophy, and Morris Brown Jr., Department of Journalism, will constitute a panel discussing whether a news organization can serve both the market and the public well.
"Increased competition for viewers has caused news organizations to pursue stories about crime, celebrities and lifestyles at the expense of public affairs reporting on breaking events, major political figures and other stories that are in the public interest," said Marcel Daguerre, director of CAPE.
The panel will explore whether this has served to diminish journalistic credibility and whether a market-driven news industry enhances or diminishes the public's interest in the news. "As crime rates fell throughout the 1990s," Daguerre noted, "polls consistently revealed that people believed crime was getting worse. This coincided with an increase in crime stories in the media. How does the change in emphasis from hard to soft news stories affect public discourse and political decision-making?"
Two other forums during the spring will address protecting confidential sources and media monopolies. A fourth forum, on March 28, is not part of the journalism ethics theme, but features a noted economist on the free market. The public is invited to attend this series of free forums.
The Free Market: Liberated but Not WildWednesday, March 28, 7:30 p.m., PAC 134Fred Foldvary, Department of Economics, Santa Clara UniversityDoes the free market recognize ethics? Fred Foldvary not only resoundingly answers "yes," but also contends that libertarianism is the most ethically sound of all the available moral theories. In his defense of libertarianism, Dr. Foldvary argues that the concept of voluntary human action implies an ethic that determines which acts are voluntary, and so within the market and therefore permitted, and which acts are involuntary, and so outside the market and therefore prohibited. But the same ethical rules that determine the meaning of the market also provide ethical guidance for governance and policy. Thus, he concludes, ethics both determine and require a free market.
Foldvary received his BA in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and his MA and PhD in economics from George Mason University. He has taught economics at the Latvian University of Agriculture, Virginia Tech, John F. Kennedy University, California State University at Hayward, the University of California at Berkeley Extension, and Santa Clara University. Foldvary is the author of "The Soul of Liberty," "Public Goods and Private Communities," and "Dictionary of Free Market Economics."
Protecting Confidential Sources: How Free Should a Free Press Be?Wednesday, April 25, 7:30 p.m., PAC 134Aaron Quinn, Department of JournalismTim Crews, Publisher, Sacramento Valley MirrorDavid Little, Editor, Chico Enterprise Record
From Watergate and the Pentagon Papers to Iran-Contra and Abu Ghraib, journalists have used information from confidential sources to reveal information of great public import. Many have used such sources to expose unethical behavior by corporations, government and even professional athletes. As a consequence, some journalists are so committed to protecting their sources that they are willing to spend time in jail to do so. But some argue there should be strong limits on the use and protection of confidential sources.
Media Monopolies: Are You Getting All the News That's Fit to Print?Wednesday, May 2, 7:30 p.m., PAC 134Matt Blake, Department of JournalismRon Hirschbein, Department of Philosophy Evan Tuchinsky, Editor, Chico News and Review
By some accounts, six companies now control 90 percent of America's news diet. Is this a problem? What are the effects of the concentration of media ownership? How can choices made at the top levels of media conglomerates affect the news we see and hear, and the ways we see and hear it? Does the existence of the Internet and the emergence of citizen journalists online mitigate the concerns about media consolidation among traditional news sources? Two years after the invasion of Iraq, 56 percent of Americans still believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the war. Sixty percent believed that Iraq had provided assistance to al-Qaida. Both claims had been long discredited. Did a lack of news media alternatives play a role in the persistence of both beliefs?
The Center for Applied and Professional Ethics (CAPE) promotes ethical reflection about issues of concern within and outside the University.
Most infotainment, especially television programs on the networks or broadcast cable, only contain general factual information on the subjects they cover, and should not be considered as formal learning or instruction. For example you may learn that a motorcycle contains an engine, or how fast one can travel, on American Chopper, but you will not learn the inner-workings of the engine, the physics and chemistry involved when it is running, or how to customize a motorcycle on your own using schematics.
[edit] Hard news, soft news and infotainment
Hard news and soft news are terms for describing a relative difference between poles in a spectrum within the broader news trade—with "hard" journalism at the professional end and "soft" infotainment at the other. Because the term "news" is quite broad, the terms "hard" and "soft" denote both a difference in respective standards for news value, as well as for standards of conduct, relative to the professional ideals of journalistic integrity.
The idea of hard news embodies two orthogonal concepts:
Seriousness: Politics, economics, crime, war, and disasters are considered serious topics, as are certain aspects of law, science, and technology.
Timeliness: Stories that cover current events—the progress of a war, the results of a vote, the breaking out of a fire, a significant public statement, the freeing of a prisoner, an economic report of note.
The logical opposite, soft news is sometimes referred to in a derogatory fashion as infotainment. Defining features catching the most criticism include:
The least serious subjects: Arts and entertainment, sports, lifestyles, "human interest", and celebrities.
Not timely: There is no precipitating event triggering the story, other than a reporter's curiosity.
Timely events happen in less serious subjects—sporting matches, celebrity misadventures, movie releases, art exhibits, and so on.
There may also be serious reports which are not event-driven—coverage of important social, economic, legal, or technological trends; investigative reports which uncover ongoing corruption, waste, or immorality; or discussion of unsettled political issues without any special reason. Anniversaries, holidays, the end of a year or season, or the end of the first 100 days of an administration, can make some stories time-sensitive, but provide more of an opportunity for reflection and analysis than any actual "news" to report.
The spectrum of "seriousness" and "importance" is not well-defined, and different media organizations make different tradeoffs. "News you can use", a common marketing phrase highlighting a specific genre of journalism, spans the gray area. Gardening tips and hobby "news" pretty clearly fall at the entertainment end. Warnings about imminent natural disasters or acute domestic security threats (such as air raids or terrorist attacks) are considered so important that broadcast media (even non-news channels) usually interrupt other programming to announce them. A medical story about a new treatment for breast cancer, or a report about local ground water pollution might fall in between. So might book reviews, or coverage of religion. On the other hand, people frequently find hobbies and entertainment to be worthwhile parts of their lives and so "importance" on a personal level is rather subjective.
[edit] Concerns and criticisms
The label "infotainment" is emblematic of concern and criticism that journalism is devolving from a medium which conveys serious information about issues that affect the public interest, into a form of entertainment which happens to have fresh "facts" in the mix. The criteria by which reporters and editors judge news value - whether something is worth putting on the front page, the bottom of the hour, or is worth commenting on at all - is an integral part of this debate.
Some blame the media for this perceived phenomenon, for failing to live up to ideals of civic journalistic responsibility. Others blame the commercial nature of many media organizations, the need for higher ratings, combined with a preference among the public for feel-good content and "unimportant" topics (like celebrity gossip or sports).
A specialization process has also occurred, beginning with the rise of mass market special-interest magazines, moving into broadcast with the advent of cable television, and continuing into new media, like the Internet and satellite radio. An increasing number of media outlets are available to the public that focus exclusively on one topic such as current events, home improvement, history, movies, women and Christianity. This means that consumers have more choice over whether they receive a general feed of the most "important" information of the day, or whether they get a highly customized presentation that contains only one type of content, which need not be newsworthy, and which need not come from a neutral point of view. Some publications and channels have found a sizable audience in the "niche" of featuring hard news. But controversy continues over whether the size of that audience is too small, and whether those outlets are diluting content with too much "soft" news.
[edit] What counts as journalism?
Some journalists define "journalism" to include only report on "serious" subjects, where common journalistic standards are upheld by the reporter. The larger "news business" or news trade encompasses everything from professional journalism to so-called "soft news" and "infotainment", and support activities such as marketing, advertising sales, finance and delivery. Professional journalism is supposed to place more emphasis on research, fact-checking, and the public interest than its "non-journalistic" counterparts.
[edit] Entertainment and news crossovers
Infotainers are entertainers in infotainment media, such as news anchors or "news personalities" who cross the line between journalism (quasi-journalism) and entertainment within the broader news trade. Notable examples in the U.S. media are Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Bill O'Reilly, Maury Povich, Deborah Norville, and Geraldo Rivera among others.
Barbara Walters, though not the first to cross the line between news and personality stories, is for many the quintessential news-media icon. Her career dates back to the 50s, and her current prominence at ABC is largely celebrity interviews, with a long running co-anchorship on 20/20 with Hugh Downs and, later, John Stossel until 2004 and her overlapping morning infotainment show The View.
When Geraldo Rivera became the host of his own news-oriented talk show on CNBC, others within the NBC organization voiced their protest, including Tom Brokaw who was reported to have threatened to quit. Rivera had a notorious history as a "sleaze reporter" and daytime talk show host, where he and one or two others were representative of "trash TV"; television seen to have little social value or redeeming intelligence, but still popular with viewers.
A particular example is of the career of Andrea Thompson, formerly an actress on Babylon 5 and NYPD Blue, who quit acting to become a reporter for KRQE News in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was later hired by CNN Headline News. She later quit CNN, citing a desire to spend more time with her son. Some[attribution needed] speculated that others at CNN resented the presence of the former actress, and had some degree of influence on her decision to quit.
[edit] Infomercials
The infotainment concept is taken to its logical extreme by the increasingly ubiquitous "infomercial", which is blatant, thinly disguised advertising presented as though it were infotainment. This is not the same thing as Home Shopping, which doesn't attempt to disguise its real purpose. This technique can be quite insidious, depending on the skill of the presenter, and his/her ability to seamlessly transfer focus from the lead topic to the advertising.
The terms "Infotainment" and "Infotainer" were first used in September 1980 at the Joint Conference of Aslib, the Institute of Information Scientists and the Library Association in Sheffield, UK. The Infotainers were a group of British information scientists who put on comedy shows at their professional conferences between 1980 and 1990.
Discussion of "Soft Journalism" Is First in Spring Ethics Series
The Center for Applied and Professional Ethics (CAPE) at California State University, Chico will hold the first in a spring series of three forums on ethics and the media on Tuesday, March 6. "That's Infotainment! Is Soft Journalism Undermining Journalistic Integrity?" is free and open to the public. It will be held in Holt 170 at 7:30 p.m.
Marcel Daguerre and Tony Graybosch, both members of the Department of Philosophy, and Morris Brown Jr., Department of Journalism, will constitute a panel discussing whether a news organization can serve both the market and the public well.
"Increased competition for viewers has caused news organizations to pursue stories about crime, celebrities and lifestyles at the expense of public affairs reporting on breaking events, major political figures and other stories that are in the public interest," said Marcel Daguerre, director of CAPE.
The panel will explore whether this has served to diminish journalistic credibility and whether a market-driven news industry enhances or diminishes the public's interest in the news. "As crime rates fell throughout the 1990s," Daguerre noted, "polls consistently revealed that people believed crime was getting worse. This coincided with an increase in crime stories in the media. How does the change in emphasis from hard to soft news stories affect public discourse and political decision-making?"
Two other forums during the spring will address protecting confidential sources and media monopolies. A fourth forum, on March 28, is not part of the journalism ethics theme, but features a noted economist on the free market. The public is invited to attend this series of free forums.
The Free Market: Liberated but Not WildWednesday, March 28, 7:30 p.m., PAC 134Fred Foldvary, Department of Economics, Santa Clara UniversityDoes the free market recognize ethics? Fred Foldvary not only resoundingly answers "yes," but also contends that libertarianism is the most ethically sound of all the available moral theories. In his defense of libertarianism, Dr. Foldvary argues that the concept of voluntary human action implies an ethic that determines which acts are voluntary, and so within the market and therefore permitted, and which acts are involuntary, and so outside the market and therefore prohibited. But the same ethical rules that determine the meaning of the market also provide ethical guidance for governance and policy. Thus, he concludes, ethics both determine and require a free market.
Foldvary received his BA in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and his MA and PhD in economics from George Mason University. He has taught economics at the Latvian University of Agriculture, Virginia Tech, John F. Kennedy University, California State University at Hayward, the University of California at Berkeley Extension, and Santa Clara University. Foldvary is the author of "The Soul of Liberty," "Public Goods and Private Communities," and "Dictionary of Free Market Economics."
Protecting Confidential Sources: How Free Should a Free Press Be?Wednesday, April 25, 7:30 p.m., PAC 134Aaron Quinn, Department of JournalismTim Crews, Publisher, Sacramento Valley MirrorDavid Little, Editor, Chico Enterprise Record
From Watergate and the Pentagon Papers to Iran-Contra and Abu Ghraib, journalists have used information from confidential sources to reveal information of great public import. Many have used such sources to expose unethical behavior by corporations, government and even professional athletes. As a consequence, some journalists are so committed to protecting their sources that they are willing to spend time in jail to do so. But some argue there should be strong limits on the use and protection of confidential sources.
Media Monopolies: Are You Getting All the News That's Fit to Print?Wednesday, May 2, 7:30 p.m., PAC 134Matt Blake, Department of JournalismRon Hirschbein, Department of Philosophy Evan Tuchinsky, Editor, Chico News and Review
By some accounts, six companies now control 90 percent of America's news diet. Is this a problem? What are the effects of the concentration of media ownership? How can choices made at the top levels of media conglomerates affect the news we see and hear, and the ways we see and hear it? Does the existence of the Internet and the emergence of citizen journalists online mitigate the concerns about media consolidation among traditional news sources? Two years after the invasion of Iraq, 56 percent of Americans still believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the war. Sixty percent believed that Iraq had provided assistance to al-Qaida. Both claims had been long discredited. Did a lack of news media alternatives play a role in the persistence of both beliefs?
The Center for Applied and Professional Ethics (CAPE) promotes ethical reflection about issues of concern within and outside the University.
The Art Of Writing News
News writing is a key skill for journalists, but it helps with other types of writing as well. That’s because news writing is about telling a story quickly and concisely. Anyone can learn to do this, with a bit of help. Here’s how you can write the news and get your story across. The technique also works well for writing press releases.
News Writing Structure
News writing has its own structure. It’s called the inverted pyramid. This upside down triangle serves as a guide for how you include information in the story. Using the inverted pyramid means starting with the most important information, then putting the next most important info and so on. It can also serve as a guide for writing each paragraph in the story. Start with the most important point, then the next most important and so on.
The inverted pyramid has an interesting history. Before digital printing and desktop publishing, news was laid out manually. If a late breaking story came in and the editor needed to make room, then the editor would order another story to be cut. Having the most important information at the top meant that readers always got the essential parts of the story.
Writing The Facts
Another way to think of the inverted pyramid is that you start with the facts and then add the background. So, how do you know what background to add? It’s easy. You can use the 6Ws. Strictly speaking, there aren’t six Ws, there are actually 5Ws and 1H, but the formula seems to work. That mnemonic reminds us to include the who, where, what, why, when and how of a story.
Why is this? Think about how you tell a story to your friends. You might say: ‘You’ll never believe WHO I just saw!’ Then you might go on to tell the story of where the person was, what they were doing, and why it’s scandalous. We all want to hear about people – and that’s what news is about? Look at any news story and you will see that all of this information is in the first two paragraphs. Anything after that is background to the story.
Let me give another example. If I were writing about a car crash, I would say who was involved, when and where it happened, why it happened and how it happened. Those would be the main points and my story might look something like this:
Two people sustained serious injuries in a car crash at Hill Road at 6am today. The collision happened when Mr. Smith swerved into the opposite lane to avoid a dog in the road. Ms Jones, who was in that lane, was unable to stop in time. Both Mr. Smith and Ms Jones have been taken to the local hospital.
This is not a perfect example, but you get the idea – and now you can write the news too.
News writing is a key skill for journalists, but it helps with other types of writing as well. That’s because news writing is about telling a story quickly and concisely. Anyone can learn to do this, with a bit of help. Here’s how you can write the news and get your story across. The technique also works well for writing press releases.
News Writing Structure
News writing has its own structure. It’s called the inverted pyramid. This upside down triangle serves as a guide for how you include information in the story. Using the inverted pyramid means starting with the most important information, then putting the next most important info and so on. It can also serve as a guide for writing each paragraph in the story. Start with the most important point, then the next most important and so on.
The inverted pyramid has an interesting history. Before digital printing and desktop publishing, news was laid out manually. If a late breaking story came in and the editor needed to make room, then the editor would order another story to be cut. Having the most important information at the top meant that readers always got the essential parts of the story.
Writing The Facts
Another way to think of the inverted pyramid is that you start with the facts and then add the background. So, how do you know what background to add? It’s easy. You can use the 6Ws. Strictly speaking, there aren’t six Ws, there are actually 5Ws and 1H, but the formula seems to work. That mnemonic reminds us to include the who, where, what, why, when and how of a story.
Why is this? Think about how you tell a story to your friends. You might say: ‘You’ll never believe WHO I just saw!’ Then you might go on to tell the story of where the person was, what they were doing, and why it’s scandalous. We all want to hear about people – and that’s what news is about? Look at any news story and you will see that all of this information is in the first two paragraphs. Anything after that is background to the story.
Let me give another example. If I were writing about a car crash, I would say who was involved, when and where it happened, why it happened and how it happened. Those would be the main points and my story might look something like this:
Two people sustained serious injuries in a car crash at Hill Road at 6am today. The collision happened when Mr. Smith swerved into the opposite lane to avoid a dog in the road. Ms Jones, who was in that lane, was unable to stop in time. Both Mr. Smith and Ms Jones have been taken to the local hospital.
This is not a perfect example, but you get the idea – and now you can write the news too.
How to Write a News Story
Here's something very few people realise: Writing news stories isn't particularly difficult. It does take practice and not everyone will be an expert but if you follow the guidelines below you should be able to create effective news items without too much stress.
The Five "W"s and the "H"
This is the crux of all news - you need to know five things:
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Any good news story provides answers to each of these questions. You must drill these into your brain and they must become second nature.
For example, if you wish to cover a story about a local sports team entering a competition you will need to answer these questions:
Who is the team? Who is the coach? Who are the prominent players? Who are the supporters?
What sport do they play? What is the competition?
Where is the competition? Where is the team normally based?
When is the competition? How long have they been preparing? Are there any other important time factors?
Why are they entering this particular competition? If it's relevant, why does the team exist at all?
How are they going to enter the competition? Do they need to fundraise? How much training and preparation is required? What will they need to do to win?
The Inverted Pyramid
This refers to the style of journalism which places the most important facts at the beginning and works "down" from there. Ideally, the first paragraph should contain enough information to give the reader a good overview of the entire story. The rest of the article explains and expands on the beginning.
A good approach is to assume that the story might be cut off at any point due to space limitations. Does the story work if the editor only decides to include the first two paragraphs? If not, re-arrange it so that it does.
The same principle can apply to any type of medium.
More Tips
It's About PeopleNews stories are all about how people are affected. In your sports story, you might spend some time focusing on one or more individuals, or on how the team morale is doing, or how the supporters are feeling.
Have an AngleMost stories can be presented using a particular angle or "slant". This is a standard technique and isn't necessarily bad - it can help make the purpose of the story clear and give it focus. Examples of angles you could use for your sports story:"Team Tackles National Competition""Big Ask for First-Year Coach""Local Team in Need of Funds"
Keep it ObjectiveYou are completely impartial. If there is more than one side to the story, cover them all. Don't use "I" and "me" unless you are quoting someone. Speaking of quoting...
Quote PeopleFor example: "We're really excited about this competition," says coach Bob Dobalina, "It's the highest target we've ever set ourselves".
Don't Get FloweryKeep your sentences and paragraphs short. Don't use lots of heavily descriptive language. When you've finished, go through the entire story and try to remove any words which aren't completely necessary.
Here's something very few people realise: Writing news stories isn't particularly difficult. It does take practice and not everyone will be an expert but if you follow the guidelines below you should be able to create effective news items without too much stress.
The Five "W"s and the "H"
This is the crux of all news - you need to know five things:
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Any good news story provides answers to each of these questions. You must drill these into your brain and they must become second nature.
For example, if you wish to cover a story about a local sports team entering a competition you will need to answer these questions:
Who is the team? Who is the coach? Who are the prominent players? Who are the supporters?
What sport do they play? What is the competition?
Where is the competition? Where is the team normally based?
When is the competition? How long have they been preparing? Are there any other important time factors?
Why are they entering this particular competition? If it's relevant, why does the team exist at all?
How are they going to enter the competition? Do they need to fundraise? How much training and preparation is required? What will they need to do to win?
The Inverted Pyramid
This refers to the style of journalism which places the most important facts at the beginning and works "down" from there. Ideally, the first paragraph should contain enough information to give the reader a good overview of the entire story. The rest of the article explains and expands on the beginning.
A good approach is to assume that the story might be cut off at any point due to space limitations. Does the story work if the editor only decides to include the first two paragraphs? If not, re-arrange it so that it does.
The same principle can apply to any type of medium.
More Tips
It's About PeopleNews stories are all about how people are affected. In your sports story, you might spend some time focusing on one or more individuals, or on how the team morale is doing, or how the supporters are feeling.
Have an AngleMost stories can be presented using a particular angle or "slant". This is a standard technique and isn't necessarily bad - it can help make the purpose of the story clear and give it focus. Examples of angles you could use for your sports story:"Team Tackles National Competition""Big Ask for First-Year Coach""Local Team in Need of Funds"
Keep it ObjectiveYou are completely impartial. If there is more than one side to the story, cover them all. Don't use "I" and "me" unless you are quoting someone. Speaking of quoting...
Quote PeopleFor example: "We're really excited about this competition," says coach Bob Dobalina, "It's the highest target we've ever set ourselves".
Don't Get FloweryKeep your sentences and paragraphs short. Don't use lots of heavily descriptive language. When you've finished, go through the entire story and try to remove any words which aren't completely necessary.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Journalism ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and of good practice as applicable to the specific challenges faced by professional journalists. Historically and currently, this subset of media ethics is widely known to journalists as their professional "code of ethics" or the "canons of journalism." The basic codes and canons commonly appear in statements drafted by both professional journalism associations and individual print, broadcast, and online news organizations.
“
Every news organization has only its credibility and reputation to rely on.
”
-Tony Burman, editor-in-chief of CBC News[1]
While various existing codes have some differences, most share common elements including the principles of — truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability — as these apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent reportage to the public.
Like many broader ethical systems, journalism ethics include the principle of "limitation of harm." This often involves the withholding of certain details from reports such as the names of minor children, crime victims' names or information not materially related to particular news reports release of which might, for example, harm someone's reputation.
Evolution and purpose of codes of journalism
The principles of Journalistic codes of ethics are designed as guides through numerous difficulties, such as conflicts of interest, to assist journalists in dealing with ethical dilemmas. The codes and canons provide journalists a framework for self-monitoring and self-correction as they pursue professional assignments.
[edit] Codes of practice
While journalists in the United States and European countries have led in formulation and adoption of these standards, such codes can be found in news reporting organizations in most countries with freedom of the press. The written codes and practical standards vary somewhat from country to country and organization to organization, but there is a substantial overlap among mainstream publications and societies.
One of the leading voices in the U.S. on the subject of Journalistic Standards and Ethics is the Society of Professional Journalists. The Preamble to its Code of Ethics states:
...public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility.
The Radio-Television News Directors Association, an organization exclusively centered on electronic journalism, maintains a code of ethics centering on -- public trust, truthfulness, fairness, integrity, independence and accountability.[2] RTDNA publishes a pocket guide to these standards.[3]
Examples of journalistic codes of ethics held by international news gathering organizations may be found as follows:
British Broadcasting Corporation: Editorial Guidelines.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Journalistic Standards and Practices
Al Jazeera: Code of Ethics.
Code of Journalists of the Republic of Slovenia
[edit] Common elements
The primary themes common to most codes of journalistic standards and ethics are the following.
[edit] Objectivity
Unequivocal separation between news and opinion. In-house editorials and opinion (Op-Ed) pieces are clearly separated from news pieces. News reporters and editorial staff are distinct.
Unequivocal separation between advertisements and news. All advertisements must be clearly identifiable as such.
Reporter must avoid conflicts of interest — incentives to report a story with a given slant. This includes not taking bribes and not reporting on stories that affect the reporter's personal, economic or political interests. See envelope journalism.
Competing points of view are balanced and fairly characterized.
Persons who are the subject of adverse news stories are allowed a reasonable opportunity to respond to the adverse information before the story is published or broadcast.
Interference with reporting by any entity, including censorship, must be disclosed.
[edit] Sources
Confidentiality of anonymous sources (see news source).
Avoidance of anonymous sources if possible.
Accurate attribution of statements made by individuals or other news media.
Pictures, sound, and quotations must not be presented in a misleading context (or lack thereof). Simulations, reenactments, alterations, and artistic imaginings must be clearly labelled as such, if not avoided entirely.
Plagiarism is strongly stigmatized and in many cases illegal (see copyright).
[edit] Accuracy and standards for factual reporting
Reporters are expected to be as accurate as possible given the time allotted to story preparation and the space available, and to seek reliable sources.
Events with a single eyewitness are reported with attribution. Events with two or more independent eyewitnesses may be reported as fact. Controversial facts are reported with attribution.
Independent fact-checking by another employee of the publisher is desirable
Corrections are published when errors are discovered
Defendants at trial are treated only as having "allegedly" committed crimes, until conviction, when their crimes are generally reported as fact (unless, that is, there is serious controversy about wrongful conviction).
Opinion surveys and statistical information deserve special treatment to communicate in precise terms any conclusions, to contextualize the results, and to specify accuracy, including estimated error and methodological criticism or flaws.
[edit] Slander and libel considerations
Reporting the truth is never libel, which makes accuracy and attribution very important.
Private persons have privacy rights that must be balanced against the public interest in reporting information about them. Public figures have fewer privacy rights.
Publishers vigorously defend libel lawsuits filed against their reporters.
[edit] Harm limitation principle
During the normal course of an assignment a reporter might go about — gathering facts and details, conducting interviews, doing research, background checks, taking photos, video taping, recording sound -- should he or she report everything learned? If so, how should this be done? The principle of limitation of harm means that some weight needs to be given to the negative consequences of full disclosure, creating a practical and ethical dilemma. The Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics offers the following advice, which is representative of the practical ideals of most professional journalists. Quoting directly:[4]
Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone's privacy.
Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes.
Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.
Balance a criminal suspect's fair trial rights with the public's right to be informed.
[edit] Presentation
Main articles: News writing, Journalism,
Ethical standards should not be confused with common standards of quality of presentation, including:
Correctly spoken or written language (often in a widely spoken and formal dialect, such as Standard English)
Clarity
Brevity (or depth, depending on the niche of the publisher)
[edit] Self-regulation
In addition to codes of ethics, many news organizations maintain an in-house Ombudsman whose role is, in part, to keep news organizations honest and accountable to the public. The ombudsman is intended to mediate in conflicts stemming from internal and or external pressures, and to maintain accountability to the public for news reported. Also, to foster self-criticism and to encourage adherence to both codified and uncodified ethics and standards. This position may be the same or similar to the public editor, though public editors also act as a liaison with readers and do not generally become members of the Organisation of News Ombudsmen.
An alternative is a news council, an industry-wide self-regulation body, such as the Press Complaints Commission, set up by UK newspapers and magazines. Such a body is capable perhaps of applying fairly consistent standards, and of dealing with a higher volume of complaints, but may not escape criticisms of being toothless.
[edit] Ethics and standards in practice
See main articles: journalism scandals, media bias, media ethics, and yellow journalism
As with other ethical codes, there is perennial concern that the standards of journalism are being ignored. One of the most controversial issues in modern reporting is media bias, especially on political issues, but also with regard to cultural and other issues. Sensationalism is also a common complaint. Minor factual errors are also extremely common, as almost anyone who is familiar with the subject of a particular report will quickly realize.
There are also some wider concerns, as the media continue to change, for example that the brevity of news reports and use of soundbites has reduced fidelity to the truth, and may contribute to a lack of needed context for public understanding. From outside the profession, the rise of news management contributes to the real possibility that news media may be deliberately manipulated. Selective reporting (spiking, double standards) are very commonly alleged against newspapers, and by their nature are forms of bias not easy to establish, or guard against.
This section does not address specifics of such matters, but issues of practical compliance, as well as differences between professional journalists on principles.
[edit] Standards and reputation
Among the leading news organizations that voluntarily adopt and attempt to uphold the common standards of journalism ethics described herein, adherence and general quality varies considerably. The professionalism, reliability and public accountability of a news organization are three of its most valuable assets. An organization earns and maintains a strong reputation, in part, through a consistent implementation of ethical standards, which influence its position with the public and within the industry.
[edit] Genres and ethics
Advocacy journalists — a term of some debate even within the field of journalism — by definition tend to reject "objectivity", while at the same time maintaining many other common standards and ethics.
Creative nonfiction and Literary journalism use the power of language and literary devices more akin to fiction to bring insight and depth into often book-length treatment of the subjects about which they write. Such devices as dialogue, metaphor, digression and other such techniques offer the reader insights not usually found in standard news reportage. However, authors in this branch of journalism still maintain ethical criteria such as factual and historical accuracy as found in standard news reporting. Yet, with brilliant prose, they venture outside the boundaries of standard news reporting in offering richly detailed accounts. One widely regarded author in the genre is Joyce Carol Oates, as with her book on boxer Mike Tyson.
New Journalism and Gonzo journalism also reject some of the fundamental ethical traditions and will set aside the technical standards of journalistic prose in order to express themselves and reach a particular audience or market segment.
Tabloid journalists are often accused of sacrificing accuracy and the personal privacy of their subjects in order to boost sales. Supermarket tabloids are often focused on entertainment rather than news. A few have "news" stories that are so outrageous that they are widely read for entertainment purposes, not for information. Some tabloids do purport to maintain common journalistic standards, but may fall far short in practice. Others make no such claims.
Some publications deliberately engage in satire, but give the publication the design elements of a newspaper, for example, The Onion, and it is not unheard of for other publications to offer the occasional, humorous articles appearing on April Fool's Day.
[edit] Relationship with freedom of the press
In countries without freedom of the press, the majority of people who report the news may not follow the above-described standards of journalism. Very often non-free media are prohibited from criticizing the national government, and in many cases are required to distribute propaganda as if it were news. Various other forms of censorship may restrict reporting on issues the government deems sensitive.
[edit] Variations, violations, and controversies
There are a number of finer points of journalistic procedure that foster disagreements in principle and variation in practice among "mainstream" journalists in the free press. Laws concerning libel and slander vary from country to country, and local journalistic standards may be tailored to fit. For example, the United Kingdom has a broader definition of libel than does the United States.
Accuracy is important as a core value and to maintain credibility, but especially in broadcast media, audience share often gravitates toward outlets that are reporting new information first. Different organizations may balance speed and accuracy in different ways. The New York Times, for instance, tends to print longer, more detailed, less speculative, and more thoroughly verified pieces a day or two later than many other newspapers. 24-hour television news networks tend to place much more emphasis on getting the "scoop." Here, viewers may switch channels at a moment's notice; with fierce competition for ratings and a large amount of airtime to fill, fresh material is very valuable. Because of the fast turn-around, reporters for these networks may be under considerable time pressure, which reduces their ability to verify information.
Laws with regard to personal privacy, official secrets, and media disclosure of names and facts from criminal cases and civil lawsuits differ widely, and journalistic standards may vary accordingly. Different organizations may have different answers to questions about when it is journalistically acceptable to skirt, circumvent, or even break these regulations. Another example of differences surrounding harm reduction is the reporting of preliminary election results. In the United States, some news organizations feel that it is harmful to the democratic process to report exit poll results or preliminary returns while voting is still open. Such reports may influence people who vote later in the day, or who are in western time zones, in their decisions about how and whether or not to vote. There is also some concern that such preliminary results are often inaccurate and may be misleading to the public. Other outlets feel that this information is a vital part of the transparency of the election process, and see no harm (if not considerable benefit) in reporting it.
[edit] Taste, decency and acceptability
Audiences have different reactions to depictions of violence, nudity, coarse language, or to people in any other situation that is unacceptable to or stigmatized by the local culture or laws (such as the consumption of alcohol, homosexuality, illegal drug use, scatological images, etc.). Even with similar audiences, different organizations and even individual reporters have different standards and practices. These decisions often revolve around what facts are necessary for the audience to know.
When certain distasteful or shocking material is considered important to the story, there are a variety of common methods for mitigating negative audience reaction. Advance warning of explicit or disturbing material may allow listeners or readers to avoid content they would rather not be exposed to. Offensive words may be partially obscured or bleeped. Potentially offensive images may be blurred or narrowly cropped. Descriptions may be substituted for pictures; graphic detail might be omitted. Disturbing content might be moved from a cover to an inside page, or from daytime to late evening, when children are less likely to be watching.
There is often considerable controversy over these techniques, especially concern that obscuring or not reporting certain facts or details is self-censorship that compromises objectivity and fidelity to the truth, and which does not serve the public interest.
For example, images and graphic descriptions of war are often violent, bloody, shocking and profoundly tragic. This makes certain content disturbing to some audience members, but it is precisely these aspects of war that some consider to be the most important to convey. Some argue that "sanitizing" the depiction of war influences public opinion about the merits of continuing to fight, and about the policies or circumstances that precipitated the conflict. The amount of explicit violence and mutilation depicted in war coverage varies considerable from time to time, from organization to organization, and from country to country. (See also: Military journalism.)
Reporters have also been accused of indecency in the process of collecting news, namely that they are overly intrusive in the name of journalistic insensitivity. War correspondent Edward Behr recounts the story of a reporter during the Congo Crisis who walked into a crowd of Belgian evacuees and shouted, "Anyone here been raped and speaks English?"[5]
[edit] Campaigning in the media
Many print publications take advantage of their wide readership and print persuasive pieces in the form of unsigned editorials that represent the official position of the organization. Despite the ostensible separation between editorial writing and news gathering, this practice may cause some people to doubt the political objectivity of the publication's news reporting. (Though usually unsigned editorials are accompanied by a diversity of signed opinions from other perspectives.)
Other publications and many broadcast media only publish opinion pieces that are attributed to a particular individual (who may be an in-house analyst) or to an outside entity. One particularly controversial question is whether media organizations should endorse political candidates for office. Political endorsements create more opportunities to construe favoritism in reporting, and can create a perceived conflict of interest.
[edit] Investigative methods
Investigative journalism is largely an information-gathering exercise, looking for facts that are not easy to obtain by simple requests and searches, or are actively being concealed, suppressed or distorted. Where investigative work involves undercover journalism or use of whistleblowers, and even more if it resorts to covert methods more typical of private detectives or even spying, it brings a large extra burden on ethical standards.
Anonymous sources are double-edged - they often provide especially newsworthy information, such as classified or confidential information about current events, information about a previously unreported scandal, or the perspective of a particular group that may fear retribution for expressing certain opinions in the press. The downside is that the condition of anonymity may make it difficult or impossible for the reporter to verify the source's statements. Sometimes sources hide their identities from the public because their statements would otherwise quickly be discredited. Thus, statements attributed to anonymous sources may carry more weight with the public than they might if they were attributed. (See also: news source.)
The Washington press has been criticized in recent years for excessive use of anonymous sources, in particular to report information that is later revealed to be unreliable. The use of anonymous sources increased markedly in the period before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[citation needed]
[edit] Science issues
The mainstream press is often criticized for poor accuracy in reporting science news. Many reporters are not scientists, and are thus not familiar with the material they are summarizing. Technical information is also difficult to contextualize for lay audiences, and short-form reporting makes providing background, context, and clarification even harder. Food scares are an example of the need for responsible science journalism, as are stories connected with the safety of medical procedures.
[edit] Examples of ethical dilemmas
One of the primary functions of journalism ethics is to aid journalists in dealing with many ethical dilemmas they may encounter. From highly sensitive issues of national security to everyday questions such as accepting a dinner from a source, putting a bumper sticker on one's car, publishing a personal opinion blog, a journalist must make decisions taking into account things such as the public's right to know, potential threats, reprisals and intimidations of all kinds, personal integrity, conflicts between editors, reporters and publishers or management, and many other such conundra. The following are illustrations of some of those.
The Pentagon Papers dealt with extremely difficult ethical dilemmas faced by journalists. Despite government intervention, The Washington Post, joined by The New York Times, felt the public interest was more compelling and both published reports. (The cases went to the Supreme Court where they were merged and are known as New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713.[6]
The Washington Post also once published a story about a listening device that the United States had installed over an undersea Soviet cable during the height of the cold war. The device allowed the United States to learn where Soviet submarines were positioned. In that case, Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee chose not to run the story on national security grounds. However, the Soviets subsequently discovered the device and, according to Bradlee, "It was no longer a matter of national security. It was a matter of national embarrassment." However, the U.S. government still wanted The Washington Post not to run the story on the basis of national security, yet, according to Bradlee, "We ran the story. And you know what, the sun rose the next day."[7]
The Ethics Advice Line, a joint venture, public service project of Chicago Headline Club Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Loyola University Chicago Center for Ethics and Social Justice, provides some examples of typical ethical dilemmas reported to their ethical dilemma hotline and are typical of the kinds of questions faced by many professional journalists.
A partial listing of questions received by The Ethics Advice Line:[1]
Is it ethical to make an appointment to interview an arsonist sought by police, without informing police in advance of the interview?
Is lack of proper attribution plagiarism?
Should a reporter write a story about a local priest who confessed to a sex crime if it will cost the newspaper readers and advertisers who are sympathetic to the priest?
Is it ethical for a reporter to write a news piece on the same topic on which he or she has written an opinion piece in the same paper?
Under what circumstances do you identify a person who was arrested as a relative of a public figure, such as a local sports star?
Freelance journalists and photographers accept cash to write about, or take photos of, events with the promise of attempting to get their work on the AP or other news outlets, from which they also will be paid. Is that ethical?
Can a journalist reveal a source of information after guaranteeing confidentiality if the source proves to be unreliable?
“
Every news organization has only its credibility and reputation to rely on.
”
-Tony Burman, editor-in-chief of CBC News[1]
While various existing codes have some differences, most share common elements including the principles of — truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability — as these apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent reportage to the public.
Like many broader ethical systems, journalism ethics include the principle of "limitation of harm." This often involves the withholding of certain details from reports such as the names of minor children, crime victims' names or information not materially related to particular news reports release of which might, for example, harm someone's reputation.
Evolution and purpose of codes of journalism
The principles of Journalistic codes of ethics are designed as guides through numerous difficulties, such as conflicts of interest, to assist journalists in dealing with ethical dilemmas. The codes and canons provide journalists a framework for self-monitoring and self-correction as they pursue professional assignments.
[edit] Codes of practice
While journalists in the United States and European countries have led in formulation and adoption of these standards, such codes can be found in news reporting organizations in most countries with freedom of the press. The written codes and practical standards vary somewhat from country to country and organization to organization, but there is a substantial overlap among mainstream publications and societies.
One of the leading voices in the U.S. on the subject of Journalistic Standards and Ethics is the Society of Professional Journalists. The Preamble to its Code of Ethics states:
...public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility.
The Radio-Television News Directors Association, an organization exclusively centered on electronic journalism, maintains a code of ethics centering on -- public trust, truthfulness, fairness, integrity, independence and accountability.[2] RTDNA publishes a pocket guide to these standards.[3]
Examples of journalistic codes of ethics held by international news gathering organizations may be found as follows:
British Broadcasting Corporation: Editorial Guidelines.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Journalistic Standards and Practices
Al Jazeera: Code of Ethics.
Code of Journalists of the Republic of Slovenia
[edit] Common elements
The primary themes common to most codes of journalistic standards and ethics are the following.
[edit] Objectivity
Unequivocal separation between news and opinion. In-house editorials and opinion (Op-Ed) pieces are clearly separated from news pieces. News reporters and editorial staff are distinct.
Unequivocal separation between advertisements and news. All advertisements must be clearly identifiable as such.
Reporter must avoid conflicts of interest — incentives to report a story with a given slant. This includes not taking bribes and not reporting on stories that affect the reporter's personal, economic or political interests. See envelope journalism.
Competing points of view are balanced and fairly characterized.
Persons who are the subject of adverse news stories are allowed a reasonable opportunity to respond to the adverse information before the story is published or broadcast.
Interference with reporting by any entity, including censorship, must be disclosed.
[edit] Sources
Confidentiality of anonymous sources (see news source).
Avoidance of anonymous sources if possible.
Accurate attribution of statements made by individuals or other news media.
Pictures, sound, and quotations must not be presented in a misleading context (or lack thereof). Simulations, reenactments, alterations, and artistic imaginings must be clearly labelled as such, if not avoided entirely.
Plagiarism is strongly stigmatized and in many cases illegal (see copyright).
[edit] Accuracy and standards for factual reporting
Reporters are expected to be as accurate as possible given the time allotted to story preparation and the space available, and to seek reliable sources.
Events with a single eyewitness are reported with attribution. Events with two or more independent eyewitnesses may be reported as fact. Controversial facts are reported with attribution.
Independent fact-checking by another employee of the publisher is desirable
Corrections are published when errors are discovered
Defendants at trial are treated only as having "allegedly" committed crimes, until conviction, when their crimes are generally reported as fact (unless, that is, there is serious controversy about wrongful conviction).
Opinion surveys and statistical information deserve special treatment to communicate in precise terms any conclusions, to contextualize the results, and to specify accuracy, including estimated error and methodological criticism or flaws.
[edit] Slander and libel considerations
Reporting the truth is never libel, which makes accuracy and attribution very important.
Private persons have privacy rights that must be balanced against the public interest in reporting information about them. Public figures have fewer privacy rights.
Publishers vigorously defend libel lawsuits filed against their reporters.
[edit] Harm limitation principle
During the normal course of an assignment a reporter might go about — gathering facts and details, conducting interviews, doing research, background checks, taking photos, video taping, recording sound -- should he or she report everything learned? If so, how should this be done? The principle of limitation of harm means that some weight needs to be given to the negative consequences of full disclosure, creating a practical and ethical dilemma. The Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics offers the following advice, which is representative of the practical ideals of most professional journalists. Quoting directly:[4]
Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone's privacy.
Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes.
Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.
Balance a criminal suspect's fair trial rights with the public's right to be informed.
[edit] Presentation
Main articles: News writing, Journalism,
Ethical standards should not be confused with common standards of quality of presentation, including:
Correctly spoken or written language (often in a widely spoken and formal dialect, such as Standard English)
Clarity
Brevity (or depth, depending on the niche of the publisher)
[edit] Self-regulation
In addition to codes of ethics, many news organizations maintain an in-house Ombudsman whose role is, in part, to keep news organizations honest and accountable to the public. The ombudsman is intended to mediate in conflicts stemming from internal and or external pressures, and to maintain accountability to the public for news reported. Also, to foster self-criticism and to encourage adherence to both codified and uncodified ethics and standards. This position may be the same or similar to the public editor, though public editors also act as a liaison with readers and do not generally become members of the Organisation of News Ombudsmen.
An alternative is a news council, an industry-wide self-regulation body, such as the Press Complaints Commission, set up by UK newspapers and magazines. Such a body is capable perhaps of applying fairly consistent standards, and of dealing with a higher volume of complaints, but may not escape criticisms of being toothless.
[edit] Ethics and standards in practice
See main articles: journalism scandals, media bias, media ethics, and yellow journalism
As with other ethical codes, there is perennial concern that the standards of journalism are being ignored. One of the most controversial issues in modern reporting is media bias, especially on political issues, but also with regard to cultural and other issues. Sensationalism is also a common complaint. Minor factual errors are also extremely common, as almost anyone who is familiar with the subject of a particular report will quickly realize.
There are also some wider concerns, as the media continue to change, for example that the brevity of news reports and use of soundbites has reduced fidelity to the truth, and may contribute to a lack of needed context for public understanding. From outside the profession, the rise of news management contributes to the real possibility that news media may be deliberately manipulated. Selective reporting (spiking, double standards) are very commonly alleged against newspapers, and by their nature are forms of bias not easy to establish, or guard against.
This section does not address specifics of such matters, but issues of practical compliance, as well as differences between professional journalists on principles.
[edit] Standards and reputation
Among the leading news organizations that voluntarily adopt and attempt to uphold the common standards of journalism ethics described herein, adherence and general quality varies considerably. The professionalism, reliability and public accountability of a news organization are three of its most valuable assets. An organization earns and maintains a strong reputation, in part, through a consistent implementation of ethical standards, which influence its position with the public and within the industry.
[edit] Genres and ethics
Advocacy journalists — a term of some debate even within the field of journalism — by definition tend to reject "objectivity", while at the same time maintaining many other common standards and ethics.
Creative nonfiction and Literary journalism use the power of language and literary devices more akin to fiction to bring insight and depth into often book-length treatment of the subjects about which they write. Such devices as dialogue, metaphor, digression and other such techniques offer the reader insights not usually found in standard news reportage. However, authors in this branch of journalism still maintain ethical criteria such as factual and historical accuracy as found in standard news reporting. Yet, with brilliant prose, they venture outside the boundaries of standard news reporting in offering richly detailed accounts. One widely regarded author in the genre is Joyce Carol Oates, as with her book on boxer Mike Tyson.
New Journalism and Gonzo journalism also reject some of the fundamental ethical traditions and will set aside the technical standards of journalistic prose in order to express themselves and reach a particular audience or market segment.
Tabloid journalists are often accused of sacrificing accuracy and the personal privacy of their subjects in order to boost sales. Supermarket tabloids are often focused on entertainment rather than news. A few have "news" stories that are so outrageous that they are widely read for entertainment purposes, not for information. Some tabloids do purport to maintain common journalistic standards, but may fall far short in practice. Others make no such claims.
Some publications deliberately engage in satire, but give the publication the design elements of a newspaper, for example, The Onion, and it is not unheard of for other publications to offer the occasional, humorous articles appearing on April Fool's Day.
[edit] Relationship with freedom of the press
In countries without freedom of the press, the majority of people who report the news may not follow the above-described standards of journalism. Very often non-free media are prohibited from criticizing the national government, and in many cases are required to distribute propaganda as if it were news. Various other forms of censorship may restrict reporting on issues the government deems sensitive.
[edit] Variations, violations, and controversies
There are a number of finer points of journalistic procedure that foster disagreements in principle and variation in practice among "mainstream" journalists in the free press. Laws concerning libel and slander vary from country to country, and local journalistic standards may be tailored to fit. For example, the United Kingdom has a broader definition of libel than does the United States.
Accuracy is important as a core value and to maintain credibility, but especially in broadcast media, audience share often gravitates toward outlets that are reporting new information first. Different organizations may balance speed and accuracy in different ways. The New York Times, for instance, tends to print longer, more detailed, less speculative, and more thoroughly verified pieces a day or two later than many other newspapers. 24-hour television news networks tend to place much more emphasis on getting the "scoop." Here, viewers may switch channels at a moment's notice; with fierce competition for ratings and a large amount of airtime to fill, fresh material is very valuable. Because of the fast turn-around, reporters for these networks may be under considerable time pressure, which reduces their ability to verify information.
Laws with regard to personal privacy, official secrets, and media disclosure of names and facts from criminal cases and civil lawsuits differ widely, and journalistic standards may vary accordingly. Different organizations may have different answers to questions about when it is journalistically acceptable to skirt, circumvent, or even break these regulations. Another example of differences surrounding harm reduction is the reporting of preliminary election results. In the United States, some news organizations feel that it is harmful to the democratic process to report exit poll results or preliminary returns while voting is still open. Such reports may influence people who vote later in the day, or who are in western time zones, in their decisions about how and whether or not to vote. There is also some concern that such preliminary results are often inaccurate and may be misleading to the public. Other outlets feel that this information is a vital part of the transparency of the election process, and see no harm (if not considerable benefit) in reporting it.
[edit] Taste, decency and acceptability
Audiences have different reactions to depictions of violence, nudity, coarse language, or to people in any other situation that is unacceptable to or stigmatized by the local culture or laws (such as the consumption of alcohol, homosexuality, illegal drug use, scatological images, etc.). Even with similar audiences, different organizations and even individual reporters have different standards and practices. These decisions often revolve around what facts are necessary for the audience to know.
When certain distasteful or shocking material is considered important to the story, there are a variety of common methods for mitigating negative audience reaction. Advance warning of explicit or disturbing material may allow listeners or readers to avoid content they would rather not be exposed to. Offensive words may be partially obscured or bleeped. Potentially offensive images may be blurred or narrowly cropped. Descriptions may be substituted for pictures; graphic detail might be omitted. Disturbing content might be moved from a cover to an inside page, or from daytime to late evening, when children are less likely to be watching.
There is often considerable controversy over these techniques, especially concern that obscuring or not reporting certain facts or details is self-censorship that compromises objectivity and fidelity to the truth, and which does not serve the public interest.
For example, images and graphic descriptions of war are often violent, bloody, shocking and profoundly tragic. This makes certain content disturbing to some audience members, but it is precisely these aspects of war that some consider to be the most important to convey. Some argue that "sanitizing" the depiction of war influences public opinion about the merits of continuing to fight, and about the policies or circumstances that precipitated the conflict. The amount of explicit violence and mutilation depicted in war coverage varies considerable from time to time, from organization to organization, and from country to country. (See also: Military journalism.)
Reporters have also been accused of indecency in the process of collecting news, namely that they are overly intrusive in the name of journalistic insensitivity. War correspondent Edward Behr recounts the story of a reporter during the Congo Crisis who walked into a crowd of Belgian evacuees and shouted, "Anyone here been raped and speaks English?"[5]
[edit] Campaigning in the media
Many print publications take advantage of their wide readership and print persuasive pieces in the form of unsigned editorials that represent the official position of the organization. Despite the ostensible separation between editorial writing and news gathering, this practice may cause some people to doubt the political objectivity of the publication's news reporting. (Though usually unsigned editorials are accompanied by a diversity of signed opinions from other perspectives.)
Other publications and many broadcast media only publish opinion pieces that are attributed to a particular individual (who may be an in-house analyst) or to an outside entity. One particularly controversial question is whether media organizations should endorse political candidates for office. Political endorsements create more opportunities to construe favoritism in reporting, and can create a perceived conflict of interest.
[edit] Investigative methods
Investigative journalism is largely an information-gathering exercise, looking for facts that are not easy to obtain by simple requests and searches, or are actively being concealed, suppressed or distorted. Where investigative work involves undercover journalism or use of whistleblowers, and even more if it resorts to covert methods more typical of private detectives or even spying, it brings a large extra burden on ethical standards.
Anonymous sources are double-edged - they often provide especially newsworthy information, such as classified or confidential information about current events, information about a previously unreported scandal, or the perspective of a particular group that may fear retribution for expressing certain opinions in the press. The downside is that the condition of anonymity may make it difficult or impossible for the reporter to verify the source's statements. Sometimes sources hide their identities from the public because their statements would otherwise quickly be discredited. Thus, statements attributed to anonymous sources may carry more weight with the public than they might if they were attributed. (See also: news source.)
The Washington press has been criticized in recent years for excessive use of anonymous sources, in particular to report information that is later revealed to be unreliable. The use of anonymous sources increased markedly in the period before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[citation needed]
[edit] Science issues
The mainstream press is often criticized for poor accuracy in reporting science news. Many reporters are not scientists, and are thus not familiar with the material they are summarizing. Technical information is also difficult to contextualize for lay audiences, and short-form reporting makes providing background, context, and clarification even harder. Food scares are an example of the need for responsible science journalism, as are stories connected with the safety of medical procedures.
[edit] Examples of ethical dilemmas
One of the primary functions of journalism ethics is to aid journalists in dealing with many ethical dilemmas they may encounter. From highly sensitive issues of national security to everyday questions such as accepting a dinner from a source, putting a bumper sticker on one's car, publishing a personal opinion blog, a journalist must make decisions taking into account things such as the public's right to know, potential threats, reprisals and intimidations of all kinds, personal integrity, conflicts between editors, reporters and publishers or management, and many other such conundra. The following are illustrations of some of those.
The Pentagon Papers dealt with extremely difficult ethical dilemmas faced by journalists. Despite government intervention, The Washington Post, joined by The New York Times, felt the public interest was more compelling and both published reports. (The cases went to the Supreme Court where they were merged and are known as New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713.[6]
The Washington Post also once published a story about a listening device that the United States had installed over an undersea Soviet cable during the height of the cold war. The device allowed the United States to learn where Soviet submarines were positioned. In that case, Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee chose not to run the story on national security grounds. However, the Soviets subsequently discovered the device and, according to Bradlee, "It was no longer a matter of national security. It was a matter of national embarrassment." However, the U.S. government still wanted The Washington Post not to run the story on the basis of national security, yet, according to Bradlee, "We ran the story. And you know what, the sun rose the next day."[7]
The Ethics Advice Line, a joint venture, public service project of Chicago Headline Club Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Loyola University Chicago Center for Ethics and Social Justice, provides some examples of typical ethical dilemmas reported to their ethical dilemma hotline and are typical of the kinds of questions faced by many professional journalists.
A partial listing of questions received by The Ethics Advice Line:[1]
Is it ethical to make an appointment to interview an arsonist sought by police, without informing police in advance of the interview?
Is lack of proper attribution plagiarism?
Should a reporter write a story about a local priest who confessed to a sex crime if it will cost the newspaper readers and advertisers who are sympathetic to the priest?
Is it ethical for a reporter to write a news piece on the same topic on which he or she has written an opinion piece in the same paper?
Under what circumstances do you identify a person who was arrested as a relative of a public figure, such as a local sports star?
Freelance journalists and photographers accept cash to write about, or take photos of, events with the promise of attempting to get their work on the AP or other news outlets, from which they also will be paid. Is that ethical?
Can a journalist reveal a source of information after guaranteeing confidentiality if the source proves to be unreliable?
MediaTrends
A Journal of Modern Communications
Neo Journalism is the Name of the Game
If you find it increasingly harder to make any significant impact on the news media these days, you are not alone. PR practitioners are increasingly frustrated because the new product and the worthy community project that used to be dependable stories just aren't making it through the media channel the way they used to.
Why? Primarily because the media has gone through a significant seismic shift in recent years, and the look of the new landscape is Neo-Journalism to which the old objective, just-the-facts principles of Walter Lippman and Edward R. Morrow that prevailed for over 60 years are now in second position. Knowing what Neo-Journalism is, how it's played, and how you can leverage the principles effectively is essential in our fiercely competitive market place.
Navigating the Neo
The first thing to know about Neo-Journalism is that it is fundamentally market driven. Media organizations, whether New York Times or High Times, have a bottom line like yours: to increase market share and brand recognition.
Like most American business, the media has gone through dramatic market implosions, fragmentation and down-sizing since the 80's. In most large cities, there are over forty hours per week of prime-time news, features and pseudo-news shows. Add the morning, noon and nightly local tv broadcasts, plus radio news and the ubiquitous talk shows, and you are looking at a market place fairly atomized.
News managers need to deliver good reasons for customers to come to their products. In the corporate world, those reasons usually revolve around price, convenience, quality or customer service. In Neo-Journalism, what sets the product apart from the competition are stylistic choices: the way a story is told, the connection it makes with an audience.
Tell A Story. Put A Face on It
Tell A Story. Put A Face on It Neo-Journalism is a return to the good old days of subjective story telling, the kind of narrative reporting that started with the tabloid abrasiveness of Yellow Journalists like Pulitzer and Hearst and evolved into the stylish, subjective reporting of Ernest Hemingway, Stephen Crane, Jack London and H.L. Mencken. It is back. And it is how news, even business news, is covered today.
"The only way we can connect with an audience is to go beyond the mere facts of a story," says Bill Nigut, anchor and Political Editor, WSB-TV, Atlanta. Nigut and editors around the country have adjusted easily to the notion that their stories must now interpret the meaning of events instead of just deliver the he-said/she-said facts. It is precisely the reporters "meaning" and "interpretation" that stylistically sets the piece apart from anyone else's coverage. In addition, every news room's Neo-Journalism mantra is "Put a Face on it." Find the character, the human connection, the face, that an audience can relate to, can make an emotional connection with. One-hundred sixty-eight dead in the Oklahoma City bombing is staggering, but it is conceptual. It reaches us on a cognitive, rational level. The front page picture of a fireman holding an injured baby hits us on a profoundly intuitive, emotional level. It is the face that tells the larger story.
Yes, Virginia, There is a Bias, but it's Not What You Think
Ideological bias is still around in Neo-Journalism. Institutional bias, cynicism against government and business, is also in the mix. But "the real bias amongst Neo-Journalism managers is toward a compelling literary story" writes Washington Post media reporter, Howard Kurtz, in his thoughtful book Media Circus. If it doesn't have the age-old narrative components of tension, conflict, heart, sharp characters or a strong plot, it is not going to make it through the media chain to your market. This explains why journalists often focus so much on the process of a story, the horse race part. To help bring out the conflict, reporters often take on the accuser role in an interview, becoming surrogates for the challenging position. In other words, if David isn't there in person to challenge Goliath, the reporter will often unconsciously do it for him.
Even Goliath Has A Story to Tell
Whether you face an existing narrative -- "Brave Little David Takes On Indifferent Goliath," or whether you frame the story yourself -- "Popular Goliath Faces Attack From Radical Dave," Neo-Journalism demands that the story have character, tension or heart. A press release about your company's recent soaring sales is not going to have much of an impact. That's what profit driven companies are suppose to do. But if it looks like this recent L.A. Times story about the pager business by Karen Kaplan, you're in the neo mode.
"The Cutting Edge"
"Lynn O'Rourke Hayes is in the market for a pager. Not for herself, but for her 12 year-old son, Ben.
The five members of the Hayes family already share three pagers. The children use them to reach their parents whether they're at the office or at the movies. The parents lend them to the baby sitter before she takes the kids to the mall."
After a paragraph detailing the specific ways the Hayes family uses their pagers, and another one on the background of pagers, the story continues....
"Now wait a minute. Weren't pagers supposed to be an interim technology, awaiting quick obsolescence in a world of cellular telephones and other advanced wireless communications devices? Well, yes. But the robust health of the pager business......"
Pagers, like blacksmiths, faced extinction with the onslaught of new technology -- that is the story's tension.
The Hayes family, who show us why pagers are so necessary, are the story's face. It's not until the fourth paragraph the reader is led to the larger thrust of the piece: pagers are booming. And it's not until the fifth paragraph that we find out this story is primarily about the success of the Motorola company. This is Neo-Journalism at work. PR practitioners who understand this process are beginning to re-think what a good story is and how to frame it in ways that connect with an audience on an emotional, literary level. Most every story can be re-framed as long as the re-framing also has strong literary elements. In the O.J. Simpson case, the prosecution's narrative read "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde." The defense re-framed it to "Rush To Judgment by a Racist Police." In this case, the re-framing was demonstrably effective
It's Not What You Say, but How You Say It
On a corporate level, executives are increasingly becoming a primary focus in their own company's stories as the old medium-is-the-message notion upgrades to a Neo- Journalism's you-are-the-message. Examples are Lee Iaccoca for Chrysler, Bill Gates for Microsoft, Bill DeVilla for Vons. If you are working with a reluctant executive who can't, or won't, use his/her own face, look within the organization for the personalities that can be used. At that point, corporate managers should not hesitate to allow the audience to experience their executive's unique humanity. After all, executives are also consumers, wives, fathers, taxpayers, etc. As a UCLA survey demonstrates, 93% of what an audience receives from a speaker is the story-teller himself, which means, as Mae West says, "It's not what you say, but how you say it." In other words, executives can no longer find cover behind detached corporate demeanors in the era of Neo-Journalism.
There is often a reluctance on the part of some managers to embrace Neo-Journalism concepts because the media requires more dramatic story-telling techniques and more user-friendly language than cognitive thinking executives are used to delivering. It's easier to be direct and to the point in "business-speak." Bottom line communication works in the board room. But in Neo-Journalism, a more narrative vocabulary is required. Images, metaphors, analogies and illustrations make strong connections with an audience and help draw them into the story.
In the age of Neo-Journalism, controversy, conflict and tension are king. To manage a successful media campaign today and deliver results that go beyond reasonable expectations, you need to be skillful at recognizing how these characteristics are used to shape news coverage and then use them to your advantage. The media needs to report stories that inform, entertain and compel an audience to either continue reading the publication, continue listening to the radio station or stay on the same channel.
As the cable and satellite industries continue expanding and offering consumers more program selections and as the computer on-line services extend their reach to more Americans, capturing the public's attention via standard methods will be nearly impossible. It's safe to say that the gap between the news and entertainment media will continue to diminish -- the O.J. Simpson case is a perfect example of this trend.
So when you move forth in your next media relations project, remember to put a "face" on your story; look for the compelling angle that has strong narrative components, and keep in mind that a little Michael Crichton mixed in with some Edward R. Morrow can do a lot to enhance your media success.
Develpoment Journalism
The term “development journalism” is used to refer to two different types of journalism. The first is a new school of journalism which began to appear in the 1960s. The idea behind this type of development journalism is similar to investigative reporting, but it focuses on conditions in developing nations and ways to improve them. The other type of development journalism involves heavy influence from the government of the nation involved. While this type of development journalism can be a powerful tool for local education and empowerment, it can also be a means of suppressing information and restricting journalists.
The first type of development journalism attempts to document the conditions within a country so that the larger world can understand them. Journalists are encouraged to travel to remote areas, interact with the citizens of the country, and report back. This type of development journalism also looks at proposed government projects to improve conditions in the country, and analyzes whether or not they will be effective. Ultimately, the journalist may come up with proposed solutions and actions in the piece, suggesting ways in which they might be implemented. Often, this type of development journalism encourages a cooperative effort between citizens of the nation and the outside world.
The second type of development journalism can walk a thin line. On the one hand, government participation in mass media can help get important information spread throughout the nation. Governments can help to educate their citizens and enlist cooperation on major development projects. However, a government can also use the idea of “development” to restrict freedom of speech for journalists. Journalists are told not to report on certain issues because it will impact the “development” of the nation in question, and therefore citizens are not actually being given access to the whole picture.
As a tool for social justice, development journalism can be very valuable. By speaking for those who cannot, a development journalist can inform the rest of the world about important issues within developing nations. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of a country may also help identify ways in which the nation can be helped. This style of development journalism is a tool for empowerment.
When development journalism is used as a propaganda tool, however, it can become very dangerous. Many citizens are taught that the news is a reliable and useful source of information. For example, within a developing nation which has a corrupt government, journalistic exposes of the government are extremely important for reform. If journalists are not allowed to write about what is actually going on, the citizens are not well served. Several international press organizations release reviews every year which look at the freedom of press in individual nations in an attempt to bring freedom of the press to all countries for this very reason
The term “development journalism” is used to refer to two different types of journalism. The first is a new school of journalism which began to appear in the 1960s. The idea behind this type of development journalism is similar to investigative reporting, but it focuses on conditions in developing nations and ways to improve them. The other type of development journalism involves heavy influence from the government of the nation involved. While this type of development journalism can be a powerful tool for local education and empowerment, it can also be a means of suppressing information and restricting journalists.
The first type of development journalism attempts to document the conditions within a country so that the larger world can understand them. Journalists are encouraged to travel to remote areas, interact with the citizens of the country, and report back. This type of development journalism also looks at proposed government projects to improve conditions in the country, and analyzes whether or not they will be effective. Ultimately, the journalist may come up with proposed solutions and actions in the piece, suggesting ways in which they might be implemented. Often, this type of development journalism encourages a cooperative effort between citizens of the nation and the outside world.
The second type of development journalism can walk a thin line. On the one hand, government participation in mass media can help get important information spread throughout the nation. Governments can help to educate their citizens and enlist cooperation on major development projects. However, a government can also use the idea of “development” to restrict freedom of speech for journalists. Journalists are told not to report on certain issues because it will impact the “development” of the nation in question, and therefore citizens are not actually being given access to the whole picture.
As a tool for social justice, development journalism can be very valuable. By speaking for those who cannot, a development journalist can inform the rest of the world about important issues within developing nations. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of a country may also help identify ways in which the nation can be helped. This style of development journalism is a tool for empowerment.
When development journalism is used as a propaganda tool, however, it can become very dangerous. Many citizens are taught that the news is a reliable and useful source of information. For example, within a developing nation which has a corrupt government, journalistic exposes of the government are extremely important for reform. If journalists are not allowed to write about what is actually going on, the citizens are not well served. Several international press organizations release reviews every year which look at the freedom of press in individual nations in an attempt to bring freedom of the press to all countries for this very reason.
Yellow journalism is a pejorative reference to journalism that features scandal-mongering, sensationalism, or other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or journalists. It has been loosely defined as "not quite libel".
The term originated during the Gilded Age with the circulation battles between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. They ran from 1895 to about 1898 and can refer specifically to this period. Both papers were accused by critics of sensationalizing the news in order to drive up circulation, although the newspapers did serious reporting as well. The New York Press coined the term yellow kid journalism in early 1897 after a then-popular comic strip to describe the down-market papers of Pulitzer and Hearst, which both published versions of it during a circulation war.[1] This was soon shortened to yellow journalism with the New York Press insisting, "We called them Yellow because they are Yellow."[2]
A Journal of Modern Communications
Neo Journalism is the Name of the Game
If you find it increasingly harder to make any significant impact on the news media these days, you are not alone. PR practitioners are increasingly frustrated because the new product and the worthy community project that used to be dependable stories just aren't making it through the media channel the way they used to.
Why? Primarily because the media has gone through a significant seismic shift in recent years, and the look of the new landscape is Neo-Journalism to which the old objective, just-the-facts principles of Walter Lippman and Edward R. Morrow that prevailed for over 60 years are now in second position. Knowing what Neo-Journalism is, how it's played, and how you can leverage the principles effectively is essential in our fiercely competitive market place.
Navigating the Neo
The first thing to know about Neo-Journalism is that it is fundamentally market driven. Media organizations, whether New York Times or High Times, have a bottom line like yours: to increase market share and brand recognition.
Like most American business, the media has gone through dramatic market implosions, fragmentation and down-sizing since the 80's. In most large cities, there are over forty hours per week of prime-time news, features and pseudo-news shows. Add the morning, noon and nightly local tv broadcasts, plus radio news and the ubiquitous talk shows, and you are looking at a market place fairly atomized.
News managers need to deliver good reasons for customers to come to their products. In the corporate world, those reasons usually revolve around price, convenience, quality or customer service. In Neo-Journalism, what sets the product apart from the competition are stylistic choices: the way a story is told, the connection it makes with an audience.
Tell A Story. Put A Face on It
Tell A Story. Put A Face on It Neo-Journalism is a return to the good old days of subjective story telling, the kind of narrative reporting that started with the tabloid abrasiveness of Yellow Journalists like Pulitzer and Hearst and evolved into the stylish, subjective reporting of Ernest Hemingway, Stephen Crane, Jack London and H.L. Mencken. It is back. And it is how news, even business news, is covered today.
"The only way we can connect with an audience is to go beyond the mere facts of a story," says Bill Nigut, anchor and Political Editor, WSB-TV, Atlanta. Nigut and editors around the country have adjusted easily to the notion that their stories must now interpret the meaning of events instead of just deliver the he-said/she-said facts. It is precisely the reporters "meaning" and "interpretation" that stylistically sets the piece apart from anyone else's coverage. In addition, every news room's Neo-Journalism mantra is "Put a Face on it." Find the character, the human connection, the face, that an audience can relate to, can make an emotional connection with. One-hundred sixty-eight dead in the Oklahoma City bombing is staggering, but it is conceptual. It reaches us on a cognitive, rational level. The front page picture of a fireman holding an injured baby hits us on a profoundly intuitive, emotional level. It is the face that tells the larger story.
Yes, Virginia, There is a Bias, but it's Not What You Think
Ideological bias is still around in Neo-Journalism. Institutional bias, cynicism against government and business, is also in the mix. But "the real bias amongst Neo-Journalism managers is toward a compelling literary story" writes Washington Post media reporter, Howard Kurtz, in his thoughtful book Media Circus. If it doesn't have the age-old narrative components of tension, conflict, heart, sharp characters or a strong plot, it is not going to make it through the media chain to your market. This explains why journalists often focus so much on the process of a story, the horse race part. To help bring out the conflict, reporters often take on the accuser role in an interview, becoming surrogates for the challenging position. In other words, if David isn't there in person to challenge Goliath, the reporter will often unconsciously do it for him.
Even Goliath Has A Story to Tell
Whether you face an existing narrative -- "Brave Little David Takes On Indifferent Goliath," or whether you frame the story yourself -- "Popular Goliath Faces Attack From Radical Dave," Neo-Journalism demands that the story have character, tension or heart. A press release about your company's recent soaring sales is not going to have much of an impact. That's what profit driven companies are suppose to do. But if it looks like this recent L.A. Times story about the pager business by Karen Kaplan, you're in the neo mode.
"The Cutting Edge"
"Lynn O'Rourke Hayes is in the market for a pager. Not for herself, but for her 12 year-old son, Ben.
The five members of the Hayes family already share three pagers. The children use them to reach their parents whether they're at the office or at the movies. The parents lend them to the baby sitter before she takes the kids to the mall."
After a paragraph detailing the specific ways the Hayes family uses their pagers, and another one on the background of pagers, the story continues....
"Now wait a minute. Weren't pagers supposed to be an interim technology, awaiting quick obsolescence in a world of cellular telephones and other advanced wireless communications devices? Well, yes. But the robust health of the pager business......"
Pagers, like blacksmiths, faced extinction with the onslaught of new technology -- that is the story's tension.
The Hayes family, who show us why pagers are so necessary, are the story's face. It's not until the fourth paragraph the reader is led to the larger thrust of the piece: pagers are booming. And it's not until the fifth paragraph that we find out this story is primarily about the success of the Motorola company. This is Neo-Journalism at work. PR practitioners who understand this process are beginning to re-think what a good story is and how to frame it in ways that connect with an audience on an emotional, literary level. Most every story can be re-framed as long as the re-framing also has strong literary elements. In the O.J. Simpson case, the prosecution's narrative read "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde." The defense re-framed it to "Rush To Judgment by a Racist Police." In this case, the re-framing was demonstrably effective
It's Not What You Say, but How You Say It
On a corporate level, executives are increasingly becoming a primary focus in their own company's stories as the old medium-is-the-message notion upgrades to a Neo- Journalism's you-are-the-message. Examples are Lee Iaccoca for Chrysler, Bill Gates for Microsoft, Bill DeVilla for Vons. If you are working with a reluctant executive who can't, or won't, use his/her own face, look within the organization for the personalities that can be used. At that point, corporate managers should not hesitate to allow the audience to experience their executive's unique humanity. After all, executives are also consumers, wives, fathers, taxpayers, etc. As a UCLA survey demonstrates, 93% of what an audience receives from a speaker is the story-teller himself, which means, as Mae West says, "It's not what you say, but how you say it." In other words, executives can no longer find cover behind detached corporate demeanors in the era of Neo-Journalism.
There is often a reluctance on the part of some managers to embrace Neo-Journalism concepts because the media requires more dramatic story-telling techniques and more user-friendly language than cognitive thinking executives are used to delivering. It's easier to be direct and to the point in "business-speak." Bottom line communication works in the board room. But in Neo-Journalism, a more narrative vocabulary is required. Images, metaphors, analogies and illustrations make strong connections with an audience and help draw them into the story.
In the age of Neo-Journalism, controversy, conflict and tension are king. To manage a successful media campaign today and deliver results that go beyond reasonable expectations, you need to be skillful at recognizing how these characteristics are used to shape news coverage and then use them to your advantage. The media needs to report stories that inform, entertain and compel an audience to either continue reading the publication, continue listening to the radio station or stay on the same channel.
As the cable and satellite industries continue expanding and offering consumers more program selections and as the computer on-line services extend their reach to more Americans, capturing the public's attention via standard methods will be nearly impossible. It's safe to say that the gap between the news and entertainment media will continue to diminish -- the O.J. Simpson case is a perfect example of this trend.
So when you move forth in your next media relations project, remember to put a "face" on your story; look for the compelling angle that has strong narrative components, and keep in mind that a little Michael Crichton mixed in with some Edward R. Morrow can do a lot to enhance your media success.
Develpoment Journalism
The term “development journalism” is used to refer to two different types of journalism. The first is a new school of journalism which began to appear in the 1960s. The idea behind this type of development journalism is similar to investigative reporting, but it focuses on conditions in developing nations and ways to improve them. The other type of development journalism involves heavy influence from the government of the nation involved. While this type of development journalism can be a powerful tool for local education and empowerment, it can also be a means of suppressing information and restricting journalists.
The first type of development journalism attempts to document the conditions within a country so that the larger world can understand them. Journalists are encouraged to travel to remote areas, interact with the citizens of the country, and report back. This type of development journalism also looks at proposed government projects to improve conditions in the country, and analyzes whether or not they will be effective. Ultimately, the journalist may come up with proposed solutions and actions in the piece, suggesting ways in which they might be implemented. Often, this type of development journalism encourages a cooperative effort between citizens of the nation and the outside world.
The second type of development journalism can walk a thin line. On the one hand, government participation in mass media can help get important information spread throughout the nation. Governments can help to educate their citizens and enlist cooperation on major development projects. However, a government can also use the idea of “development” to restrict freedom of speech for journalists. Journalists are told not to report on certain issues because it will impact the “development” of the nation in question, and therefore citizens are not actually being given access to the whole picture.
As a tool for social justice, development journalism can be very valuable. By speaking for those who cannot, a development journalist can inform the rest of the world about important issues within developing nations. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of a country may also help identify ways in which the nation can be helped. This style of development journalism is a tool for empowerment.
When development journalism is used as a propaganda tool, however, it can become very dangerous. Many citizens are taught that the news is a reliable and useful source of information. For example, within a developing nation which has a corrupt government, journalistic exposes of the government are extremely important for reform. If journalists are not allowed to write about what is actually going on, the citizens are not well served. Several international press organizations release reviews every year which look at the freedom of press in individual nations in an attempt to bring freedom of the press to all countries for this very reason
The term “development journalism” is used to refer to two different types of journalism. The first is a new school of journalism which began to appear in the 1960s. The idea behind this type of development journalism is similar to investigative reporting, but it focuses on conditions in developing nations and ways to improve them. The other type of development journalism involves heavy influence from the government of the nation involved. While this type of development journalism can be a powerful tool for local education and empowerment, it can also be a means of suppressing information and restricting journalists.
The first type of development journalism attempts to document the conditions within a country so that the larger world can understand them. Journalists are encouraged to travel to remote areas, interact with the citizens of the country, and report back. This type of development journalism also looks at proposed government projects to improve conditions in the country, and analyzes whether or not they will be effective. Ultimately, the journalist may come up with proposed solutions and actions in the piece, suggesting ways in which they might be implemented. Often, this type of development journalism encourages a cooperative effort between citizens of the nation and the outside world.
The second type of development journalism can walk a thin line. On the one hand, government participation in mass media can help get important information spread throughout the nation. Governments can help to educate their citizens and enlist cooperation on major development projects. However, a government can also use the idea of “development” to restrict freedom of speech for journalists. Journalists are told not to report on certain issues because it will impact the “development” of the nation in question, and therefore citizens are not actually being given access to the whole picture.
As a tool for social justice, development journalism can be very valuable. By speaking for those who cannot, a development journalist can inform the rest of the world about important issues within developing nations. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of a country may also help identify ways in which the nation can be helped. This style of development journalism is a tool for empowerment.
When development journalism is used as a propaganda tool, however, it can become very dangerous. Many citizens are taught that the news is a reliable and useful source of information. For example, within a developing nation which has a corrupt government, journalistic exposes of the government are extremely important for reform. If journalists are not allowed to write about what is actually going on, the citizens are not well served. Several international press organizations release reviews every year which look at the freedom of press in individual nations in an attempt to bring freedom of the press to all countries for this very reason.
Yellow journalism is a pejorative reference to journalism that features scandal-mongering, sensationalism, or other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or journalists. It has been loosely defined as "not quite libel".
The term originated during the Gilded Age with the circulation battles between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. They ran from 1895 to about 1898 and can refer specifically to this period. Both papers were accused by critics of sensationalizing the news in order to drive up circulation, although the newspapers did serious reporting as well. The New York Press coined the term yellow kid journalism in early 1897 after a then-popular comic strip to describe the down-market papers of Pulitzer and Hearst, which both published versions of it during a circulation war.[1] This was soon shortened to yellow journalism with the New York Press insisting, "We called them Yellow because they are Yellow."[2]
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