Media & Society: Newspapers & “The News” Historical Development Critical Issues Today Newspapers History of newspapers is history of what journalism should be. Development of Early Newspapers Free press Marketplace of ideas

1 st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press…” Importance of press diversity fundamental Different points of view Tied to various reforms

Penny Press Faster presses & cheaper paper Expanded literacy Telegraph Associated Press 1892 New Journalism Follows Civil War Muckraking Development of news photography

Yellow Journalism  Sensationalism & inaccuracy  Competition for a broad general audience  Hearst, Pulitzer Professional Journalism Newspapers peak Professional education Social responsibility model: developing better journalistic practices, monitoring own ethics What should some journalistic SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES be? VT

Issues in Newspapers/Journalism Today 1. Watchdog role Investigating vs. waiting to report Scandal-mongering Critical stance toward status quo  Questioning authority  Civil Rights, Vietnam

2. Freedom of Speech and First Amendment Print more protected than electronic media…WHY? 3. Libel: harmful and untruthful criticism that intends to damage someone 4. Privacy of newsmakers

5. Local monopolies on news: Political and economic effects Horizontal integration Vs. Vertical integration Joint operation agreements

6. Accuracy avoiding bias (lack of objectivity) condense in truthful manner professional obligation and credibility issue Two websites: Mediamatters.org, Fair.org

Shaping the News Agenda-setting: media sets topics of debate, affect public opinion What to think vs. What to think about Gatekeeping: media executives set agenda

Framing: decide what to include within a story and how to tell it Frames come from source/audience self-censorship Does not always (or even usually) equal bias Example: Hurricane Ike Other example: CNN on RNC protesters

News sources have proliferated online. Traditional: Most mainstream news organizations have online presence. Cnn.com, Caller.com, etc. These often incorporate...

Nontraditional News Sources: 1.Blogs: short for “web log” Filter: “presurf” Internet drudgereport.com; huffingtonpost.com Journal: andrewsullivan.com

2. “Alternative” news sites Define self against MSM “mainstream media” Content, ownership Ex: indymedia.org; alternet.org Some grow from blog to own multimedia empire. Example: Talkingpointsmemo.com

3. Discussion boards  specialized topics and audiences  A community, not just info  many blogs, alternative news sites contain these Example: televisionwithoutpity.com

Criticisms of Nontraditional Online News Sources: Don’t conform to traditional journalistic ethics inherently biased? “echo chamber” NEED TO ASK: How does our use of these news sources complement or supplant our use of other media? To what extent do the distinctions between these types of news sources blur?

Online news sources will work alongside, not displace traditional news sources. “Broadcasting” may provide common culture Web will provide localized channels to talk back or “reframe” or highly specialized sources