The Culture of Journalism: Values, Ethics, and Democracy Chapter 13 The Culture of Journalism: Values, Ethics, and Democracy

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Nellie Bly’s Lasting Influence A lifetime champion of women and the poor, Nellie Bly pioneered what was then called detective or stunt journalism. Her work inspired the twentieth-century practice of investigative journalism.

What Is News? The process of gathering information and making narrative reports that help the public make sense of daily events Criteria for newsworthiness Conflict Prominence Human interest Consequence Usefulness Deviant, the bizarre

Values in American Journalism General belief that journalists should present news from neutral standpoint Sociologist Herbert Gans offers four subjective values that shape news judgments: Ethnocentrism Responsible capitalism Small-town pastoralism Individualism Reporters as neutral “channels” of information as opposed to citizens actively involved in public life

Ethical Predicaments Deploying deception Invading privacy Conflict of interest Any situation where a journalist may stand to benefit personally from the story he or she produces

Ethical Predicaments (cont.) Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics: Seek Truth and Report It Minimize Harm Act Independently Be Accountable

Reporting Rituals and the Legacy of Print Journalism Focusing on the present 1840s: With the rise of the telegraph, editors wanted to focus on the present. Modern journalism rejects “old news” for new events or ideas. News often lacks historical context. Getting the story first (scoop) Herd journalism Reliance on experts

Reporting Rituals and the Legacy of Print Journalism (cont.) Balancing story conflict Two-dimensionality of news Misrepresents the multifaceted complexity of social issues Adversarial relationship between leaders, journalists “Gotcha” story Tough questioning style Reporter located between “them” and “us”

Differences between Print and TV News In TV news, the image is everything. Sound bite Broadcast format forces compression. Credibility based on live, up-to-the-minute broadcasts Pretty-face and happy-talk culture

Pundits, “Talking Heads,” and Politics 24/7 news cycle has changed definition of news. Less expensive “talking head” pundit standard for cable news Channels have built their programming along partisan lines. Conservative: Bill O’Reilly on Fox News Liberal: Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

Convergence Enhances and Changes Journalism Print and TV news can continuously update breaking stories online. Problems with online news: E-mail interviews give power to interview subjects. Convergence puts new demands on reporters.

The Public Journalism Movement Public journalism focuses on public life, participation in the community, and sees the public as participants in democracy. Critics fear losing credibility built up over decades of “objective” reporting. Removes traditional editorial role Changes reporting style to conversational No balance

“Fake” News and Satiric Journalism Appeals to many cynical young people Critiques the unimaginative quality of traditional news stories The Colbert Report satirizes partisan news hosts like Bill O’Reilly. The Daily Show parodies the conventions of evening news programs.

Democracy and Reimagining Journalism’s Role Social responsibility: James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men Deliberative democracy: journalists should be activists for public life. Representative democracy Deliberative democracy