1. Lecture 6: Journalistic Practices and News Biases

2. On the Code of Journalistic Practices and the Self Image of the Profession

3. Although there exist many journalistic code of practices, nonetheless all these codes share certain common principles. They are truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability. These codes are meant to ensure that news bias does not creep in when the journalist goes and practice his trade.

4. In addition, the work (organizational) routines which the journalist learned his/her trade are based on such principles. The self image of the profession as the members of the Fourth Estate are also meant to reinforce these principles as well. Through the code, training and self-image of the profession, it is assumed that the media when providing news is totally objective and trustworthy.

5. Any failure is thought to be the fault of the individual journalist and not the failure of the way journalism is practiced as envisioned by the code, training and ideal. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the work routines (journalistic practices) are coming in conflict with the principles of journalism (journalistic theory).

6. Journalistic Practices and News Bias

7. Much like any job, reporting news consists largely of a set of routines, standardized activities (in sociological parlance, we call this as culture). Despite obvious differences involving the nature of the assignment and personal writing styles, journalists tend to cover news in similar ways and hence open to manipulation by politicians and their spin- doctors.

8. Journalists operate in similar ways because of two forces which tend to standardize their reporting habits: a) Routine cooperation with (and pressure from) news sources; and b) The work routines of journalists; and c) Standardization of news gathering.

9. Routine Cooperation with (and Pressures from) News Sources When it comes to news that have a political slant (and thus news worthy), journalist require access to sources who can give them the information. Unsurprisingly, journalists depend on news sources (especially political insiders who are in the know) for the scoop.

10. Such dependency gives the politicians (and their spin-doctors) an advantage because the demand for information by journalists. The hunger for a scoop by journalists is usually fed by the politician (or his/her spin-doctor) via giving press conferences using scripts written in advance.

11. Such scripts which puts a favorable spin to the politician is usually reported verbatim because the script would have been pre- packaged according to conventions of reporting. This is because given the pressures of deadline and demanding editors as well as the lack of alternative sources of information ensure journalists usually take the line of least resistance (human psychology) and accept what is given at face value.

12. In addition, those who report news according to what the politician (or his/her spin-doctor) wants get rewarded by getting access to insider source while those who don’t are punished by being cut-off from the information loop. Careers are made advanced if they can receive information or leaks and damaged if they are deliberately left out by those who are in the know.

13. Work Routines of Journalists Journalists are trained to work according to a set of formulas – they repeatedly look for the same things; routinely ask the same questions. The two key formulas are the inverted pyramid and the six-question-formula (who, what, when, where, why and how).

14. These formulas narrow the options of what can become news by ‘guiding’ the information process by those in the know, i.e., spin-doctors. In addition, the time pressures faced by journalists to produce news can give spin- doctors a chance to maximize their chances of getting their spin in the news.

15. It should be remembered that journalists tend to move in packs. They are assigned together to cover the same event and the same beats. More than other workers, they share close social experiences on the job. This resulted in the forging of a strong common bond between them.

16. What resulted then is the formation of a ‘in-group’ with its own subculture and a pressure to conform to the group. What resulted then is a tendency among journalist to report news with similar content as the pressure to conform to group expectation began to exert itself.

17. Standardization of News Gathering As media organizations began to experience economic and deadline pressures, they began to standardize the news gathering process by: a) organizing beats for journalists to cover; b) covering events organized by PR specialists that come complete with media kits All which can be manipulated by the knowledgeable spin-doctor.

18. A Disturbing Trend in Journalism: News as Entertaining Spectacle

19. The arrival of cable and satellite television has increased competition in all sectors of the media. This has increased the commercial pressure on all media workers. McNair (1990) stated that this pressure has seen the adoption of a racy style of journalism, well suited in reporting entertaining spectacles. This genre of news is

20. ‘crucially lacking in substance, dealing only with the spectacular, epiphenomenal aspects of social and political problems, while avoiding the discussion of their solutions. The viewer is shocked, or entertained, or outraged, but not necessarily any wised about the underlying causes of the problem being covered. The entertainment value of events begins to take precedence over their political importance.’ (McNair, 1990).

21. This genre turns the anchorman into something of a celebrity, who takes on the persona of an adversarial watchdog ‘journalist’ who ‘protects’ ordinary people against the rich and powerful. This is apparently achieved through sensationalized exposures of petty scandals and adopting pseudo-adversarial postures. Such ‘journalist’ ask questions from briefing papers and operate more like actors than journalist. The lack background to ask good follow-up questions or recognize when interviewees say something new or surprising.