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

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3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

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

8. 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

9. 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”

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

14. “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.

15. 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