Independence in Journalism

"Comment is free but facts are sacred." Journalist vs. Doing Journalism
Maggie Gallagher: had to reveal conflict of interest, Evolution of Independence: move from fealty (loyalty) to political party --> public interest, have to be careful with personal blogs also because it can reflect badly on your news organization, George Will coached Ronald Reagan with his speech and then went on air to praise it, more examples: William Kristol & John McCain, Fox News is an example of the journalism of affirmation, journalism of opinion is open in its intent...

Scooter Libby case: A Journalist's Bad Judgment Call

Is it possible for journalists to present a story completely objectively or will there always be a bias? This group’s presentation discussed the concept of objectivity and citing sources. David Protess and the Inmates was a study done that created a bulls-eye target depicting the various levels of involvement with a certain story or piece of news. The credibility of a source can be evaluated by whether or not the information or result can be replicated exactly by another individual. This assertion is a scientific principle that relates to journalism because the credibility of a news story can be determined by whether or not the same information is found in another news story or the sources report the same information. The phenomena involving the journalist Judith Miller is particularly relevant to this topic because it describes the ethical conflict that can occur when using anonymous sources. In this case, the journalist tried to protect the anonymous source who was Scooter Libby but since the subject matter was of such confidential nature, the anonymous source had to be revealed. The CIA agent Valerie Plain’s security was threatened with the release of this information, even though it was reported by an “anonymous” source initially. I personally believe that this was a judgment call by the journalist for reporting this information but the principle of whether or not to use anonymous sources is a controversial subject based on the ramifications of the information they reveal. (word count: 242)

Links:

Interview by Monica Crowley with Scooter Libby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXMFwIi3-e8

Editors are in agony over the use of anonymous sources: http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=1596

Fox News, “The Issue of Scooter Libby”: http://video.foxnews.com/v/1139659778001/the-issue-of-scooter-libby/

Group 6: Objectivity and Sources

How do journalists know which side to take/should they take a side? Is bias unavoidable? Science says that something is reliable if it can be replicated exactly by another person. David Protess and the Inmates story involves secondary/primary/eyewitness/targets (targets= individual, issue, institution). Youtube: "Guy on a Buffalo" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ4T9CQA0UM is funneh. Judith Miller was a journalist who exposed Valerie Plain as being a CIA agent based on "anonymous" source Scooter Libby. 

Accuracy Checklist: 1)Is the lead supported? 2) spellings of names 3) phone numbers real? 4) URL or emails- still there? 5) double check job title, company name, company website 6) spell check, unusual spellings? similar word mix-ups 7) test math in story 8)check accuracy & claims 9) reliable and up to date when reviewing 10) double check news release information, including source 11) bring in an expert? 12) background material needed? 13) stakeholders identified and given a chance to respond to charges? 14) quotes clearly and correctly attributed? 15) sources given an opportunity to hear their quotes read back? 16) story pick sides or make judgments? 17) is something missing? 18) are all facts in dispute clearly labelled? 19) is a diversity of voices quoted? 20) does the story unnecessarily allude to race or religion unless relevant to story? 21) do web sites related to story reflect community standards? 

Get Students Out of the Classrooms!

Two related concepts were presented in class discussion that were thought-provoking for a number of reasons. The hegemony theory describes what journalists believe according to their social, cultural, and ideological influences. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3VVBeVvNBc News work describes what journalists learn and experience in the work force. These two ideas are closely related because it describes the common phenomena that occurs when most students transition from school to the work force. In my experience, classes are very theory-based which is important to understand prior to starting a career but can’t replace the practical experience gained from an internship or a field study. Especially with journalism, I believe that aspiring journalists should spend as much time as possible volunteering or interning in a newsroom or writing for a newspaper, which allows them to gain “news work” and become more confident in their practical skills in the career force. This student had a successful internship in this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwA6YpzFLYI. The quote that stood out to me from the presentation was “If a culture is optimistic and expects things to work out well, then progress and safety become the expectation, and events threatening these are seen as news.” This is a credible observation because it’s true that disasters are shocks to our society because we experience a relatively comfortable lifestyle in the United States. However, this quote does not hold true for international disasters necessarily because sometimes we only hear about destruction which skews our perception of other country’s problems or political situation. My dad served in Iraq and while the political situation is very unstable, there are many Iraqis who are grateful to Americans for improving their lifestyle by invading the country. However, most Americans believe that Iraqis are deeply unhappy with the United States because the news broadcasts so many bombings and attacks. The destruction is also emphasized in places like Afghanistan, which may slightly skew our perception of their daily life. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/10/world/afghanistan.interactive.irpt/index.html?hpt=wo_mid It is important to report stories according to our experience and based on the experiences of those we interview, and accept that while we may not be able to remain completely unbiased at all times, we have a duty to the priesthood of journalists.

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Professionalism...Not Worth It

Priesthood of journalists: higher calling of serving others. Two theories: hegemony theory= what journalists believe, news work= what journalists learn and experience. Public opinion is gaining importance in the field of journalism. Journalism = 4th estate, the power that provides media interaction. "Ethnocentrism"= the judging of other cultures by the standards of one's own. 

Thoughts after Sept 27's Presentation

The business of broadcasting is an industry that depends heavily on advertisement for its main source of profit. This dependency can cause a major ethical dilemma if an advertising company places a higher priority value on promoting their product or service than on reporting news stories. The manipulation of the news by advertising companies is a constant threat for broadcasting stations and a major decision for individual broadcast reporters. An ethical broadcast journalist must make the daily decision to report valid, truthful, and important news stories because their first priority should be to their audience which relies on them for legitimate information. A broadcast journalist with a sense of morality should always be able to make the decision to promote news stories over advertisements, even if it means putting their career at risk. Often, the decision must be made to compromise between advertising and broadcasting because realistically, the broadcasting station must have a source of income. The relationship between journalism and advertising is addressed by Milton Glaser and Reed Hoffman in this video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O6UsxMANYw. The ethics of journalism is presented in this video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbT-eHZVI7s.  Many films address the career of a journalist and I enjoyed this video clip shown in class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbT-eHZVI7s.  

(word count: 204)