Chapter 14:

The Culture of Journalism:

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

Some guiding questions

What key values underlie modern journalism?

What ethical issues face journalists?What legacy has print journalism left

in the era of electronic journalism?What is public journalism, and how

does it differ from conventional journalism?

Problems facing modern journalism

INFORMATION OVERLOAD: Are we producing too much information?

PUBLIC ALIENATION: Does all this news improve public or political life? Does it involve citizens in public life?

Food for thought:

What is NEWS,

anyway?

Is what we call NEWS:

Process of gathering information?

A kind of narrative storytelling?

Or both?

Criteria for NEWSWORTHINES

S

TimelinessProximityConflictProminenceHuman interest

ConsequenceUsefulnessNoveltyDeviance

VALUES IN AMERICAN

JOURNALISM

THE MYTH OF NEUTRALITY

What does it mean to remain neutral? Detached? Objective?

Can reporters be detached observers of social experience without opinions?

Doesn’t the subjective process of story-writing involve interpretation and shaping of facts?

Food for thought:

Are journalists merely neutral channels of

factual information -- or are they well-informed

citizens actively shaping public

opinion?

“Enduring values” of journalism

EthnocentrismResponsible capitalismSmall-town pastoralismIndividualism

ETHICS AND THE NEWS

MEDIA

Food for thought:

What is the moral and social responsibility of journalists -- not only for their stories, but also for the actual events or issues they shape?

ETHICAL PREDICAMENTS

Deploying deception

Invading privacy

Conflict of interest

SPJ Code of Ethics

Seek truth and report it

Minimize harmAct independentlyBe accountable

THE LEGACY OF PRINT

JOURNALISM

Rituals that underlie the practice of journalism

REPORTING RITUALS

Focusing on the present Getting a good story Getting a story first

Relying on expertsBalancing story conflictActing as adversaries

JOURNALISM IN THE AGE OF TELEVISION

Print News vs. TV News

Broadcast news driven by technologyBroadcast news must limit stories to

fit into time slots between commercials.

TV news derives its credibility from live, on-the-spot reporting, believable imagery, and viewers’ trust in reporters.

Common criticisms of TV news

Format too slick and homogenized Too much emphasis on crimes

and disastersOveremphasis on “sound bites”Overemphasis on youth and

attractiveness of anchorsDislike of chatty “happy talk”

CONVENTIONAL NEWS, PUBLIC JOURNALISM,

AND DEMOCRACY

COMPETING MODELS of JOURNALISM

INFORMATION or MODERN model: emphasizes describing events and issues from a neutral perspective

PARTISAN or EUROPEAN model: emphasizes interpretive analysis of happenings and journalistic advocacy

Alternative model: PUBLIC JOURNALISMRather than just “telling the news,” has a

broader mission of helping public lifeJournalists participate in public life rather

than being detached observersRather than just describing wrongs, tries

to imagine what society COULD be likeSees readers not as consumers but as

active public citizens

Criticisms of Public Journalism

Merely panders to what readers wantCompromises journalists’ credibilityRemoves editorial control over

storiesUndermines opposing-viewpoint

conventions by seeking community consensus and middle ground

Doesn’t address changing economic structures of news industry

Food for thought:

What are the strengths and

limitations of each model of

journalism?

MORE food for thought:

What is DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY, and how

does it differ from REPRESENTATIVE

DEMOCRACY?How can journalism

help?