Journalism and Religion

A very controversial topic to some... Where does Religion fit in with journalism? This was the topic of the most recent group presentation in class. The idea I found most interesting was the idea that it is a tough mix, to mix religion and journalism because people are wanting facts based on proof, not based on faith. Because everyone has a different idea of what religion is and what is true and what is not... religion is a sticky subject and journalism needs to be based in truth and based on facts, such as scientific evidence. The problem a journalists faces is when a journalist is reporting on a story and needs to sort out the truth from their faith. It can be hard to do but a journalist needs to know how to do this and how to do it well. There are not as many religious stories in the news today because of controversies about religion. It was reported that the top religion store in 2007 was on the presidential election between a baptist preacher and a devout Mormon. Also recent stories have been done on polygamy, but even these stories have had controversies surrounding them.

Here is some recent news:

Some celebrities stop using twitter to raise funds for a charity:
http://bit.ly/gu5q2L

Social media goes red for World AIDS Day:
http://bit.ly/g2GAaQ

Twilight vs. Mormon Beliefs and Values

Last week, I attended a very interested lecture that was part of the Mormon Media Studies Symposium which talked about a lot of different topics. The lecture I attended was one that talked about a few topics, but the one I found most interesting was talking about a paper titled, "Twilight as a reflection of Latter-day Saint Beliefs and Values” given by Trudy L. Hanson. There have been an arguable amount of Mormon beliefs and values instilled in this series, and some of them discussed were the values of family and the important role that it plays in the lives of the twilight characters and also in the lives of Latter-day Saints. Another value is that of Agency and also restraint. The last main value mentioned in the lecture was the value of power and control in relationship. I have only seen a few of the Twilight movies, have never read the books, but the value I can see most is the value of family and the important role that it plays. As a Latter-day Saint, the importance of families is stressed, in my mind, more than any other principle. It is of vast importance. This can also be seen in the Twilight series in the characters of Bella and even Edward. They both have a strong tie to their families, with Bella’s family being divorced and Edward’s family being so close. They have different family relationships, but the idea is that family is stressed as being important.
I found this lecture fascinating and it really made me want to actually read the novels to get a better understanding of the values that it stresses and which of those values run right along with values of Latter-day Saints.

here is an actual news piece on the topic:

http://tinyurl.com/2cujryh
http://tinyurl.com/o35o6v

Watchdog Journalism

So the topic in class this last week was journalists working as Watchdog's in society and what watchdog journalism it. One of textbooks makes this statement: "More than 70% of journalism say the 'watchdog role' of journalists is the most important role they have, especially when it comes to investigating government." I believe this is a very powerful statement that journalists really need to live by. A statement that believe needs to be considered is that the watchdog principle is intended to "comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable." Is this true? In many ways this is the way that watchdog journalism works. It is imperative that journalists look out for those they cover and be the "watchdog," so to speak, of the people they write for, their audience. If the press doesn't look out for the needs of the audience, then who will? I will end with this one statement that i feel sums of the idea of watchdog journalism. That statement is, "The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.

Here is some news:

Online classes are all the rage now:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/us/05college.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

"Dare to trash your boss on Facebook?" take a look at this video and article.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/09/facebook.firing/?hpt=C1

Independence and Journalism

So the most recent topic in my journalism class was Independence and Journalism. Its a very interesting topic if you think about it. The basic idea that was covered is that a journalist must maintain independence from those they cover. Is that really easy to do though?? I think it depends on the story that is being covered. But two very important questions were posed that i have been thinking about the past week. The first of these was "Can a person be politically active and still publish an unbiased article?" To answer that... I think they can, but it takes a very practiced journalist, in my mind, to do so. If a journalist can present the facts and not slant it towards his/her views, i think its possible. Now for the second question: "Can a homosexual man write an article on Prop 8 fairly?" I think the answer to this question is NO. To be quite honest,i am not sure a heterosexual person could write a fair article on this subject, however someone needs to cover the information. In very hard topics like sexuality, I think the journalist covering it really needs to step back and only present the facts, after all, that is the journalists job right?

here are some links to some recent news stories that you may find interesting. One story that has really caught my eye recently is that of bombs being sent in print ink cartridges and getting into planes and not being stopped.

Links:
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-29/us/security.concern_1_suspicious-packages-petn-explosive-material?_s=PM:US

http://www.infowars.com/toner-bomb-results-in-more-airport-molestation/

Verification and Journalism

Last weeks group presented on the topic of verification and journalism... an interesting topic for sure. They went over what verification means, keeping an accuracy checklist, how to stay objective and guidelines for anonymous sources which are all good things for journalists to not only be aware of, but to put into practice. The topic that I want to focus on is the idea of "How to stay objective" when doing a story. The guidelines are to never add anything that was not there, to never deceive the audience, to be as transparent as possible about your methods and motives, to reply on your own original reporting and to exercise humility. Some of these ideas can be hard to put into practice, but it is essential to stay objective in the stories that a journalist is reporting on.
One idea that has been very prevalent in the current news is stating opinion. There have been numerous examples of how simply stating an opinion can cause a journalist or reporter to loose their job. One such recent case is that of Juan Williams. Juan Williams worked for NPR and stated his opinion, publicly, about Muslims. He was fired for it. It has created a large debate and some of the links to articles about it are below.

http://www.therightperspective.org/2010/10/21/juan-williams-fired-for-opinion-on-muslims/

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/25/kevin-mccullough-juan-williams-npr-vivian-schiller-oreilly-psychiatrist-muslims/

http://www.libertyjuice.com/2010/10/21/juan-williams-fired-from-npr-for-voicing-opinion/

Religion in Journalism

In class this last week, we had a guest speaker from the Salt Lake Tribune. He talked about experiences that he has had in working in journalism, but one topic that really peaked my interested was the idea of what role a journalists personal religious views plays in the workplace? Does a journalist refuse to do a story that may have a bias based on his/her religious values? It is a question that can be hard to answer, but in a place like Utah, and other places, it plays a rather large role. A big group discussion was started on individual views, but my view is this: if there is a large bias, have the editor get someone else to do the story, but if the religious views of the journalist could create a more accurate picture on the topic, then I believe its alright for the journalist to do the story. Bottom line: know your limits.
One such case which I believe would be an applicable topic is if an LDS journalist was sent to cover the recent story on Kody Brown, the recent polygamist in Lehi, UT who has/had a show on TLC called "Sister Wives." here is a link to the story

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/polygamist-kody-brown-sis_n_741987.html

An LDS journalist has a clear picture on how the LDS church stands on polygamy and give give accurate facts. However, if the story were about and LDS topic vs a Catholic topic, the LDS journalist should take himself/herself away from the story because of a heavy bias that would be present.

other news: Here is a link to another story about polygamy, which seems to be a front page topic recently. This one is on Warren Jeffs:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0727/Warren-Jeffs-Utah-court-overturns-polygamist-s-rape-conviction

Loyalty and Journalism

Who is a journalist loyal to? That was a questioned posed and mostly answered in my COMMS 239 class a couple of weeks ago. The group who presented made a very tasty treat to illustrate loyalty. Ever had the treat "puppy chow?" It was delicious. They made some and told us since dogs are loyal, it was a good representation of loyalty, the topic of their presentation. I was introduced to a new term in class. Its Nihilism. What is it exactly? They explained it as a belief in absolutely nothing. When it comes to journalism, its a belief in not believing anything so there is no bias or opinion. Its another way of saying that journalists shouldn't believe in anything so they have no opinion on a topic. Even though the idea is good about not having options or bias for a journalist, I think to have a journalist not believe in anything is ridiculous.
Have you ever thought of this: "Citizens should be thought of as consumers, but never customers because the news is provided free to the public and is often "sold" at a loss?" I never really thought of it like that, but when I sit down and think about it, it makes sense. We all consume news/media, in one form or another, but we don't pay for it (most of the time) and no profit is made (most of the time) so we (citizens) can't be considered customers. Think about that.
I think one thought that sums up the discussion would be: the most important priority is to the citizens. One interesting fact that I learned is that half of the journalistic leaders interviewed say they spend at least a third of their time on business matters, rather than on journalism. As an ending remark, I would just like to agree with a statement by Nick Clooney, a former newscaster who said, "If it comes down to a question of loyalty, my loyalty will be to the person who turns on the television set.."

Recent news: Have you heard about what has happend over President Packer's talk during general conference? It has caused a lot of disucssion and chaos. It has created a Facebook group, among other things. Here is a link to an article and video of the church's stance of the petition that was presented from the human rights campaign.
http://tinyurl.com/2ehzn4r

On a happier note, here is a link to a hilarious You-tube video showing what some news anchors do during commercial breaks. Its funny.
http://tinyurl.com/2fya8mf

Presses and Democracy

So in my journalism class last week, the discussion of the day was "Presses & Democracy" and "Journalism and Truth." Different models of media systems were discussed and definitions of "trust" were discussed to try and figure out where truth fits in journalism. One very important question was asked that I would like to answer. The question was ... "How does truthful news reporting create a sense of security?" My answer: we all have different sources we go to for news. Sometimes its the newspaper, sometimes its the internet, sometimes it a particular channel on the TV. Any or all of these are our "trusted" places for information because we believe the reporting being is is truthful and it gives us a sense of security. For me, I watch ABC news. I watch the local ABC channel in Salt Lake and I also watch ABC world news. Recently, because of class assignments, have also been getting my news from the NEW YORK TIMES. I trust all of these sources and it gives me a real sense of security to know that these places are reporting the "truth."
As mentioned in class, Realism and reality are not the same. Realism is considered a stereotype where as reality is actuality. Sometimes people seek realism in news and other times they want the reality. If we look hard enough, I think we can find both in the news. So the question remains, what is truth? I think it could be debated for hours but one statement that really stuck out to me is... "...needs fact and context, otherwise, its not really truth." If a statement is given without fact or context, it can't be considered truth.
One other aspect I found interesting about the group presentation was when there was a discussion about the different models of media systems being used. The U.S, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are among the places that use the Liberal Model. We believe that there is a professional view that journalists should write from a neutral position (fair, objective, and balanced.) I believe this is the way that journalists should be because in other parts of the world, such as Norway or Sweden, they don't believe in being balanced or objective and I think that creates major problems.

What interesting news have you found recently? One story I found funny/ interesting is a story about the new Barbie that was released, News Anchor Barbie. Here are two links to stories about this....

http://tinyurl.com/28cenqc
http://tinyurl.com/28zoyfq

"What is Journalism for?"

We had a very interesting group presentation on my COMMS 239 class last week. The basis for the presentation was "What is Journalism for?" and what the definition of journalism is. I liked the definition that was given, which was from a book called "Elements of Journalism" by Kovach and Rosenstiel. They say that "The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self governing." In my opinion, the the group presentation touched on this is... is that journalism is there to provide information to the public if for no other reason than to give the public information to make informed decisions on multiple topics. To be a successful journalist, you must have the love of reading and writing, an intense curiosity, a desire to contribute and the love of being on the inside, among other things. All these things are listed in a book called "The Mind of a Journalist," by Jim Willis. The one of these things that I just listed that I couldn't be more of advocate for is a love of being on the inside. One great thing about journalism and one reason I am wanting tohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif be in the profession is because I love having the inside scoop and letting other people know about it. That's what a great journalist does.

TOP MEDIA NEWS: Chattanooga, TN of all places is now offering ultra-fast internet at a gig per second. Only places like Tokyo and high business places have internet anywhere near that fast. The article can be found in many newspapers across the country, but I have included a link to the place I found it. Check it out!! This link should take you to the news article. http://bit.ly/ccEvJj

Views on Journalism

What is journalism and Who is a journalist? These are questions that can't really be answered very quickly, but I have some ideas on what I consider Journalism to be and who I consider a Journalist to be. To answer who is a journalist I must first define what I think journalism itself is. I think its reporting on events, not being bias and giving the facts of a story or event that the audience (whoever that may be) would want to know about. There is always timeliness to journalism. Whether the story is reported the day it happens or a month after it happens, there is a reason it is reported when it is to give the best information to the audience. With this said, a Journalist is someone who reports the relevant information in a timely manner and without bias in a way that their audience will care about it. It can be a tricky job, but i feel that Journalist will always have a job because there is always stuff going on that people will want to know about. A print journalist may not always have a job with all the technological advances, however, I think that journalist in general (especially broadcast and writers online) will always have the obligation to report on whats "important" to their audience. I do feel, however, a person doesn't have to have the title "journalist" to be considered one. If a person writes on a blog, or any other public medium, their information or views can be read by the mass population, therefore, they are reporting on events or ideas. I also consider this person a journalist because they are taking on the same role.