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/
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
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
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
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