Bhumi dangi.
Department of English, m k
bhavnagar university.
m.a. semester-4
paper 15: Mass
communication and media studies.
Assignment
“Journalism”
"Exploring 'Journalism' with added dimension"
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Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts,
ideas, and people that are the "news of
the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word
applies to the occupation (professional or not), the methods of
gathering information, and the organizing literary styles. Journalistic media
include: print, television, radio, internet,
and, in the past, newsreels.
Concepts of
the appropriate role for journalism varies between countries. In some nations,
the news media is controlled by a government intervention, and is not a fully
independent body In others, the
news media is independent from the government but the profit motive is in tension with constitutional protections of freedom of press. Access to freely
available information gathered by independent and competing journalistic
enterprises with transparent editorial standards can enable citizens to
effectively participate in the political process. In the United States,
journalism is protected by the freedom of the press clause in the First
Amendment.
The role and
status of journalism, along with that of the mass media, has undergone changes
over the last two decades with the advent of digital technology and publication
of news on the Internet. This has
created a shift in the consumption of print media channels, as people
increasingly consume news through e-readers, smartphones, and other electronic
devices, challenging news organizations to fully monetize their digital wing,
as well as improvise on the context in which they publish news in print.
Notably, in the American media landscape, newsrooms have reduced their staff
and coverage as traditional media channels, such as television, grapple with
declining audiences. For instance, between 2007 and 2012, CNN edited its story
packages into nearly half of their original time length
This
compactness in coverage has been linked to broad audience attrition, as a large
majority of respondents in recent studies show changing preferences in news
consumption. The digital era has
also ushered in a new kind of journalism in which ordinary citizens play a
greater role in the process of news making, with the rise of citizen journalism being possible
through the Internet. Using video camera equipped smartphones, active citizens
are now enabled to record footage of news events and upload them onto channels
like youtube, which is often
discovered and used by mainstream news media outlets. Meanwhile, easy access to
news from a variety of online sources, like blogs and other social media, has resulted
in readers being able to pick from a wider choice of official and unofficial
sources, instead of only from traditional media organizations. Journalism is
nonfiction.
Production
Journalistic conventions vary by
country. In the United States, journalism is produced by media organizations or
by individuals. Bloggers are often, but not always, journalists.
The Federal Trade Commission requires that bloggers who receive free
promotional gifts, then write about products, must disclose that they received
the products for free. This is to eliminate conflicts of interest and protect
consumers
Fake News is news that is not
truthful or is produced by unreliable media organizations. Fake news is easily
spread on social media. Readers can determine fake news by evaluating whether
the news has been published by a credible news organization. In the US, a
credible news organization is an incorporated entity; has an editorial board;
and has a clear division between editorial and advertising departments.
Credible news organizations, or their employees, belong to one or more
professional organizations such as the American Society of News Editors, the
Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters & Editors, or
the Online News Association. All of these organizations have codes of ethics
that members abide by. Many news organizations have their own codes of ethics
that guide journalists' professional publications. The New York
Times code of standards and ethics is considered particularly
rigorous.
When they write stories, journalists
are concerned with issues of objectivity and bias. Some types of stories are
intended to represent the author's own opinion; other types of stories are
intended to be more neutral or balanced. In a physical newspaper, information
is organized into sections and it is easy to see which stories are supposed to
be opinion and which are supposed to be neutral. Online, many of these
distinctions break down. Readers should pay careful attention to headings and
other design elements to ensure that they understand the journalist's intent.
Opinion pieces generally are written by regular columnists or appear in a
section titled "Op-ed." Feature stories, breaking news,
and hard stories stories are generally not opinion pieces.
Many debates center on whether
journalists are "supposed" to be "objective" or
"neutral." The idea of "journalistic objectivity" is
considered out of date. Journalists are people who produce news out of and
as part of a particular social context. They are guided by professional codes
of ethics and do their best to represent all legitimate points of view.
Forms
There are several different forms of
journalism, all with diverse audiences. Journalism is said to serve the role of
a "fourth estate", acting as a watchdog on the workings of
the government. A single publication (such as a newspaper) contains many forms
of journalism, each of which may be presented in different formats. Each
section of a newspaper, magazine, or website may cater to different audiences
Some forms include:
·
Advocacy Journalism– writing to advocate particular viewpoints
or influence the opinions of the audience.
·
Broadcast Journalism – written or spoken journalism for
radio or television.
·
Data journalism -- the practice of finding stories in numbers, and
using numbers to tell stories. Data journalists may use data to support their
reporting. They may also report about uses and misuses of data. The US news
organization ProPublica is known as a pioneer of data
journalism.
·
Gonzo journalism – first championed by Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalism is a "highly
personal style of reporting".[10]
·
Investigative
journalism: in-depth reporting that uncovers social problems. Often leads
to major social problems being resolved.
·
Tabloid journalism – writing that is light-hearted
and entertaining. Considered less legitimate than mainstream journalism.
The recent rise of social media has
resulted in arguments to reconsider journalism as a process rather than attributing
it to particular news products. From this perspective, journalism is
participatory, a process distributed among multiple authors and involving
journalists as well as the socially mediating public
History
Johann Carolus's Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen
Historien, published in 1605 in Strassburg, is often recognized as the first newspaper. The first successful English daily, the Daily Courant, was published from 1702 to 1735. The reform of
the Diário Carioca newspaper in the 1950s is usually referred
to as the birth of modern journalism in Brazil.
Role
In the 1920s, as modern journalism
was just taking form,[14] writer Walter Lippmann and American philosopher John Dewey debated over the role of journalism in a democracy. Their differing philosophies still characterize a debate about
the role of journalism in society and the nation-state.
To Lippmann, the journalist fulfilled
the role of mediator, or translator, between the general public and policy-making elites. Lippmann reasoned that the
public could not assess modern society's growingly complex flurry of facts;
therefore, it needed an intermediary to filter its news. Journalists served as
this intermediary, recording the information exchanged among elites, distilling
it, and passing it on for public consumption. The public would affect the decisions of the elite with its
vote; in the meantime, the elite would keep the business of power running. Effectively,
Lippmann's philosophy had the public at the bottom of the power chain,
inheriting its information from the elite.
Lippmann's elitism had consequences
that he came to deplore. An apostle of historicism and scientism, Lippmann did
not merely hold that democratic government was a problematic exercise, but regarded
all political communities, of whatever stripe, as needing guidance from a
transcendent partisanship for accurate information and dispassionate judgment.
In "Liberty and the News" (1919) and "Public Opinion" (1921) Lippmann expressed the
hope that liberty could be redefined to take account of the scientific and
historical perspective and that public opinion could be managed by a system of
intelligence in and out of government. Thus the liberty of the journalist was
to be dedicated to gathering verifiable facts while commentators like himself
would place the news in the broader perspective. Lippmann deplored the
influence of powerful newspaper publishers and preferred the judgments of the
"patient and fearless men of science". In so doing, he denigrated not
only the opinion of the majority but also the opinion of those who had
influence or power as well. In a republican form of government, the
representatives are chosen by the people and share with them adherence to the
fundamental principles and political institutions of the polity. Lippmann's
quarrel was with those very principles and institutions, for they are the
product of the pre-scientific and pre-historical viewpoint and what for him was
a groundless natural-rights political philosophy.
But Lippmann turned against what he
called the "collectivism" of the Progressive movement he encouraged
with its de-emphasis on the foundations of American politics and government and
ultimately wrote a work, "The Public Philosophy" (1955), which came
very close to a return to the principles of the American founders.
Dewey, on the other hand, believed
not only that the public was capable of understanding the issues created or
responded to by the elite, but also that it was in the public forum that
decisions should be made after discussion and debate. When issues were
thoroughly vetted, then the best ideas would bubble to the surface. Dewey
believed journalists should do more than simply pass on information. He
believed they should weigh the consequences of the policies being enacted. Over
time, his idea has been implemented in various degrees, and is more commonly
known as "community journalism".
This concept of community journalism is at the centre of new
developments in journalism. In this new paradigm, journalists are able to
engage citizens and the experts and elites in the proposition and generation of
content. While there is an assumption of equality, Dewey still celebrated
expertise. Dewey believed the shared knowledge of many to be far superior to a
single individual's knowledge. Experts and scholars are welcome in Dewey's
framework, but there is not the hierarchical structure present in Lippmann's
understanding of journalism and society. According to Dewey, conversation,
debate, and dialogue lie at the heart of a
democracy.
While Lippmann's journalistic
philosophy might be more acceptable to government leaders, Dewey's approach is
a more encompassing description of how many journalists see their role in
society, and, in turn, how much[ of society expects
journalists to function. Americans, for example, may criticize some of the
excesses committed by journalists, but they tend to expect journalists to serve
as watchdogs on government, businesses and actors, enabling people to make informed decisions on
the issues of the time.
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