Week 11: Comprehensive and Proportional

According to Elements, the eight principle for journalists is that "journalists should keep the news comprehensive and in proportion." What does that mean? It means to tell the story accurately, to not leave out or over-emphasize details, to tell things as they are. Sensationalism is out, and so is downplaying.

Elements used the example of cartography: when drawing a map, cartographers are careful to chart accurately. Distortion is a bad thing: you don't want to misrepresent the size of the Coast of Important Information. You don't want to play up the Goldmine of Misleading Information. And for the love of journalism, don't plop the Sea Monster of Made-Up Facts in the News Article Ocean in the name of selling a few papers.

However, as Elements also points out, the metaphor can only go so far: cartography is an exact science, and journalism is not. "Proportion and comprehensiveness in the news are subjective." Journalists must find the correct balance between minimizing and hyping.

Elements has a great litmus test for deciding when a story has been hyped: "Human emotion is at the heart of what makes something news. Once you try to manufacture it, or use it to bring attention to yourself, you have crossed the line into something there is already enough of--reality entertainment."

Addtionally, this Poynter article gives the criteria for hype:

1. Amount of coverage: How much time and space is this news occupying?
2. Dominance of coverage: Is this news taking over a platform (website, newscast, front page) and/or dominating several platforms?
3. Prominence of coverage: How prominent is this news? Is it leading a newscast, on the front page?
4. Type of coverage: Is the news trivial or vital? Are respected newsmakers acting as if it’s vital? Is the event unexpected, rare?
5. Tone of coverage: How urgent is the message, how intense the delivery? Are the graphics and images conveying crisis?
6. Context of coverage: What else could or should be receiving our attention instead?

So don't hype.

Week 10: Religion and Journalism

Okay, don't shoot me, but only one thing ran through my mind as my COMMS 239 class discussed religion and journalism: absolutely and without a doubt, my religion comes first.

I am not willing to sacrifice my beliefs and convictions for anything. And that's probably one of the reasons I've decided to get out of the journalism game. That's right, I'm switching majors: being a reporter was not right for me. Instead, I'm running away to the delightful land of linguistics where I can read newspapers and enjoy the work of journalists without having to worry about being one.

Back to religion and journalism.

Despite the stark conflict, these two actually have a lot in common. Foremost: their top and guiding principle is that of seeking truth. Journalists and the religious are expected to work hard with integrity, humility, fairness, and trustworthiness. They are expected to live up to certain standards. Both want what is best for the people and both (should) promote freedom.

However, journalists should work hard on being unbiased, whereas organized religion is greatly biased toward their own beliefs.

So how do journalists reconcile those two things? I don't know. It is a deeply personal decision, I'm sure. Perhaps you can follow David Waters of the Washington Post, who said, "Our personal faith deeply affects who we are and what we believe, but it doesn't always have to affect what we do." Personally, I hope my faith and beliefs always affect what I do, and that I will always live by the standard set for me by my religion.

But then again, I'm not planning of being a journalist.

Another issue with religion and journalism is how reporters report on religious things. Religion is such a huge part of the lives of the majority of this country's citizens. Isn't it biased to ignore religion altogether when reporting? This article from ReligionWriters.com presents a compelling case for religious reporting.

I appreciate the motto of The Religion Newswriters Association: "[We envision] religion reporting and commentary informed by civility, accuracy, fairness and insight."

And that should be the goal for all of us.

Week 8: Watchdog Journalism

Lets be honest. I say "Watchdog journalism" and you think "Watergate!" or "The Pentagon Papers!" Those are very good things to think of. Both are excellent examples of time where journalists fulfilled their role in being the Fourth Branch of our government. However,watchdog journalism is not just watching the government. It's any public official or organization.

Lets look at fictitious journalists in popular culture: Clark Kent aka Superman. Vicki Vale from Batman. Peter Parker aka Spiderman. Polly Perkins from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (which is a wonderful, strange movie). April O'Neil from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These are all EPIC characters who do what? Seek for the truth, and vow to present that truth to the masses.

Of course, the super heroes on that list to a little more than chase after and write the facts, but the metaphor holds. Journalists are, in a way, the super heroes of the world. They're the ones who look out for the people by watching over the policy makers.

It's our job to make sure the citizens know what is really going on by serving as their watchdog. It's also important to realize that this does not mean chasing down a scandal where one does not exist. It means finding the truth and telling the truth. If the large organization is actually being ethical and fair in it's practices, then write that! It's not as exciting, but it's still truth.

And truth is what we do.

Week 7: Independence in Journalism

From Elements: "[Journalism's] practitioners must maintain an Independence from those they cover." This includes race, religion, gender, economic class, nationality, and so on. This all makes sense to me--how else can we be the objective truth-tellers that citizens expect us to be.

Recently I was talking to a friend who attends USU. She was ranting about an article she had read in the school paper, the Statesman. It was a news article with an obvious slant, and additionally she felt the bias was a stance that only someone uneducated about the topic would take. I listened to her talk, and read the article, all the while taking notes about how I could avoid making the same mistakes.

The truth is, it’s hard for us to not put opinion into what we write, especially young journalists like us. But we cannot let personal feelings into our writing. To do so would be unfair to the audience and unfair to the story and the truth.

I really like the quote “comment is free, but facts are sacred.” Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone has the truth. As a journalist, my job is to find and present that truth, and I hope I always maintain the independence I need to accomplish just that.