In
the last chapter of his book, Merrill offers an Aristotelian approach
to resolving tensions between freedom and responsibility, libertarianism
and communitarianism, and the various other dichotomies he has raised.
He recommends
something he calls ethical mutualism, a moderate middle
ground that combines respect for society with respect for the individual.
Ethical
mutualism also involves a combination of the direct and indirect view
of ethics:
"Ethical
journalists will try to develop a moral character (the indirect
view) while they also consider the importance of specific
acts in particular situations as they arise (the direct view)"
(Journalism
Ethics, p. 220).
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In other
words, ethics
are both personal and practical.
Being ethical requires having a moral
sense or a conscience, as well as a commitment to try to think rationally
and act ethically. But although ethics draws on theory and philosophy, it
ultimately is something
you do in real situations, not just something you think
about:
"Ethical
foundations are practical, useful and have a purpose.
"Ethics
in journalism has to do with `right' (or `better') actions
that will accomplish some pragmatic goal, such as leading to
a better
understanding, bringing more happiness, enlarging the dimensions
of truth available to the public, improving social institutions,
or pleasing one's god or one's self" (Journalism
Ethics, p.
221).
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Chapter
8 of The Elements of Journalism relates most directly
to one of next week's topics, infotainment. But I thought it would
be good to finish the book before the second test!
The principle
the authors offer here is:
"Journalists
must make the significant interesting and relevant" (Elements
of Journalism, p.
148).
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Journalism
is not something different from good storytelling. Journalism
is good storytelling -- telling stories whose purpose
is providing people with information they need to understand the world.
The argument
that such journalism doesn't sell is nonsense. Sure, we all want to be
entertained sometimes -- and we have plenty of media options when we
do. We turn to journalists for information that we know matters, information
that is relevant to our lives.
Unfortunately,
the organizations that journalists work for are less and less committed
to providing
it. Good journalism is hard, time-consuming and expensive. The problem
is particularly acute at local television news stations. But it is
evident in the content provided other media outlets, both local and
national, as well. Ultimately,
the authors say, attracting audiences by being merely engaging will fair
as a long-term business strategy for journalism. Here's why:
* People
who are fed only trivia and entertainment will lose their appetite
for anything else.
They
will not suddenly decide they want better journalism. They'll
spend their lives consuming the equivalent
of media junk food. |
| * A
strategy based on delivering infotainment destroys a news organization's
authority to deliver more serious news. And it drives away members
of the audience who want it. |
* Turning
news into entertainment plays to the strengths of other media.
"How
can the news ever compete with entertainment on entertainment's
terms? Why would it want to?
"The
value and allure of news is different. It is based on relevance.
"The
strategy of infotainment, though it may attract an audience
in the short run and may be cheap to produce, will build
a shallow audience because it is built on form, not substance.
Such an audience will switch to the next `most exciting'
thing because it was built on the spongy ground of excitement
in the first place" (Elements
of Journalism, pp. 154-155).
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In
the last chapter, the Elements of Journalism authors strike
a note similar to Merrill's. At the end of the day, journalists must
have an obligation
to personal conscience:
"Every
journalist -- from the newsroom to the boardroom -- must have
a personal sense of ethics and responsibility -- a moral compass.
...
"Journalists
live and die by their reputation as people with ethics. It's
all they have" (Elements
of Journalism, pp. 181, 185). |
Moreover,
journalists have a responsibility to express their conscience -- and
to allow others to do so as well. The authors emphasize the importance
of open communication, especially among people who may see things differently.
This idea
is directly connected with true diversity. It's important
for newsrooms to more closely resemble, and to truly reflect, the culture
at large. But, the authors point out, merely
adding people of varying backgrounds risks confusing
means with ends:
"Getting
more minorities in the newsroom is a target, but not the goal,
of diversity. The goal is a more accurate news organization. Ethnic,
gender and racial quotas are a means of approaching that. But they
will accomplish nothing in themselves if the newsroom culture then
requires that these people from different background all adhere
to a single mentality.
"The
goal of diversity should be to assemble not only a newsroom that
might resemble the community but one that is also ... open and
honest so that this diversity can function.
"This
is not racial or gender diversity. It is not ideological diversity.
It is not numerical diversity. It is ... intellectual diversity,
and it encompasses and gives meaning to all the other kinds" (Elements
of Journalism, pp. 188-189).
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Finally, the
authors conclude with the role of citizens -- of all of
us. We all have a responsibility for making a society based on information
work.
Journalists
can do a better job, not only their daily practice but also through a
commitment to letting people in on how and why news decisions are made.
But ultimately,
members of the society as a whole will determine what they want that society
to be:
"History
has taught us by bloody experience what happens to
a society in which the citizens act on the basis of self-interested
information -- whether it is the propaganda of a despotic state
or the edicts of a sybaritic leisure class substituting bread and
circuses for sovereignty. ...
"Six
billion people have no access to a free press, and the 1.2 billion
who do are increasingly served by a press in service more to private
profit than public interest.
"Civilization
has produced one idea more powerful than any other -- the notion
that people can govern themselves. And it has created a largely
unarticulated theory of information to sustain that idea, called
journalism. The two rise and fall together" (Elements
of Journalism, p. 193). |
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Here's
a question you may be asking (even if you don't ask it out loud): Isn't
attention to diversity really just a matter of political correctness?
Why does it matter if the folks bringing you the news look alike and
come from similar backgrounds? And the sources they quote look alike,
too? Isn't the important thing that
they
are the best journalists and the best sources?
Being the
best is important, yes. But this isn't about "PC" so much
as it is about truth.
Truth is
multi-faceted. It is most likely to emerge when we are able to look
at the world through many sets
of eyes. To
seek and report as much of the truth as possible -- to tell a complete
story -- we must see it from as many
perspectives as possible.
The methods
of journalism, such as the processes and principles of verification
we discussed last week, transcend the differences among us. But the
stories we perceive in the first
place will vary. The more, the merrier! |
Here
are some recent data on newsroom staffing:
* Newspapers
(ASNE, 2004
data)
* 13.42
percent of the 54,134 full-time journalists in newspaper
newsrooms in 2004 were minorities. That is about half a
percentage point more than the previous year.
Among
the U.S. population as a whole, just over 30 percent are non-Hispanic
whites, according to 2000 Census Bureau data.
(The percentage is estimated to have risen to about 33 percent
by 2005.) |
* Asians
and Latinos accounted for most of the
change from the previous year.
Newspaper
newsrooms added a net of 365 Asian-Americans and 259 Latinos,
but only 46 Native
Americans and 34 African-Americans. |
| *
About 60 percent of all U.S. daily newspapers have at least one
minority staffer. Among those that do not, most have circulations of 10,000 or
less and serve small communities. |
| * Minorities
account for 10.8 percent of all newspaper newsroom supervisors. |
* The
percentage of women in daily newspaper newsrooms increased
slightly in 2004, to about 37.5 percent.
About
35 percent of newsroom supervisors are women. |
Overall,
newsroom staffing fell 4 percent between 2001 and 2005. Newsrooms
lost nearly 1,000 reporters, nearly 600 editors, nearly
300 photographers and artists, and more than 400 copy editors.
(That said, surveys of recent JMC graduates indicate the situation
may be improving a bit as the economy perks up again.) |
* Radio
and television (RTNDA, 2005
data)
* Minorities
make up 21.2 percent of the television workforce but only
7.9 percent of the radio workforce.
Taking
Hispanic TV stations out of the mix drops the percentage
to 19.5 percent.
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* About
half the minorities in television are African-American.
Almost
all the minorities in radio are Hispanic. |
* Minorities
account for 11 (radio) or 12 (television) percent of all
broadcast news directors.
In
both media, Hispanics make up the largest single group of minority
managers. In radio, there were no African-American or Asian-American
news directors in 2005.
As
for television general managers, fewer than 7 percent are minorities.
In radio, only 3.4 percent of GMs are minorities. |
* In
the largest (top 25) television markets, minorities made
up an average of 29 percent of the workforce -- about twice
the percentage in the smallest markets.
Radio
stations in major markets averaged a minority workforce
of about 10.5 percent. In medium markets, the percentage
dropped to 2.5. |
* Women
make up 39.3 percent of the television workforce
and 27.5 percent of the radio workforce.
In
television, the percentage of women varies very little
with market size. In radio, the percentages are significantly
higher in major and large markets than in smaller ones.
About
21.3 percent of television news directors are women; for
radio, the figure is about 24.7 percent. Women
make up 17 percent of the television general managers and
about 21 percent of radio GMs.
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* FYI,
additional
information about diversity and related resources for news organizations
are available from the Freedom
Forum.
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Obviously,
the news media face something of a challenge in this area.
Here are
some things individual journalists can do in the meantime to try to
avoid grossly distorting the truth. These are from the Poynter
Institute and New Directions for News, now part of the American
Press Institute:
Avoid
all-too-common stereotypes.
Ask
yourself: "Would I say the same thing about an affluent
white Christian man?"
Common
racial (in particular) stereotypes:
* The
secondary (the "little people").
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* The
ignored and invisible.
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* The
achievers, exceptions to "norm."
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* The
despised and feared.
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A
few practical tips for diversifying news content:
* Visit
new communities to develop sources, ideas.
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* ...
And take others from the newsroom along. Set up meetings
with local residents and leaders.
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* Treat
all your sources and subjects as real people, with friends,
interests, jobs ... just like you.
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* Subscribe
to alternative publications in the newsroom. You'll learn,
among other things, that all communities are diverse,
not monolithic.
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| * Do
a content analysis now and then to see how, and how often,
you portray community groups. |
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Or,
of course, you could simply follow Gannett's approach to diversity.
As described
in "Just Add Color," Gannett (which owns
more papers than any other U.S. chain, including the Register and Press-Citizen),
follows a policy it calls "mainstreaming."
It
wants minority voices be heard every day in every paper. Its goal
is to provide a news product that is inclusive of all members of
society.
At the Greenville (SC) News,
for example, two "goals" (reporters
describe them as mandates) have been set for meeting this policy:
1) Each section's front page must have at least one minority
quote every day.
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| 2) All
stories not prompted by breaking news must quote at least
one minority. |
What do
you think of:
* The
company's policy?
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| * The
approach to meeting the policy's goals? |
| * The
results? |
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Coverage
of Hurricane Katrina last fall, and its aftermath, also raised numerous
issues related to race -- a subject Ashley K. wrote about a few weeks
ago on our blog,
prompting very thoughtful responses from several of you.
The article
you read for this week offers a variety of suggestions for producing
good journalism about those important issues, particularly for strong storytelling
that connects issues of class, of immigration policy, of labor issues and
more.
All the
journalists quoted in the article emphasized finding ways to convey the
complexity of U.S. society in general and of what happened (and continues
to happen) in New Orleans in particular.
"Spend
more time where people live, go to school, where they shop and
where they work. ...
"New
cultural configurations are replacing an old Black/White paradigm.
New, more nuanced reporting and writing must replace the old,
conventional conflict-oriented race relations coverage. ...
"That
requires us to observe and report what's happening now so we
can better understand the face of things yet to come" ("Covering
Race: Back to the Future," Colon, poynteronline.com).
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