Faith and Media

With Romney’s campaign for President an increased awareness was brought to the LDS church or Mormons. This was termed the Mormon Moment. Whether or not Romney’s being a Mormon played into why he lost the election, Romney’s religion was a main highlight of main stream news stations. While this is the first time that Mormonism has been highlighted in a Presidential election, it is not the first time that religion has been a main focus of a Presidential election. When John F. Kennedy ran for president his Roman Catholic faith was highlighted by the media.

Some people think that religion and journalism shouldn’t mix, but there are a lot of similarities between the two. They both share similar values within their separate spheres and they both seek a form of truth. Religion seeks truth about spiritual matters, while journalism seeks truth in the world and facts.

Though some media outlets shy away from highlighting religious topics the Dallas Morning News has expanded coverage of religious topics. Whether we like it or not religion plays a major role in our countries makeup. Religion is a factor in almost every moral debate in our country. Church and state may be separate but not completely. Religion affects how we see and write about the world. It’s a fact that the things we consume become a part of us and affect how we see and react to things.

Reporting on religion can be a tricky arena to navigate though. It is good to interact with other faiths and get to know other people and learn new things. These interactions can give us new experiences and help form new friendships. But journalists need to be careful to keep boundaries. Stay neutral and don’t play to cultural stereotypes. Don’t assume that a people or culture is anything like the stereotypes make them seem like. Remember when you assume things it makes an ass out of u and me. Also make sure you don’t get too involved. Don’t import your own thoughts and feelings on a religion. There are many times that writing a story about religion helps others learn more about and understand people better.

Civil Rights in the Media

While journalists generally try to present truth in an unbiased fashion that is not always the case. In the 1960’s when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing many newspapers had different views and opinions about it. If you compare the headlines of major newspapers from August 28, 1963, the day thousands marched on Washington for equality, the response is shocking. Some newspapers didn’t have the march on Washington as a main story, but a side story. Other newspapers, mainly from the South, gave scathing reports about the event. One newspaper even referred to the demonstrators as black trash littering the streets of Washington. Some newspapers didn’t even realize that they were missing one of the greatest historical moments in the Civil Rights movement and focused on other news that they viewed as more important.

Even in the Washington Post, one of the newspapers that had the march on Washington as a main headline, missed a key historical event. The story focused on the march and the crowded streets and completely overlooked Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech. One of the most famous speeches in our nation’s history.

Everyone has different views and opinions which is why it is important to check multiple news sources to get the most accurate news. If we rely solely upon one news source for news then we may be missing out on some key pieces of news.

Media plays a key role in shaping news and framing it. Many reporters expected to see violence; however no fights or violence was displayed. The media coverage helped the country at large to see the protests as peaceful exercises of rights, helping progress the movement peacefully.

There is a great power in how we frame issues and present news to the public. While blacks now have many rights and freedoms the issue of race is still a problem in our nation. In the Zimmerman and Martin case a lot of the coverage was based around the issue of race. Many citizens felt that race played a significant factor in the case, while others felt the issue of race was irrelevant. No matter what our views may be on the case it is clear to see that issues of race are still prevalent. What up and coming journalists need to focus on now is how we will shape the stories we report and how we will utilize our influence for better or for worse. 

Boston Marathon Bombings

None of us can easily forget the terror that the Boston Marathon bombings brought during April 2013. This event showed the power that social media has in our world today. News of the bombings spread like wild fire because of social media, tweets, and Facebook posts. The speed that social media brought awareness to the subject was good and bad.

Because everyone wanted to have the most current and up to date information lots of news stations published false facts and accusations without checking up on them. In our world of media we have forgotten that it is better to be late and right than to be early and wrong. This killed the reliability of some of these news organizations. Even in a world with media outlets all around us journalists need to make sure they get the truth and check facts.

While social media may not have always been correct this event showed the impact social media can have and showed us that we need to treat it with more respect. There is a great power in social media and being able to share and connect instantly. Many people were able to connect with friends and family instantly and find out if they were alright or not.

Like always there are those who don’t understand the seriousness of the subject. Multiple scams appeared; people pretending to be bombing victims to get monetary compensation, Facebook pages asking for money, and tweets asking to share a post to donate money to victims. While some pages and donations online were legitimate there were many that were not. This past Halloween there was also a girl who stupidly enough dressed up as a Boston Marathon bombing victim. She was fired from her job and has received some very severe threats through social media. (While I don’t think what she did was right I don’t support the severe criticism and threats she received.)

This event showed the importance of being more media literate. Knowing what information to believe and what information needs to be researched and checked. It also placed a greater check on information placed on social media. Journalists and citizens need to be faster and more accurate in the information they post. 

The Future of Journalism

When I chose to go into journalism many people told me it was a dead end. They saw journalism as a dying profession because of the Internet. The internet has had a profound impact upon journalism and how journalists work. However, this does not mean that journalism is dying; it simply means that journalism must evolve and find a way to make journalism through the internet profitable. Jobs aren’t shrinking, they are just changing.

Throughout the next few years the new phase of journalism will be created and we are the creators. It is up to us to innovate and create our future. Technology is rapidly advancing and journalists need to find a way to advance right along with it. This is the challenge to journalism, but it is not an end to it.

Journalists need to learn about and know how to work different forms of technology and different social media sites. With a greater knowledge of technology and what it can do journalists will have a better chance of finding and creating jobs for themselves. The more we know the more we are empowered to make a difference.

Social media sites are huge and when used properly can be a great help to journalism. Within two years Instagram had grown larger and become worth more than the New York Times, the largest and most nationally recognized newspaper. If journalists can effectively tap into these social media sites the growth that journalism could have would be unprecedented.

The key to success is to be creative and innovative. Think of a need that society has and fill it or take an existing technology and advance it. Find something that you are passionate about and find a way to make it profitable. While this might be a daunting task at times the possibilities that can be found are limitless. No one can stop you from succeeding and doing what you love if you have the drive and determination to do the impossible and seek out opportunities. There is a lot of potential for journalism to grow and expand with the right now how and determination.

So what will you create? It’s up to you. Now go do something.

The Soloist (Movie Extra Credit)

The Soloist is a true story about Steve Lopez, an LA Times journalist, and a homeless Julliard trained musician whom he meets and writes a story on. 

At first Lopez thought it would be a great story, but as he talked to Nathaniel Ayers and got to know him he started to become emotionally attached to the story. In journalism there must be some degree of separation from the story a journalist writes and the journalist. When a journalist becomes too attached to a story or a subject it becomes less about informing the public about current events or interesting stories, and more about the journalist. Stories are supposed to be objective and when journalists become too emotionally attached they cannot be completely objective. Even without being emotionally attached it is difficult to be objective. 

Everyone has opinions and that isn’t a bad thing. No matter how hard we try we cannot be completely objective because we as humans are influenced by our experiences and surroundings. Without these feelings and opinions we lose the passion for the stories we write. It is not a bad thing to feel a connection to a story and to become involved with the story and those you report on. In fact I think journalists should be more involved in the stories they write. It makes the stories more real and personable. When a writer is too disconnected from what he is writing it is not as appealing or interesting to the audience.

Lopez became extremely involved with Ayers and it did influence him and what he did in relation to the stories he wrote. While this could have been a bad thing I think that in the long run Lopez did the right thing. He met a man who really needed help and needed a friend. While not every journalist should take such an intense interest in every story they write, when we meet people or experience situations that speak to us we should go for it and do what we can to help make the world a better place. That is what Lopez did. He helped Ayers become a better person and Ayers in turn helped Lopez become a better person. These experiences are part of being human and to deny that, especially for journalists, is denying what it means to be human.

I chose to go into journalism because I want to make a difference in the world. I don’t want to just sit in an office and write stories all day. I want to be out in the world experiencing things first hand and help open the eyes of the world to what is out there. I want to make a difference in people’s lives and while I know that there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed I don’t want to be a journalist that only cares about getting information out to the public. There is so much power that journalism can have and I want to use that force for good. 

This is why I feel that, while Lopez may have gotten too emotionally involved in his work with Ayers, overall Lopez was justified in what he did. He wrote a column that for him turned out to be more than just a story. Journalists make a living by telling stories and that is what Lopez did. The fact that he made Ayers a little bit better than he started was an added benefit and reward of journalism. Lopez got to see his work and influence pay off. Through his columns he let LA know about problems deep within the city and help make LA a bit better in the process.

Ethics

Ethics is a fundamental part of journalism that can be hard to understand at times. Ethics is not a black and white thing. Everyone has different opinions and different views on what is and isn’t ethical, which often produces passionate arguments.

One way to navigate this sometimes turbulent arena is to use the Potter Box. The Potter box helps you evaluate the situation through facts, values, principles, and loyalties. After going through these sections it is important to go back through and again and even go through it with someone else to help you understand what the right thing to do is.

Along with many different ways to evaluate ethics in a situation there are also many different perspectives that ethics can be viewed from. There is utilitarianism, consequentialism, non-consequentialism, along with value ethics, situation ethics, and moral absolutism. Utilitarianism favors action that produces the greatest among of happiness or good for the greatest amount of people. Consequentialism says that the ends justify the means. If the end result is good it doesn’t matter how you got to the result. Non-consequentialism on the other hand is concerned with actions themselves and not with the consequences.

Virtue ethics looks at virtue or moral character rather than ethical duties or consequences of actions. Situation ethics rejects prescriptive rules and argues that individual ethical decisions should be made based on a specific situation. Moral absolutism says that there are underlying moral rules and guidelines that everyone must abide by. None of these perspectives is wrong or right. That is what makes ethics so complex.

With all of these different ideas and perspectives it can be hard to decide what is ethical or not. While there is never an absolute right or wrong in ethics Aristotle’s Golden Mean provides a pretty good guide to follow. It says that the best solution comes between the two extremes. If one leans too much to any one perspective that can be bad, but when a combination of these different ideas and perspectives is used the best solution can be found.

The best way to sort out ethical problems is through discussion. When everyone is throwing around different ideas and the positives and negatives of each perspective is discussed it becomes easier to find a balance.

Many journalists today still act unethically. In one example a reporter cuts off the person she is interviewing and inserts her own opinion. If that isn’t bad enough at the end of her segment she called out and insulted the news stations rivals. This is a problem that will always be found in society, but when we take time to understand the basics of ethics and how we can overcome ethical problems we can make better and more informed decisions. 

Constitutional role of Journalism

The first case in American history that addressed the issue of how much journalists and printers should print was the John Peter Zenger case. In short, Zenger was a printer and printed some not so nice (yet true) things about the current governor. Governor William S. Cosby didn’t like what was printed and had Zenger jailed for “seditious libel”. Zenger was eventually acquitted and his trial helped bring about free press in the United States. However there have been other instances in our nation’s history that have brought up the question “how far should journalists go in bringing truth to light?”

From the pentagon papers to wiki leaks the constitutional role of journalism has been questioned. The pentagon papers released confidential information about past events and presidents. David Ellsberg, who leaked the papers, was brought to trial but acquitted of charges. The court determined that prior government restraint on the newspapers violated the first amendment.

A more recent example of this conflict is the wikileaks. Edward Snowden leaked classified information about the CIA, NSA, and other government agencies. Snowden felt that the information needed to be known by the public, but was it information that the public needed to know? Did the leaks endanger national security more than it protected it? These questions and many others surround the wikileaks and question journalists’ constitutional role.

Are there times when journalists get too carried away with their role as a watch dog? Did Snowden cross the line of protecting the public and possibly endangering International Security? These questions are hard to answer. No matter what choice he made there would’ve been consequences. If the public didn’t know about wikileaks there would’ve been different consequences and it is impossible to know exactly how things would have happened.

While these instances bring journalists’ roles into question the fact still remains. Journalists are needed as watchdogs. Without journalism to watch and keep government and other agencies in line our country would not be what it is today.

Who Pays for Journalism

The Internet has revolutionized the way our world receives news. This has caused a decline in journalism. In order to keep newspapers up and running new funding methods are needed.

Some online publications have started charging per online viewing of articles. The New York Times has capitalized on this. While they have started charging per view there are several ways around blocks so that people can see what they are getting before they pay a subscription. Some other online news sources completely block their articles. When articles are completely blocked it discourages readers. No one wants to pay for something when they don’t know what they will be given. This is where the New York Times is different. By allowing readers to see select articles they attract readers who want more of what they see online. This new model and several others including Native Ads, grants, and citizen journalism will help revolutionize funding in journalism.

When journalists focus more on how they are going to get paid than their actual job the consumers are the ones who end up paying the most.

Journalists have a job to report on news and give the public the truth. The Ochs Model, created by Adolph Ochs, demonstrated this by putting the audience ahead of political and immediate interests. This preserved the role of journalists by putting truth ahead of political or financial gain. Journalists’ first loyalty should be to the citizens. However through the past several decades this had changed.

In order to succeed financially journalists had to evolve into business men. The business side of journalism challenged the independence that journalists are supposed to have. They had to be equally invested in the business side of journalism as well as reporting. This weakened the relationship journalists had with citizens because journalism became less about the news and more about money. This caused the loyalty journalists once had to citizens to fade.

Finding a balance between business and journalism is essential to keeping the institution alive. Journalists can’t forget about how they are paid, but they can’t forget who pays the ultimate price when the focus of journalism is money and not truth.

J.B. Haws Speech

J.B. Haws, an assistant professor of church history and doctrine, shared his research on how media has shaped the world’s view of the Mormon culture. He found that the key voice that has helped define the world view of Mormons is the church’s public affairs department.

Over the past few decades the world image of Mormonism has declined. Research found that many people see individuals who are Mormon in a more favorable light than the institution itself. This gap has been increased through increased media coverage. The affairs department was created to help improve the church image.

In 1964 the church participated in the New York World’s Fair. They rented two lots near one of the entrances and created the Mormon Pavilion. At a cost of 3 million dollars to create, this was one of the most costly and ambitious projects the church had approved. “At first church officials balked at the idea of it, but public affairs reaffirmed the benefits of the idea” Haws said. Throughout the fair the pavilion had 6 million visitors and one in every six visitors requested missionaries to learn more. This brought thousands of new converts and was a great investment.

The public affairs department came up with the idea to create TV spots to show the world what Mormons believe. They want to create spots that were “so good networks couldn’t help but air them” Haws said. The department succeeded and many of the spots won national awards. Haws said the “commercials were a work of genius.” Before the spots aired most people associated Mormonism with the Osmonds, polygamy, and the Mormon Tabernacle choir. After the spots, when asked what they thought of Mormonism, the number one answer given was “you’re the church that believes in families.”

At the end of Haws’ presentation he shared his vision for the future. He said he expected to see “growth of respect for independent Mormon voices.” With the increasing media outlets it is becoming easier to share beliefs with a wide range of people. Haws advocated that we use these tools to “converse, not convert” and hopefully continue to improve the image of the church in a continually evolving world.

What Journalists Owe the Public

Journalists owe the public the truth. With so many news and social media outlets it is hard for the public to find real truth. There is a difference between news and truth. News signalizes an event, while truth brings facts to light. News may be truth, but not always. Reporters have a job to find and report truth.

With the evolution of 24/7 news and media coverage many news sources are quick to jump on any facts they hear without checking them. This was seen in the Navy Yard Shooting incident. Multiple news sources began attributing the shooting to an AR-15 gun. This breaking news was later found out to be false.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/17/miller-new-york-times-gets-it-wrong-about-navy-yar/?page=all

The public often doesn’t know who to trust because sources seek to use “facts” to set an agenda and support their case. In the case of the Navy Yard Shooting many used the attack to support an anti-gun agenda. This doesn’t mean that journalists can’t have opinions it just means that in order to do their job properly they must present accurate facts without forcing a certain opinion on an audience.

The truth deserves to be known so that the public can decide for themselves what is right or wrong. When media outlets push their opinions on their audience they are doing the audience a disservice. When truth is supported by many different and reliable sources it gives greater credibility to the facts presented. Journalists must sort through all the spin and bias from different news sources and find the pieces of truth.

In an article by Greg Hardesty entitled “Better by the dozen: quick tips for being a smarter reporter” he mentions several tips that are essential to good reporting. Several of his tips involve checking facts and always making sure you have correct information. “It’s your job as a journalist to confirm all factual stuff in your story. Get things right.”

http://www.spj.org/rrr.asp?ref=56&t=