Mizzou J1100 Exam 1

What democracy needs from journalism

information dissemination, accountability, representation, deliberation and conflict resolution

How does the press fulfill democratic needs?

Journalism informs, analyzes, interprets and explains.

Journalism investigates.

Journalism creates public conversation.

Journalism helps generate public empathy.

Journalism encourages accountability.

Three metaphors

mirror, watchdog, marketplace

1st Amendment

speech, religion, press, assembly, petition

Hutchins Commission recommendations

truthful accounts, forum for comments and criticism, representative picture of society, presentation of societal goals, full access of intelligence

Our definition of journalism

independence, transparency

Kovach and Rosenstein's Elements of Journalism

truth, citizens, verification, independence, monitor of power, forum for compromise and criticism, make significant news interesting, comprehensive and proportional, exercise personal conscience

Kovach and Rosenstein's Simple Rules

verify everything before reporting

remain fiercely independent

remain committed to truth-telling

commit to elevating the discourse

Types of reporting

beat, soft news, enterprise

Current state of media ownership

Comcast, Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, TimeWarner, CBS

Perfect Duties

fidelity, nonmaleficence, formal justice, reparation, respect

Imperfect Duties

beneficence, representative justice, gratitude, honesty, self-improvement

Ethical systems

teleology, deontology, virtue ethics

Process of decision making

open mind, all the facts, listen to gut, identify duties at stake, figure out conflict, brainstorm and analyze, conclude, minimize harm from decision, look towards the future

Two branches of law

criminal and civil

Exceptions to free speech

true threat, "fighting words," "incitement to imminent lawless action"

Gov. can't regulate speech but they can regulate...

time, place, and manner

Purposes of the 1st Amendment: Instrumental

"marketplace of ideas," self-governance, check government power, act as a safety valve, promote tolerance

Purposes of the 1st Amendment: Intrinsic

individual fulfilment

Outside pressures on journalists

governments, market, advertisers, public relations, sources

Scientific method

testing info, weighing the evidence, using transparent means, verifying

democracy

a system of government where citizens govern themselves

accountability

democracy's need for some way to hold those in power responsible for their actions

representation

in a democratic system, all people are visible to others and have the chance to be heard

deliberation and conflict resolution

democracy's need for a forum in which the interests of the public can be aired and debated and conclusions can be reached

Hutchins Commission

said that free speech can be compromised by poor journalistic acts

Thomas Carlyle

saw reporters in Parliament as "fourth branch" that checks government

horizontal

capacity of institutions to check one another, checks and balance

vertical

non-governmental organizations and the press seek to enforce standards of performance on officials

Walter Lippmann

pessimistic, thought that the average citizen couldn't comprehend complex info

John Dewey

optimistic, thought that communication was key to a democracy

mirror

gives society a way to see itself

watchdog

barks when things are corrupt

marketplace

provides a forum of thoughts and ideas (even unpopular ones)

credibility

combination of trustworthiness and expertise that makes us more or less likely to believe or rely on what a source of information tells us.

journalism

a set of transparent, independent procedures aimed at gathering and reporting truthful information of consequence to citizens in a democracy

news judgment

how journalists determine which events and info - and which aspects of those - are important enough to cover as news and how to cover them

neutrality

taking no position on an issue

citizen journalism

news content produced by people who don't work as full-time journalists but who might engage in reporting practices that look like the journalistic method

commodity

a product, usually produced and/or sold by many different companies that is uniform in quality and thus driven entirely by price

breaking news

a sudden, compelling news event covered immediately by reporters

pseudo events

events or activities that serve little to no purpose other than to be reproduced through advertisements or other forms of publicity

beat

a specific topic area of news coverage, such as the police beat or the local gov. beat

enterprise stories

stories that rely upon sources they have developed through their area of coverage to keep them informed and pass along news items to create original works of journalism

package

an edited set of video clips for a broadcast news story

media ownership

who owns the media, whether it be an individual, corporation, or the government

mass media

TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs, movies, books

integration

how the many businesses with a media conglomerate work together to create advantages within a market segment

horizontal integration

a conglomerate owning a number of media outlets across the marketplace

vertical integration

a conglomerate owning companies up and down the chain of production and distribution of media products

dual-product model

media companies sell two products, not just one. First product is the actual product (sold to consumers). The second is the attention of the audience interacting with that content (sold to advertisers).

legacy media

media products predating the internet, typified by a dependence upon heterogeneous audiences, advertising media, and one-way communication

digital-first

editorial strategy of serving their audience as quickly and locally as possible

paywall

a system that prevents internet users from accessing webpage content without a paid subscription

hyperlocal

a form of journalism marked by its intense focus on locality, community news defined by geography, often with a single-issue lens

engagement

the depth of the involvement that a news customer has with a media product

monetization

the process of converting something that once was free into a product that is sold

plagiarism

a kind of intellectual theft, in which one passes off someone else's work and ideas as his own

morality

a code of conduct, how a group behaves or a more universal code that everyone should endorse

prior restraint

government prohibition of speech in advance of publication

sedition

the crime of revolting and inciting revolt against government

defamation

any intentional false communication, either written or spoke, that harms a person's reputation, decrease the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held

libel

written or broadcasted defamation

shield laws

provides protection to journalists facing orders to testify or provide notes, photographs, or other reporting work product in court

intrusion

intentionally intruding, physically or otherwise, upon another person's seclusion or solitude or another person's private affairs

publication of private facts

the publication of information about someone's personal life that has not been previously revealed to the public, is not a matter of personal life that has not been previously released to the public, and the publication of which would be offensive to a reasonable person

false light invasion of privacy

giving publicity to a matter concerning another person that portrays that person falsely if the portrayal would be highly offensive to a reasonable person

appropriation

the use of one's name or likeness for personal or commercial gain without consent or compensation

independence

journalists are free to pursue truth with loyalty only to citizens and not particular interests, causes, or other pressures in mind

objectivity

a person's alleged ability to completely detach from, and have no opinion or perspective on, a given issue

structural bias

a type of frame or approach, inherent to journalism practice, which favors certain kinds of news topics and presentations over others