1. The Professional

2. MYTH OF JOURNALISM
“One of the myths, of journalism, often used as a
cornerstone of criticism by its detractors, is that
there is somehow a uniform approach or perspective
that all journalists share about the world?

3. ?
Why would the naysayers of journalism believe
this? What type of stereotypes do we
potentially face as we enter the world of
journalism?

4. RUSH IS RIGHT!
http://www.usatoday.
com/news/opinion/columnist/neuharth/2004-10-
28-endorsing-candidates-neuharth_x.htm

5. ?
Is it possible for journalists to practice perfect
objectivity and distance in their reporting?
http://www.pbs.
org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/tags/objectiv
e.html

6. What is a 'worldview?'
http://www.worldji.com/pages/view/francis-a-
schaeffer-chair-of-apologetics

7. Worldview:
· a way to protect us from confusion,
· an ability to focus on what we think is
important
· a way of defining what we see.
· Definitions are the result conforming what
we SEE in the world in regards to what we
already think we know about the world

8. DEFINE
BEFORE WE
SEE

9. Define Before We See
“We pick out what our culture has already
defined for us, and we tend to perceive that
which we have picked out in the form
stereotyped for us by our culture.” Walter
Lippmann

10. ?
Does information prove our critics right? That
journalists try, on purpose, to bend events and
issues to their viewpoint and opinion?

11. ?
WORLDVIEW VS. BIAS. Is there a difference?

12. Worldview cont.
It is impossible for all journalists to have the
same “worldview,” on every subject. And given
the same task, two journalists with two different
worldviews, can gather the same facts and
present them in a similar fashion. HOWEVER,
worldviews do determine what a journalist
thinks is newsworthy on a given day and also
how the facts are gathered.

13. EXAMPLE
The importance of time. West vs. East

14. OPTIMISM
Expect good things to happen. Bad things are the
MOST newsworthy. How does this differ from the
news of the rest of the world?

15. AMERICA
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jour/parvin/parvwrite.
html

16. Ethnocentrism
What is Ethnocentrism? Where is this
prevalent?
http://www.john-zhu.
com/blog/2010/01/11/relax-its-just-chicken-and-
american-ethnocentrism/

17. Cultural Immersion
Should we expect to be able to shed our
cultural values and views in order to be more
objective?

18. ?
Should we even place high expectations on
ourselves to be completely objective, or should
we accept the fact that is it impossible to shed
all worldviews and culturual norms that we
were raised

19. Involvement vs. Detachment
● "New Journalism"
○ Believed that to get the most accurate information
one had to immerse themselves in the story
○ George Plimpton-trained with the Detroit Lions
● Professional Detachment
○ "Some reporters seem to put professional
detachment on some sort of pedestal. I've heard it
asked, "If a man is dying at your feet, do you try to
save his life or note the color of his lips?" Some
journalists would say your job is to let the person die
and record the death accurately. "
-Barry Bearak, The Mind of a Journalist pg 34-35

20. Ambiguity
How can we interpret the needs of the public?
● High- Context: needs all the blanks filled-in,
the specifics of an event
● Low- Context: comfortable with vague details
and generalizations
" Less is more"
● Make sure that what you write is interesting
yet clear and concise

21. Diversity Among Journalists
● Journalists resent the idea that their
background influences their
reporting in any way
● There is not a proportionate
representation of reporters
to the American population
○ Example: Hispanics make up 13.4% of the US
population but only 3.3% of reporters are Hispanic

22. Journalists as Gatekeepers
" News consumers are dependent upon a
person they do not know-or often do not know
about-to bring them a focused and accurate
picture of reality."
-The Mind of a Journalist, pg. 39

23. Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values
● The combination of these 3 things is what
makes us unique individuals
● There are always exceptions to the rules, we
can choose who we are despite how we are
raised

24. The Priesthood of Journalism
"Journalists see journalism as a kind of
professional priesthood in which they, much
like the clergy or even police officers, surrender
to the higher calling of serving others."
- The Mind of a Journalist

25. The Fourth Estate
- Journalism as the fourth branch of
government.

26. Journalistic Inbreeding
Journalists learn real skills form other
journalists who learned them from other
journalists, etc.
Journalistic organizations like the
Society of Professional Journalists
and the American Society of
Newspaper Editors publish codes
of ethics and standards that
journalists are expected to live by.

27. Necessary Separation
● Social
● Distance in
order to see
clearly any
other side of
the argument
● Emotional self-
preservation

28. Fourth aspect to the priesthood of
journalists- Confidentiality
What is confidentiality is journalism?
Is confidentiality good or bad?

29. When-and when not-is it ok to grant
confidentiality to sources?
Hotly debated question in journalism.

30. Is confidentiality good for
journalism?
Protects the source from fear of:
● Loss of job
● Personal Harm
● Being ostracized
● Damage to reputation

31. Is confidentiality bad for journalism?
1. Anonymous sources are often perceived by readers or viewers as less
credible than stories in which the source is named.
2. Granting confidentiality means that the source can say whatever he or she
wants without having to be accountable.
3. Anonymous sources making allegations of ethical or legal wrongdoing
against another person. If the accused person decides to sue the newspaper,
magazine, or television station for libel- and if the reporter refuses to identify the
source of these allegations- the judge can find the reporter in contempt of court.
● Reporters usually only have to prove that they had good reason to
believe that what they printed was true, to avoid serious legal
offenses. However, this becomes extremely difficult when they can't
name the source of the incorrect information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/20anthrax.html

32. Editors strongly discourage
confidentiality.
Janet Cooke- "Jimmy's world"
● Fabricated story of an 8-year-old boy who
had become hooked on heroin by his
mother's boyfriend.
● The story was rewarded the Pulitzer Prize.
● Discovered that there was no "Jimmy."
Suffered humiliation and discredited.
● Cooke lost her job as a result and became
ostracized in the journalistic community.
● http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bradlee/background_cooke.html

33. Editors strongly discourage
confidentiality.
Stephen Glass
● American former journalist fabricated several magazine articles.
● Glass fabricated quotations, sources, and even entire events in articles he
wrote for that magazine and others
● Film created after him called, "Shattered Glass."
● Caught upon Upon the publication of "Hack Heaven" when competitor
found that none of the sources of his story even existed.
● At least 27 of his 41 stories were proved to contain fabricated material.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=A1fcF9LLjYE&feature=related