Journalistic Excellence

Throughout the semester Dr. Cressman has been continually presenting us with the question of what is journalism. Never before in my life have I given the subject a thought but this class has really opened my eyes to the journalistic world around me.
A very important element of journalism is objectivity. Objectivity can refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship or some combination of all of them. It is an important element in journalism because society needs to feel like they are making up their own minds. Journalism is to present the facts in a non biased way as to let society do just that. Advocacy journalism is quite the opposite. If there ever was a place for opinion its in advocacy journalism. As a journalist it would be nearly impossible to have your own opinions at the same time practice objective journalism. Having your own opinions is the opposite of objective journalism. If I were to become a journalist I think I would work very hard to not put my own opinions in. I could see it being very hard if it was a situation I felt very strongly about. Honestly I most likely would put my own spin on things because I felt it was right.
Excellence in journalism is a very noble concept. As well it is an elusive one to many journalists. Excellence in journalism can be identified as journalism that meets all the elements of journalism such as objectivity, obligation to truth and loyalty first to citizens. Aspects such as independence and vigilance are also very essential to journalism. A journalist needs to not be influenced by outside sources as to what he or she reports on. As well they need to be vigilant in seeking after the facts and the truth. A true journalist is obligated to finding the truth and reporting that to the community they represent. In my semester long examination of the Alvin Sun I found that evidence of objectivity were rather lacking. They were very much biased in their reports of events such as a new “Grand Parkway” highway coming through the town as a bad thing for Alvin. I suppose in serving a smaller community that is obviously biased one way already as a whole, journalism must adapt to its environment in order to keep readers interested. The readers of Alvin Sun all felt that the new highway would only make the town grow unnecessarily and the paper reflected that feeling.
Journalistic truth could be described as a process. It is a “practical or functional form of truth…a process—or continuing journey toward understanding. Indeed, journalistic truth, as a nexus of much social communication, is perhaps the most pragmatic variety of all” (Scheuer 64). Reality or absolute truth is a “what you see is what you get” type of thing and journalistic truth simply isn’t. Journalistic truth contributes a continuous flow of facts to civic knowledge. That’s its job. Society needs that regular flow “make judgments, formulate opinions and arguments, and function as citizens” (Scheuer 68).
It seems like a regular thing now to read about a newspaper failing or a television news operation downsizing. The answer to why that is lies in part to where I personally read about them happening: the internet. I don’t get my news from the actual papers you pick up or buy from a newsstand; I get it from websites and certain reports with many top headlines. The old way of reporting news just can’t keep up with this new world of instantaneous gratification and the need to know now. The idea of having to wait until 6 o’clock that night to watch what happened that day or even worst, to have to read about today’s news tomorrow is just a horrible idea. I need to know now. That’s the attitude of society now. Sadly it is just impossible to keep up. The implications of this are already starting to show in our country. Many papers have already gone under and many more are heading that way. Honestly I think the impact of this won’t be good in the long run. Right now it seems great that so many independents are able to report the news but so many of them are just copying from the professional journalists which is really hurting the professionals. A new journalism is emerging and greatly changing the way the news is being reported. If I were going into a career of journalism I think I would make sure I had a degree in computer science of some sort and that I knew how to make a web page. I could see five years from now working exclusively on a web page for news. Ten years from now I can’t even imagine what news will be like, which is also probably one of the reasons I won’t be going into journalism. If I can’t see ten years down the road to what my career field might look like then I’m worried. It’s a tough path to take nowadays.
My own personal code of conduct if I were to become a journalist would, I hope, be a good one. From my upbringing I value truth. I know how to recognize truth and have always sought after it. I have always been taught that when you have the truth it is your responsibility to share it. I suppose I would treat the news the same way. When I had the facts I would share them in the most unbiased way I knew how. I would recognize the fact that it is not my job to tell society what to think, only to give it something to think about. And to give it to them constantly and the quickest way possible. There should be no room for my own opinion unless I was doing a type of advocacy journalism in which my opinion was asked. I enjoy coming up with my own feelings about the facts and I would reserve that right for my readers.
In conclusion, as Joseph Pulitzer once said, “Journalism is, or ought to be, one of the great and intellectual professions.” I agree with that. I hope journalism continues to grow in its new direction and I am excited to see how it evolves. Thank you Dr. Cressman for my teaching my favorite class of the semester.

Advertisements

Advertisements are meant to get our attention and encourage us to buy a certain product or service. Many ads are very helpful, letting you know where a good deal is and where a certain product can be found. However there are some pretty weird ones out there too. The first bad ad I found is actually one of an advertising company. "Virtus Communications" creates advertisements for companies to help them get noticed. However this particular ad I couldn't even figure out what their angle was that they are trying to portray. Yeah its different. But creepy. The second bad ad I found advertises a funeral home. Not the hardest thing to advertise of course but this one seems to cross the line as well. "Memory Garden" puts the fun back in fun-eral. Now, I don't know about you but I don't remember the last time I had "fun" at a funeral. Also creepy.On the plus side there are some good advertisements out there. This one from Benetton shows the similarities between the races. I thought it shows that on the inside, we're all the same. The photo of the three kids sticking their tongues out also shows that kids are the same. It shows simplicity. Another great ad that shows how powerful the zoom on a camera is comes from "Kodak". The ad that has a man standing very close to a lion. I liked this ad also because its simple and it gets the point across.Advertising is very effective. I was influenced to buy a PlayStation 3 because of the games I saw that were available for it on TV. And in contrast, advertising can be very ineffective when I watched an ad showing me that if I used a certain shaving cream that I would get promoted and a beautiful Swedish woman would fall in love with me. I just laughed at it because it doesn't matter what kind of shaving cream you use. It was ridiculous.

TV

After tracking my television watching for a week I've learned that I watch most when I feel like I really need to escape. Sometimes I have a lot f homework or upcoming test that is causing me stress and I just want to stop thinking about it. Really, to stop thinking in general. That's what TV does for me. I learned about television that most of the commercials are aimed at women. I started counting the number of commercials for women vs. the number for men and I was amazed the it was close to an 8 to 1 ratio. Interesting.Many networks often appeal to the lowest common denominator in order to offend no one. Programs like FOX I think do just that. There are some shows on there that definitely appeal to the lowest common denominator. I think the network CBS and ABC tend to have a little more varied shows to appeal to certain groups of people.Many people say that television has had a greater impact on society than any other form of media. Whether or not this is true could be a tough argument. I think it has affected modern society more than any other media form. But looking at society broadly, I might say the written word has affected it more.

Image Consulting

Is image consulting ethical? To be honest its kind of a grey area question. Some might say sure its ethical, whats wrong with improving the image of a company or a person? Don't we all do that to ourselves every morning before we go out? On the flip side, wouldn't it be considered wrong to change the image and distort the truth of what a company really is and does?Like most things I would say when you cross the line of distorting the truth is when it could be considered unethical. And in each case that really is a judgment call.Promotional exaggerations such as Tom Thumb and Jenny Lind do exist today. PR for the purpose of financial gain exists in most every company today. You could consider exaggerated claims in ads that picture models with perfect bodies that are created using airbrush techniques and photoshop. While not the same method as Barnum did for Tom Thumb but the same principle.

Censoring CBS

If I had to say there were five things that are inappropriate for television I would have to work very hard to narrow the list down to only five. I can think of many things that I would rather not see on TV each night during prime time. But the five most inappropriate things would have to be:1. Nudity. There is absolutely no place for nudity on television. Pornography is completely wrong and disrespectful and is actually a disease that breaks up families and destroys the souls of men. There is no place for the filth on TV. Children shouldn't have to have their eyes shielded by parents if ever something is shown that wasn't expected. I would censor that first.2. Sexual Content. This just about goes hand in hand with the first thing. It is just so inappropriate and unnecessary. What happens behind closed doors should stay there. There are many other ways to make a show exciting and interesting without having to include sex. It isn't needed whatsoever.3. Swearing. This is one that I'm sure I would have to be careful in fully censoring. Most people swear and "hell" or "damn" aren't necessarily offensive to the general public. While I wouldn't mind not having to hear them I know if I worked for CBS they would think differently than me at censoring every swear word. So I would compromise with them and censor the very offensive words and phrases.4. Drugs. Illegal drugs should not be shown or portrayed as being normal or accepted. Drug use also has no needed place on television.5. Excessive Violence. Anything that would require a mature audience probably isn't needed on TV. Gore and bloody violence isn't necessary to get a point across. Children would be a lot less likely to turn to violence if they weren't shown how to do it every time they turn the TV on. I would censor excessive violence as well.

Curbing Freedom of Speech

While I was trying to think of a situation in which a personal or public expression went to far I began thinking of the ads against Proposition 8. One in particular stuck out in my mind of a commercial in which two supposed missionaries of the LDS church were portrayed as breaking into a lesbian couple's home and tearing up their marriage certificate and thus officially "stealing their rights".Now of course freedom of speech means that the Courage Campaign who funded the ad are able to express their views and even outrage for the legal passing of Proposition 8. However, their is a law against slander. The Courage Campaign was smart though, they never mentioned the name of the LDS church only led viewers to understand that was who was being represented. I for one think it's flat out wrong that this commercial would be allowed to be aired. The LDS church as an organization did not spend a single dime on funding the passing of Proposition 8. It did encourage its members to stand up for what they know to be right. And that meant giving time, energy and even money to support the proposition. I would remedy this situation in court. Fortunately the LDS church is a lot better than me and doesn't tend to sue people over wrong doing, instead takes the higher road of turning the other cheek.

Are movies becoming too violent and promiscuous?

Movies
There are many reasons why one could assume the amount of sex and violence are increasing in the movies today. Perhaps the movies are simply appealing to the masses. Perhaps society is becoming increasingly more numb and we need bigger explosions and more scandalous women to get our attention. Or maybe its just that the values of the movie writers and directors simply just don't match our own. Whatever the reason may be, its obvious that movies just ain't what they used to be.Many studies have been done on the increase of violent crimes and divorce rates in the recent decades. One might argue that these statistics are a result of the media teaching children lower values. Or is it our lower values that have caused the movies to reflect our own promiscuity? I would argue that this is a case of Hollywood force feeding society and we, as a society, simply accepting what we are given. I know many good people in and out of the LDS faith that have good morals and are offended at the road the movies and the media have taken.If I were a movie producer I would make a movie that actually had a real story line. How many times have we been watching a movie whether it be action or horror or drama and have been able to predict what would happen and who the bad guy would be? Now I'm not going to be a hypocrite and say violence in movies doesn't belong. Real life is violent. Now is there a line that is more often than not that is crossed by having too much violence? Of course. Can a movie be good without violence? Sure, why not? But to say it has no place in entertainment in my opinion would be going too far. I mean, I am a guy. Explosions have been an area of awe since I first saw fireworks. I don't know why, they're just cool.

Arrrr ye land lubbers!

It's not quite Captain Jack Sparrow, but there are pirates wreaking havoc off the coasts of Somalia, Yemen, Kenya and Tanzania. There have been 9 attacks off Somalia, 11 off Tanzania and a total of 66 off the coast of Yemen. Just recently having attacked and captured a Saudi owned oil tanker, the pirates have successfully captured the largest vessel the US Navy has seen pirated so far.
The tanker contained 2 million barrels of oil, over one quarter of what the Saudi companies put out each day. Meanwhile, we as gasoline consumers are enjoying the benfits of these pirates and by constantly dropping gas prices. Of course the recession is the true driving force behind the lowering gas prices but we can't help but to think that maybe our good ol' mateys sailing the high seas might be adding to our current comforts with driving more.

Mass Communication Effects

Do stereotypes exists in the media today?I would of course argue yes and no. You might wonder why I take this stance when the obvious answer would be a simple yes. However there are a number of reasons why I take this stance.The answer is yes because there are so many instances where the advertising in the media will portray an image of a certain gender, age, ethnic group, etc. that is not accurate with the majority of that type of people. For example, the snickers ad of an old woman underneath the coffee table holding it up because there is nothing else of use she can do. She's old and useless. That is the message. That is the steroetype of old people. But is that consistent? Obviously not. My grandparents are still very active. And you might also take the general authorites of the church. President Hinckley was extremely active despite his age. Therefore, the answer would be yes, stereotypes do exist in the media.In contrast, the answer could be no as well. Are there elderly people that serve no purpose to their community and to society as a whole today? Well, anyone that visits a nursing home might think that these people do seem, forgive the bluntness, to be a drain on society. There is no longer anything productive they can do. Therefore, the stereotype in the Snickers ad would be accurate, which would no longer make it a stereotype. It would be an accurate portrayal of the age.What might happen if people begin to overly distance themselves from the reality of the outside world? Are there examples of where this has already happened?They could be called hermits. Recluses. People who abandon the outside world to stay inside of their homes. Completely cutoff from reality. They lose themselves in their imaginations, their fantasies and their so called dreams. There have been instances where people distancing themselves from reality has resulted in the very worst outcome, death. A man in China after a 3 day gaming binge on an internet game died from exhaustion. He totally cut himself off from reality and lost himself in this fantasy world. And it ended in his death.

Magazines

So I pick up a Glamour magazine with much shame and zero confidence. Of course, I also pick up Street Rods, Surfer and a motorcycle magazine just for good measure. And the typical reader of this shameful magazine (which I so quietly picked up) is really a typical person.First of all, this person is obviously female. Why would any male read this magazine unless a class tricked him into it? This woman reading this magazine is most likely in her 30's to maybe low 50's. The reason for this is the many ads for clinique age defense moisturizer cream. Apparently the target audience is old enough to have those unsightly wrinkles. So we have a middle aged woman so far. From the cover of the magazine I would say this woman is incredibly interested in how to "please her man". She's quite possibly married. She is either extemely self conscious or extremely self absorbed because of all the diet programs, make-up ads, fashion tips and clothing apparel ads. I also believe she is most likely a mother because there are also some cooking tips which aren't directly related to a new diet. I would also picture this woman being a mother because of the "free and easy stress cures". So we have a middle aged, insecure, sexually active, slightly self absorbed (maybe more), wife and mother.The impact the electronic media has had on the magazine industry I believe is really just beginning. With the introduction of blogging, twitter, netvibes, magazines online and various other forms of electronic media I believe there will be a very big impact on not only the magazine industry but all written forms of media including newspapers and books. Magazines were originally devastated by television but made a strong comeback. I can see many magazine pouring a lot of energy into online versions of their former selves. However I do not forsee them disappearing altogether from the shelves at stores. Many times we don't have easy access to the electronic media. For example, while traveling I always buy a magazine. I own a laptop but still enjoy flipping through the pages while flying through the air. Therefore I think the magazine will survive the electronic media revolution. But will need to adapt once again.

Read em' and weep!

So I asked ten of my closest friends how many books they've read in the last 6 months. Surprisingly, more than I would have guessed. On average the group I asked read 3.85 books in the last 6 months. Considering I've read maybe one in the last 6 months, I thought that average was pretty good. Only one person answered zero. The majority of the people said they had read self help or self improvement books followed by novels then textbooks and the scriptures. My sample group is made up of people obviously like me. Religious students who are ambitious and looking to improve. I'm not sure if this would necessarily be an accurate portrayal of society because most of society isn't made up of students reading textbooks or entrepenuers looking for self help in the business world.Depending on the cost would greatly change which form of textbook I would want. If electronic textbooks were free or cheaper I would greatly desire them. Actually, I think would prefer electronic over regular anyway. It would make it a lot easier to bring your books to class if all you ahd to do was bring your laptop.However for leisure reading I would prefer goold old fashioned books. Just holding the book, turning the pages and relaxing with it. Nobody wants to curl up with a good laptop for reading the latest John Grisham novel.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Many metropolitan daily newspapers have lost circulation and shutdown. It's true. And who is the culprit that is killing off these papers? Well, it would appear that the electronic media is holding the smoking gun. And we the people are the ones who loaded it. It is our lack of going out and buying the paper, subscribing to the daily news that has moved advertising money away from the print journalism and onto the web. The New York World and The New York Tribune just to name a few, have folded and gone under.They call it "citizen journalism". Blogging has become a full on competitior with the big wig newspapers. Your everyday citizen can be just as active of a journalist as anyone these days. Many of the so called "real journalists" look down on this form of journalism claiming it isn't real journalism. But that doesn't change the fact that many people are going to these citizen journalists for their news which is hurting the metropolitan daily newspapers.However on the local level, people seem to rather just get their news from the local paper. Most likely there is no one that blogs about little Timmy hitting the homerun at the t-ball game last weekend anyway, so there is no real competition for community papers. As to the real reason why local papers are booming I can't nail down one exact reason. Maybe there's just a lot of parents that love to see little Timmy's up and coming athletic abilities.

You're listening to KBYU...

Radio is the most personal media. Five stations here in Utah that I picked to listen to are KALL on 910 AM, KONY 101.1 FM, KSOP 104.3, KUBL 93.3, and KTKK 610 AM. KALL and KTKK are talk radio stations and the rest are country. The target audience for KALL and KTKK are about the same, as well as their advertising, seeking middle aged men and women of a conservative persuasion. KONY, KSOP and KUBL are all country stations with a target audience of really anyone that likes country music. The types of advertising on each range from local concerts to car dealers to department store sales. I couldn't really tell a difference in if one station had more of this kind of advertising than that. They all generally spoke about the same thing. I suppose what makes each station successful is their advertising to their target audience. The better the targeted audience then the more the advertising money.Radio is the most personal media for a number of reasons. Radios for the most part, are local media sources. Often times people have opportunities to meet the disc jockeys at local events. It is more of a community feel. Also feedback to the radio stations is nearly instantaneous. All someone would need to do is call in and they can be on the radio and talk to the DJ. That makes it very personal. Music plays a huge role in radio. Music is entertainment. And that is one of the major purposes of media. And fulfilling another role of media, information, talk radio is also very popular. People desire to be informed. Not everybody has time to read the paper everyday to find out what's going on in the world. But everybody drives. To work or to school, we all have places to go. And that is the perfect time to get informed. Hence, talk radio thrives.

BREAKING NEWS!

Oh it's exciting! Forget the economic crisis that is bringing down the entire world's financial centers; forget that Russia is increasing it's presence in America's backyard; forget the nuclear problems with Iran, North Korea; forget it all! This is breaking news!
Our concerns can be laid to rest as we finally know the mystery that has been troubling mankind since the 1960's: we know what outer space smells like.
That's right, scienctists revealed recently that outer space smells of FRIED STEAK. Apparently the little green men traveling the cosmos also have a taste for the good ol' homecookin' of the south. The discovery was made when astronauts noticed the smell of their suits after space walks. They also noticed smells of "hot metal" and "motorbike welding". Good thing our astronauts have a nose that knows these various smells, otherwise we'd still be losing sleep at night wondering what on earth the outer space could smell like. Well, rest well tonight America, we now know. Good thing we didn't get too distracted by any small events happening in the world right now to miss such a glorious discovery. Thank you NASA for continuing to change our headlines.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1820985.ece

Cold War Warming Up?

In recent months Russia has been warming up the cold war feelings once again. Thought to be too economically unstable to ever pose a real threat again, Mother Russia has proved she is still able to nag the rest of the world, particularly Uncle Sam.
Events such as two bombers flying along the Atlantic coast to Venezuela, aiding Cuba in a supposed space program, building the first Kalashnikov factory in South America and creating a $4 billion dollar contract with Venezuela for the distribution of tanks, fighter jets, attack helicopters, and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.
So what's going on? Is Russia trying to provoke something? Or is this supposed "great power" just trying to flex it's muscles to prove it is once again a legitimate force to be reckoned with? Washington gets the feeling that the former USSR is simply trying to poke a finger in the US eye with the largest Russian naval influence in the caribbean since the cold war. So should we be worried? Russia and Venezuela relations will defintely be something to keep your eye on as the Cold War seems to be heating up once again.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081016/lt_venezuela_russia_tanks.html?.v=1

Direct answers from Jim Fredricks

1. Why did you go into journalism?It was after I saw the movie "The Year of Living Dangerously" featuring Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson as a foreign correspondent. Sigourney was hot! Seriously, it was because I had an intense interest in current events, and good writing skills, and therefore seemed a natural fit. I wanted to make a difference, and journalism certainly has given me that opportunity.

2. How did your break in the field?I started by offering pieces for freelance at my local newspaper. They liked what they saw, and eventually hired me when a reporting slot opened up.

3. How do you define "good" journalism?Good journalism is about the community and our readers -- their needs, wants, and aspirations. We should serve our communities with strong, compelling stories and content that accurately depict life in our communities, celebrate the good, and expose light on the bad.

4. Do you feel like your news organization practices "good" journalism?I think we do a fair job. I think limited resources are a hindrance, but not an obstacle. I think we can tackle the really important stories, and I think we do a good job celebrating the good in our community.

5. How would you define the type of journalism you do?Community advocacy -- we're here for our community.

6. Does your organization allow you to do the type of journalism you wantto do?Absolutely.

7. How does the journalism you practice serve your community?Our stories have highlighted (and corrected) wasteful spending and poor management that lead to changes in management and in elected officials for our biggest city and our main local school district. They have also helped unite the community on important projects, like the much-needed renovation of a long-forgotten veterans memorial. They have educated readers about their community, and helped them get involved.

8. What is your opinion about recent movements such as community,citizen, civic, and public journalism?Citizen journalism is a worthy experiment but has its limits. It cannot and must not replace the role of newspapers and other media in providing balance and context and applying journalistic values to the work we produce.I treat community, civic, and public journalism as somewhat synonymous terms that deal with engaging our communities and serving their needs through aggressive journalism and utilizing events, policies and procedures that help make our communities part of our newsgathering and production process.

9. Have you ever had an experience in which you felt your work as ajournalist really made a difference?Numerous times, whether it was a column that touched someone's heart or brought a smile to their face, or the stories our newspaper has done that have corrected wrong or pinpointed problems.

10. How have your views about journalism changed over the years?I've come to believe the very best journalism -- in terms of its accountability and responsibility to the community -- occurs in the smaller newspapers, who by their very size must be responsive to the voices in their community. I think some media organizations have grown too big to hear and respond to their audiences.

11. Have you been affected by dropping circulations, ratings, layoffs, andgrowth of citizen journalism?I believe we -- and other community newspapers -- are in the "sweet spot" in journalism, as audiences fracture into smaller, more local units.

12. What advice would you give students wanting to go into journalism?Don't get into journalism thinking you are the one who is going to enlighten the masses. Go into it to serve, respect your readers, understand what's going on in their lives, and make sure you show that respect and understanding in your stories.

The Conroe Courier-Jim Fredricks, Editor and Publisher

Jim Fredricks is the editor and publisher of the Conroe Courier, a local paper of the city of Conroe, TX. His main theme for choosing the path he did in journalism is serving the community. A sentiment that seems all but lost in reporters of the "media organizations that have grown too big to hear and respond to their audiences."
When asked about why he went into journalism his first response was, "Sigourney [Weaver] was hot!" in the journalistic movie, "The Year of Living Dangerously" starring Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson. However, thinking more about the question it came down to a real interest in current events, a desire to make a difference and a passion for writing.
Starting off as a freelance journalist/writer a local paper grabbed him as soon as they had a reporting slot open up. Fredricks feels good journalism "is about the community and our readers-their needs, wants and aspirations." Focusing more on the community and serving them by "celebrating the good" stories and shedding "light on the bad" he feels that smaller papers do very well at practicing this good journalism despite limited resources. Practicing "community advocacy" allows Fredricks and his staff to really be there for the community in such things as uniting the community to restore a long forgotten veteran's memorial and helping correct wasteful spending by elected officials. When asked about citizen journalism Fredricks had this to say,
"Citizen journalism is a worthy experiment but has its limits. It cannot and must not replace the role of newspapers and other media in providing balance and context and applying journalistic values to the work we produce."
Fredricks feels he makes a difference in many different ways whether it be by making someone smile, touching someone's heart or writing stories that have corrected and pinpointed real community problems. He also feels that the very best journalism occurs in smaller papers, "who by their very size must be responsive to the voices in their community." Larger papers have seemingly lost touch with their audiences due to their sheer size and can no longer truly connect with the community they represent. At least, not as well as the small papers can connect.
His view on on what's happening with citizen journalism in relation to small papers is interesting indeed. He had this to say on the subject,
"I believe we -- and other community newspapers -- are in the "sweet spot" in journalism, as audiences fracture into smaller, more local units."
It would seem citizen journalism has no real impact on the smaller newspaper industry. Perhaps because of the lack of citizen journalism on such a small community scale and the loyalty of the community to their newspaper, the small papers will be able to pass through the shady areas that so many larger papers are fearing.
Finally Jim Fredricks gave some great advice to the up and coming journalists. Not being able to say it better myself, he says,
"Don't get into journalism thinking you are the one who is going to enlighten the masses. Go into it to serve, respect your readers, understand what's going on in their lives, and make sure you show that respect and understanding in your stories."

News War: What's Happening to the News

The News War video basically re-iterated the fear of the newspaper losing a battle to technology. The world is changing and the new generation coming up isn't as interested in getting a subscrition to the Times and reading it over breakfast. We're in a hurry. We're on the go. And that's how we want our news: on the go. We have time to check our email, facebook, and the drudge report to learn about and stay updated on everything we need to know about. Along with netvibes we can see the headlines of any major newspaper without having to even go out to the sidewalk in the morning and pick it up. So what is the future of newspapers?

I would venture to say newspapers will never go out of business. People will always need to know about the news and newspapers facilitate that need. However the changing of how people will receive the news could vary a bit. I honestly don't think newspapers will stop printing all together but will begin to charge for subscriptions online. There also could be advertising on the newspaper's sites to fund the search of news. I could see a lot of downsizing in the immediate future of newspapers until they can adapt to the new world of technology and the new audience. Different jobs will begin to appear, computer programers, web designers and so on and so on. the newspapers that can not adapt will be left behind. Because we all know that its not news; the only constant in life is change.

The Communication Model

Communication Model
Communication is the process by which messages are formulated, exchanged and interpreted in attempts to gain shared meaning. Using the Communication Model we see more clearly how this shared meaning is obtained.The Newspaper ArticleThe channel would be the newspaper itself containing the article. The sender in the newspaper article could well be the journalist himself. He wrote the article and is the one attempting to share it with others. The message itself is the article that he wrote. Of course there is noise which interrupts this message. The noise could easily be semantic, enviromental or internal. The receiver in this model would be the reader/readers that the journalist was attempting to reach. Feedback isn't always as easy to get with a newspaper article however there are some types of articles in which the readers can respond to the article with a letter to the paper and the paper publishes it. The feedback also passes through noise where their intentions might be misinterrpreted by the journalist. Finally shared meaning is obtained through the nespaper article.The Magazine ArticleThe channel here is the magazine itself that contains the article. The sender in the magazine article is logically the writer of the article. The message, like in the newspaper, is also the article itself. If the receiver doesn't understand the writer's points in the article then the noise is semantic. The receiver is the reader of the article. If the magazine were about sports then perhaps the receiver would be males between the ages of 12 and 55. Feedback within the magazine article is also not always easy or possible. the receiver can write a letter to the magazine but the magazine doesn't always pass it along to the writer so noise can really disrupt feedback in this case.Radio ProgramThe channel from sender to receiver in this case is the radio waves. The sender in this situation would be the dj or host of the radio show. For fun, we'll say its talk radio. Howard Stern wants to send a clean, upright message to his audience, the receiver. However there is some internal noise on the receiving end. The audience can't fully receive Howard's message due to weird noises and vulgar language that came from Howard. But that doesn't stop their feedback. The audience begins to call in and complain. Except there is noise it must pass through again. This time it is semantic. Howard can't understand what everyone's problem is.Television ShowThe channel for a television show is of course the tv itself. The sender here could be a number of different people depending on the situation. We'll say this time its a talk show so that the host of the talk show is the sender. We'll take the show Wayne's World. Wayne is the sender and he wants his message of partying on and rock and roll to be received by the teenage audience. The noise here is mechanical because of all the loud guitar sounds and low grade audio equipment. So the audience responds with feedback of calling in and saying they can't hear everything. Wayne kind of hears them on the phone but Garth is playing drums way too loud. This would be enviromental noise.The Communication Model works more efficiently for radio and television shows that allow people to call in and comment. However, if it were any other kind of television show then feedback would be very difficult. Every radio show I've ever heard of has allowed people to call in and comment so the radio show is the most efficient in the communication model.Television obviously performs entertaining the best out of all the mass media. It has more shows and more people following it than any other form of mass media. I would have to say the newspaper would perform informing the best if you include online versions of it. I don't pick up many newspapers to read but read NY Times online quite frequently. Furthermore, television would also have to win for most persuasive form of mass media. So many people believe if they see it on tv it must be true

What is Journalism? Who is a Journalist?

In my own opinion journalism is a lot more than just fact finding, opinion writing or commentary. Real journalism is a very noble profession and has an incredibly profound impact on our day to day lives. I beleive journalism is the reporting of events on every level. The dictionary defines it this way; "Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating, formally employed by publications and broadcasters, for the benefit of a particular community of people." Simply put journalism is just that, reporting the current events so everyone can know what's going on in the world. I also feel it could be described as seeking out and declaring truth. Journalism can't be, in any way, based on anything false. It must be the truth. I suppose that's why newspapers and magazines will do "retractions" whenever they accidentally post something that wasn't accurate. What is published must be the truth or else people won't trust the source and will discontinue reading it all together.

A journalist is the one who seeks out the truth, researches the events and makes public the news to the masses. I suppose because one doesn't need a licsense to practice researching and reporting information that anybody can be a journalist. Unlike becoming a lawyer where there is a bar exam, a journalist has no test to pass to begin spreading information to other people. I really feel that anybody and everybody in some way or another is a journalist.