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Images and Reality
Images and Reality
Images and Reality
Images and Reality
 Journalists should not manipulate images and sound to
mislead readers and misrepresent subjects.
Journalism Ethics
 “Journalism, like most professions, developed a set of
business practices first, then endowed those practices
with a set of impressive professional rationalizations,
and finally proceeded to rewrite its history in ways that
made the practices seem to emerge, as if through
immaculate conception, from an inspiring set of
professional ideals.”
- W. Lance Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion
 American Journalism of first 100 years was preprofessional
Charles Dana, 1888
Get the news, get all the news, get nothing but the news.
Copy nothing from another publication without perfect credit.
Never print an interview without the knowledge and consent of the party interviewed.
Never print a paid advertisement as news-matter. Let every advertisement appear as an
advertisement; no sailing under false colors.
Never attack the weak or defenseless, either by argument, by invective or by ridicule, unless
there is some absolute public necessity for so doing.
Fight for your opinions but do not believe that they contain the whole truth or the only truth.
Support your party, if you have one; but do not think all the good men are in it and all the bad
ones outside it.
Above all, know and believe that humanity is advancing; that there is progress in human life
and human affairs; and that, as sure as God lives, the future will be greater and better
than the present or the past.
Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal
 Important for two reasons:
 Broke and concluded on Internet
 Affected traditional journalism behavior
 Committee of
Concerned
Journalists
study:
“Mixed Media Culture”
 Sources gaining power over journalists
 Decline of gatekeeping function
 The news of the day as it reaches the newspaper office is an
incredible medley of fact, propaganda, rumor suspicion, clues,
hopes, and fears, and the task of selecting and ordering that news is
one of the truly sacred and priestly offices in a democracy. - Walter
Lippmann, Liberty and the News, 1920
 Reporting culture is being overrun by argument culture
 http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/01/
12/pn.teacher.accused.rape.cnn
Amateur Journalism?
 1999 Texas A&M Bonfire Collapse
 Austin360.com post-it forums became a place of
mourning
 BUT, evolved into an “EMS leak” board
 Content Managers began to moderate board and
censor posts.
 New relationship between audience and media?
Amateur Journalism?
 Knights for Free Water
 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5818109257
 Bright House stadium debut
 Big event, tons of media coverage
 No water fountains
 Bottled water sold out, concessions sold $3 for a cup of tap
water
 Several fans went to hospital for dehydration/heat exhaustion
 2 students started a Facebook group from the stands
 2 days later, 10 drinking fountains announced with 40 more to
come
Content Ownership
 Sean-Paul Kelley
 The Agonist - published because “the media wasn’t doing a
good enough job of covering the nuances of international
relations.”
 Plagiarized U.S.-Iraqwar.com
 Blogger community response mixed.
 Are bloggers journalists? Do they need a code of ethics?
Pew Stats
 Cell Phones
 83% of American adults have cell phones
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35% of American adults have smartphones
76% of cell users take photos
72% of cell users use SMS (text)
51% of cell users use phone for information
42% of cell users use phone for entertainment
13% of cell users report pretending to use a cell phone to avoid
physical interaction
Gadgets
Social Networking
 47% of Americans (59% of Internet users) belong to a
social networking platform
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average age increased from 33 to 38 in 2011
half SNS users are over 35
58% of SNS users are female
92% of SNS users are on Facebook
29% use MySpace
18% use LinkedIn
13% use Twitter
 Who USES Twitter is also
who CAN BE REACHED
by Twitter
Generational Values
 “Classic” News Values
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Truth
Context
Verification
Motivation to Action
Fairness
Accuracy
Relevance
Transparency
 Independence/Critical
Distance
 Timeliness
 Watchdog function
Generational Values
 “Modern” News Values
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Entertainment
Profit
Immediacy
Easy access
Expedient Decisions
Celebrity focus
Novelty
Access to Influence
Competition
Larger audience = Authority
 Youth-centric
 Emotionalism = truth
 High-quality visuals and
sounds
 Sex appeal
 Violence
 Cute
Generational Values
 Millennial Values
 Humor
 Novelty
 Connections to one
another
 Collectivism
 Speed
 Emotionalism (Outrage)
 Entertainment
 Customization
 Power (through collective)
 Independence (from
oversight)
 Egalitarian information
 Timeliness
 Volunteerism