Kb732613@ohio.edu
Journalism is a force, and behind any powerful force is the
work of innovative and ever-changing intellects. But why is it so powerful?
Journalism is where the world
gathers news and from news is where we first form relationships, friendships,
and judgments about likeminded people. According to the article, "The Elements
of Journalism," by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, people crave and seek
information, and without the ability to reach it, people become apprehensive of
the world around them and incapable of reaching their full potential. News has
always been something that is apathetically vital to our wellbeing and
considered to be somewhat apart of our genetic makeup. Kovach and Rosenstiel
mention an idea called the awareness instinct.
“They need to know what is going on over the next hill, to be
aware of events beyond their direct experience. Knowledge of the unknown gives
them security; it allows them to plan and negotiate their lives. Exchanging
this information becomes the basis for creating community, making human
connections.” — Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel.
The Disconnect
In "The Elements of Journalism", Kovach and Rosenstiel discuss
the disconnect between the public and journalism which truly started in the
80’s. This was a result of the failure for journalist’s to live up to the
values that the public had expected from them. A corporate approach on media
companies began to take away from the core values that the public once trusted
in its journalists. According to History of American
Journalism, the 80’s “experienced rapid
deregulation under the Reagan administration, which made new business developments
possible. As a result, the broadcast industry began to focus more on the
competitive nature of the industry and less on concepts of the public interest
and public service.” There was and is an expectation for news to be independent
and reliable and this was a time when we began to see an extreme decrease in
this.
Today, there is extreme
one-sided news coverage and often times, people will immediately discredit a
story based on the network or person it is coming from. One inaccurate story
can deter people from ever putting trust into that network ever again.
According to a survey conducted by the American
Press Institute, one-sided or biased stories are the number one reason why
Americans would begin to trust a new and information source less.
The end goal of news
journalists is ‘to serve the general welfare by informing the people,”
according to the American Society of News Editors. It is up to these
journalists to decide exactly what that means, to decipher what the public both
need and want to know. This is where morality comes into play. News outlets
often struggle to decide if a picture or video is too graphic or sensitive for
the public to see. But here lies the internal struggle- it is important news
and therefore important for people to see. In 2014, the New York Times posted
an article titled, “Why Violent News Images Matter.” The article brings about a
lot of striking positions on the matter.
Photographer Christoph Bangert begs the question: “How can we
refuse to acknowledge a mere representation—a picture—of a horrific event,
while other people are forced to live through the horrific event itself?”
I believe this is something news outlets often think about
themselves. If it constitutes news, then perhaps people should not only see it,
but feel something about it too.
No comments:
Post a Comment