Journalistic Principles and EthicsJOURNALISM

Sam-Ang Sam

Paññāsāstra University of CambodiaSīla Samādhi PaññāCommitment to Excellence

1Journalism Defined2Journalism3History of

Journalism4Journalist

CONTENTS

1 Journalism Defined

Collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials through media such as pamphlets, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, radio, film, television, and books

The term was originally applied to the reportage of current events in printed form, specifically newspapers, but in the late 20th century it came to include electronic media as well.

Journalism Defined

It is sometimes used to refer to writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation.

Colleges and universities confer degrees in journalism and sponsor research in related fields such as media studies and journalism ethics.

Journalism Defined

The collection and editing of news for presentation through the media

The public press An academic study concerned with

the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium

Journalism Defined

Writing designed for publication in a newspaper or magazine

Writing designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest

Material written for publication in a newspaper or magazine or for broadcast

Journalism Defined

Newspapers and magazinesAn academic course training students in journalism

Written material of current interest or wide popular appeal

Journalism Defined

Journalism is a method of inquiry and literary style used in social and cultural representation.

It serves the purpose of playing the role of a public service machinery in the dissemination and analysis of news and information.

Journalistic integrity is based on the principles of truth, accuracy, and factual knowledge.

Journalistic medium can vary diversely, from print publishing to electronic broadcasting, and from newspapers to television channels, as well as to the web, and to digital technology.

2 JOURNALISM

JOURNALISM

In modern society, the news media is the chief purveyor (supplyer) of information and opinion about public affairs.

Journalism, however, is not always confined to the news media or to news itself, as journalistic communication may find its way into broader forms of expression, including literature and cinema.

In some nations, the news media is still controlled by government intervention, and is not fully an independent body.

JOURNALISM

In a democratic society, however, access to free information plays a central role in creating a system of checks and balance, and in distributing power equally between governments, businesses, individuals, and other social entities.

Access to verifiable information gathered by independent media sources, which adhere to journalistic standards, can also be of service to ordinary citizens, by empowering them with the tools they need in order to participate in the political process.

JOURNALISM

The role and status of journalism, along with that of the mass media, has undergone profound changes over the last two decades with the advent of digital technology and publication of news on the Internet.

This has created a shift in the consumption of print media channels, as people increasingly consume news through e-readers, smartphones, and other electronic devices, challenging news organizations to fully monetize (establish as legal tender or coin into money) their digital wing, as well as improvise on the context in which they publish news in print.

JOURNALISM

Notably, in the American media landscape, newsrooms have reduced their staff and coverage as traditional media channels, such as television, grapple with declining audiences.

For instance, between 2007 and 2012, CNN edited its story packages into nearly half of their original time length.

JOURNALISM

There are several different forms of journalism, all with diverse audiences.

In modern society, “prestige” journalism is said to serve the role of a “fourth estate,” acting as a watchdog on the workings of the government.

Other forms of journalism feature in different formats and cater to different audiences.

JOURNALISM

Some forms include:

1. Advocacy journalism: Writing to advocate particular viewpoints or influence the opinions of the audience.

2. Broadcast journalism: Written or spoken journalism for radio or television.

3. Drone journalism: Use of drones to capture journalistic footage.

4. Gonzo journalism: First championed by Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalism is a “highly personal style of reporting.”

JOURNALISM

5. Investigative journalism: The use of investigation on a subject matter while uncovering news events.

6. Photojournalism: The telling of a story through its images.

7. Tabloid journalism: Writing that is light-hearted and entertaining.

8. Yellow journalism (or sensationalism): Writing which emphasizes exaggerated claims or rumors.

JOURNALISM

The recent rise of social media has resulted in arguments to reconsider journalism as a process rather than attributing it to particular news products.

From this perspective, journalism is participatory, a process distributed among multiple authors and involving journalists as well as the socially mediating public.

JOURNALISM

The Johann Carolus’s Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, published in 1605 in Strassburg, is often recognized as the first newspaper.

The first successful English daily, the Daily Courant, was published from 1702 to 1735.

The reform of the Diário Carioca newspaper in the 1950s is usually referred to as the birth of modern journalism in Brazil.

3 HISTORY OF JOURNALISM

In the 1920s, as modern journalism was just taking form, writer Walter Lippmann and American philosopher John Dewey debated over the role of journalism in a democracy.

Their differing philosophies still characterize a debate about the role of journalism in society and the nation-state.

HISTORY OF JOURNALISM

Walter Lippmann

John Dewey

Dewey, on the other hand, believed the public was not only capable of understanding the issues created or responded to by the elite, it was in the public forum that decisions should be made after discussion and debate.

When issues were thoroughly vetted (examined or checked), then the best ideas would bubble to the surface.

Dewey believed journalists should do more than simply pass on information.

He believed they should weigh the consequences of the policies being enacted.

Over time, his idea has been implemented in various degrees, and is more commonly known as “community journalism.”

John Dewey

Media lawyer and University of Dayton assistant professor Jonathan Peters and Edson C. Tandoc Jr., of the Missouri School of Journalism tried to answer the question “Who is a journalist?” through a new study.

The two “culled (bound together) a variety of sources that conceptualize a journalist, and they analyzed each one to identify its elements.”

4 JOURNALIST

In the study, the authors write they “do not offer a normative definition, but we do offer normative comments on the descriptive definition.”

Such a description is timely, they write, as the U.S. considers a reporter’s shield law.

JOURNALIST

They consulted three “domains” — academic, legal, industry — for commonalities in definitions of journalism, among them federal laws about professions, state shield laws and the criteria of journalism organizations like the National Association of Black Journalists and the Regional Reporters Association.

Most centered around activities, output and what they call the “social role” of journalists (e.g., being a watchdog).

JOURNALIST

Here’s the definition they came up with:

“A journalist is someone employed to regularly engage in gathering, processing, and disseminating (activities) news and information (output) to serve the public interest (social role).”

JOURNALIST

They also argue against their definition, which they stress is one that “unifies the conceptions of the three domains and the dimensions and indicators that others have used to define a journalist.”

JOURNALIST

By referring to employment, however, the definition delivers a fatal blow to the people engaging in many new forms of journalism.

The definition would not include unpaid bloggers and citizen journalists who gather, process, and disseminate news and information on matters of public concern — because they do not derive their primary source of livelihood from their journalistic activities.

JOURNALIST

To the extent the definition is used to decide who may claim the legal privileges of journalists, it puts a large number of actors in the journalism ecosystem in the position of fulfilling community needs for news, however well the actors do so, without the assurances that keep traditional journalists safe when their work provokes a backlash.

That is unwise.

JOURNALIST

File: JOURNALISM/L1 Journalism.pptDate: August 30, 2016 (November 30, 2013)Running Time: 1:30 hrs.

Document File Location