J201Lecture: Evaluating journalism for “bias”(continued)What do we mean by “good journalism”?•production ethics?•news agenda?•truth value?•marketplace success?What do we mean by “good journalism”?production ethics•news produced behind a solid “wall between editorial and advertising” or news produced as “complimentary copy”?•news produced with or without deception of sources?•news produced with or without anonymity of sources?•news produced in-house or purchased secondhand?•news produced through investigative reporting or through expert interview?•news produced in reaction to official events or in analysis of unobserved trends?What do we mean by “good journalism”?news agenda•“informative” stories that make us better citizens & consumers, or “entertaining” stories that draw us in and keep us watching?•“diverse” stories that expose us to new and/or disturbing ideas, or “targeted” stories that reinforce our preexisting views?•“muckraking” stories that watchdog actions of powerful groups, or “stenography” stories that replay views of powerful groups?•“sensational” stories that bring in lots of revenue, or “eat your peas” stories that most people ignore?What do we mean by “good journalism”?truth value•“factual” stories based on evidence, or “opinion” pieces based on ideology?•“objective” stories accurately portraying diverse POV,or “slanted” stories misrepresenting all but one POV?•“balanced” stories including all possible POV, or “representative” stories indicating majority/minority POV?•“analytical” stories to evaluate evidence for the reader, or “raw” stories to provide unedited details of events?What do we mean by “good journalism”?marketplace success•In the “marketplace of ideas,” is the best journalism that which is approved of by the largest audience?•In the “economic marketplace,” is the best journalism that which results in the greatest revenue or profit?What factors might contribute to the quality of journalism?What factors might contribute to the quality of journalism?•time and space constraints(news hole, news cycle, audience attention span)•presentation style(“edgy,” sensational, accessible)•revenue stream(public, subscription, advertising)What factors might contribute to the quality of journalism?•structure of the news organization (number of reporters, number of bureaus)•process of news gathering (procedures for sourcing, verifying, editing)•characteristics of news personnel(demographics, psychographics, geographics)•characteristics of news audience(demographics, psychographics, geographics)What factors might contribute to the quality of journalism?•ownership(family-owned, shareholder-owned, conglomerate)•stated partisan project or ideals(“liberal,” “conservative,” etc.)•unstated influence or affiliation(Democratic, Republican, labor, management, etc.)What should you do when you find “bad” journalism?What should you do when you find “bad” journalism?•Consider scale: one article? one journalist? one newspaper? one media company? or all media?•Consider history: a pattern, or an isolated incident?•Consider intent: was mistake accidental? avoidable?•Consider effects: who stands to gain from mistake?•Consider yourself: do you harbor any biases?New York Times example•2003: Jayson Blair•2004: Judith Miller•2005: Pew Research Center study•2005: Respond with a “campaign to secure our accuracy, fairness and accountability"newspaper reading today•properties: about 1,500 newspapers in US•circulation: 55 million single newspapers sold each day•readership: only 54% of Americans read a newspaper sometime during the week•household penetration: on average, only 53% of households take a newspaper (down from 123% in 1950)why have so many people stopped reading newspapers?•generational change•suburbanization•free weeklies•reporting cutbacks•chasing demographics rather than readers•competition from television (Baughman)who is and isn’t reading newspapers?•age: young people read less•ethnicity: readership lowest among fastest-growing “minority” population•education: more education means more likely to read a newspapercomparing newspapers to TV: journalistic practices•85% of newspaper front page stories are staff-generated rather than attributed solely to an outside source (56% for network evening news)•2% of newspaper stories use at least one blind anonymous source (14% for network evening news)•52% of newspaper stories use at least four named identified sources (18% for network evening news)comparing newspapers to TV: believability50% of Americans believe their daily paper•in 1985, 80% of Americans believed their daily paper•people today trust papers less than local and network television news•“cultural divide”: journalists seen as “out of touch” and motivated more by profit than public interest•yet people still turn to newspapers to “make sense” of the world, especially during key eventsyet newspapers remain profitable•cover price doesn’t even pay for cost of printing•80% of newspaper revenue from advertising•only place where local advertisers can reach most of local population with a single ad buy •good place to reach people of means and power•2002 total revenues of $55 billion ($44 billion from ads)•big papers earn an average pretax profit of
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