J201 Lecture Evaluating journalism for bias Recent charges of liberal bias have a long history Spiro Agnew s nattering nabobs of negativity Richard Nixon cuts funding to elitist PBS array of different activist groups from the moral majority to religious right to Christian conservatives during the Reagan years culture wars during Clinton years Organizations which argue that the media have a liberal bias Media Research Center www mediaresearch org Accuracy in Media www aim org Citizens Coalition for Responsible Media www fairpress org Recent charges of conservative bias also have a long history Government lies from Vietnam and Watergate Conservative think tanks sponsoring campus news FCC abandons the Fairness Doctrine in 1980s Increasing conglomeration and concentration of media through the 1990s Organizations which argue that the media have a conservative bias Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting www fair org Media Transparency mediatransparency org Project Censored www projectcensored org But liberal bias vs conservative bias is the wrong argument to have We conflate liberal with Democrat and conservative with Republican Many beliefs like religion or environmentalism defy categorization as either liberal or conservative We ignore the variations like fiscally conservative but socially liberal Most people when asked say they are moderate Terms liberal and conservative are themselves biased and change dramatically over time results in our class political compass 81 identified as left libertarian and 7 as right authoritarian voting choice 70 voted for Kerry 30 for Bush What we should be asking How do we define good journalism What factors contribute to the quality of journalism What should you do when you find bad journalism What do we mean by good journalism 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 objective stories based on evidence or opinion pieces based on ideology fair 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 explain and evaluate evidence for the reader or raw stories to provide the latest 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 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
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