Journalism

U.S. journalism traditions

Colonial period

• 1690--Benjamin Harris--Publick Occurrences

• 1733--John Peter Zenger case--NY Journal

• 1765--stamp tax--colonial defiance: “newspaper war on Britain”

Main traditions from colonial period

• news media are independent from government

• news media try to mold government policy--editorial page

• journalists are committed to seeking truth

• public favors independent news media

Partisan period: the “party press”

• Post 1781--debate over constitution

• strong center or loose confederation?

• Federalist Papers

Problems during Partisan period

• Alien and Sedition Acts--1798

• Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

• Ended with election of 1800--Thomas Jefferson

Lessons learned from partisan period

• Government should keep its hands off the press

• press is forum for discussion and debate--

• press should comment on public issues

• people reject government when it transgresses against the press

Penny press period

• 1833--Benjamin Day’s NY Sun• advertising supported• broad appeal to working classes• needed social &economic factors

– industrialization– urbanization– immigration– literacy

Other Penny Press editors

• James Gordon Bennett--NY Herald

• Horace Greeley--NY Tribune

• Henry Raymond--NY Times

New trends

• inverted pyramid--AP

• objective reporting--neutral perspective

• appeals to general audience

• entertaining, sensationalistic at times

• aggressive news coverage

• committed to social improvement

• timeliness

Yellow Press era

• Joseph Pulitzer– Nellie By

• William Randolph Hearst– Spanish American War

• Opposed to Yellow Journalism– Adolph Ochs--NY Times

Personal values in news

• Journalist’s judgment: what is news?

• Herbert Gans’s research– ethnocentrism--through U.S. eyes– commitment to democracy & capitalism– small town pastoralism– individualism, but moderation– social order

Variables affecting news

• news hole

• news flow and staffing

• perceptions about audience

• availability of material

• competition– “pack” and “herd” journalism

Journalistic bias

• myth--journalists are “left,” “liberal”

• reality--most are political center

• most are politically independent

• news decisions on deadline

• news concerned with change

• doesn’t care about status quo

• watchdog tradition• adversary of gov’t

Non-newsroom influences on news

• executive, corporate orders

• pandering to advertiser interests

• sociology of newsroom--like-minded people make similar decisions

• pressure from sources – manipulation by publicists– staged events--stunts

Gatekeeping--at home and abroad

• gatekeepers--dozens in journalism food chain

• selective perception• reporter bias• editors• decisions on every

level

Global gatekeeping

• Competition for distant news

• news agencies• AP• UPI• Reuters• AFP• Video news services

• Possible effects of APvideo coverage– more “herd” journalism

• Network cutbacks

• Government deregulation

• Independent stations

• New technologies– Internet, digital media

Syndicates

• What is a syndicate?– Features for sale

• Types of syndicated services– political columns and cartoons– comics– advice and how to columns– reviews and literature– horoscopes & crossword puzzles

Journalism trends

• Soft news• Exploratory

reporting– sophisticated– computer assisted

• interpretative• investigative

– Watergate