Values Clash in Journalism - Ladson

As a former professional print journalist, the readings for this week made me sad, but the information presented in them was not surprising.

Social Media and Speed-Driven Journalism Response/Outside Connection

I left The Dallas Morning News as reporter in early 2008. At that time, blogging was the most popular social media activity, and reporters were then concerned about how in addition to filing stories, we had to write blog posts and were being trained to shoot and edit video (because that was the trend then, to have reporters who can produce video and vice versa). Since then, other social media platforms have gained prominence, with 30 percent of adults in the United States getting their news through Facebook, according to a study in the Pew Research Center. This reading by Dr. Lee including information about news finding an audience of young, mobile and educated users on Twitter.

I am conflicted in my own values about the information presented. The research presented that journalists have not and do not care nor understand what audiences want; that they differ from consumers on what is important; that journalists prefer public affairs news while audiences don’t; and that journalists seemed to normalize Twitter use; could suggest that there is an air of self-righteousness and self-defeating attitudes. But on the other side, print journalism is built on the idealistic notions of being the fourth branch of government, essentially to keep the government in check, making sure our tax money is spent effectively and is vital to a healthy democracy. While a consumer may not want to know that their government official used tax dollars to fund X,Y or Z illegal habit, it can be argued, maybe self-righteously but I would like to say more nobly, that people need to know that information to not re-elect the government official or to add safeguards to protect taxpayer money from being used to fund said illegal habit.

But, the economic reality of newspapers is that if consumers don’t pay for content, then there won’t be the opportunity to present this crucial information. Unless the economic model changes, the pragmatist in me sides with using research like this reading to encourage leaders in the field to brainstorm news ways to use Twitter and other social media outlets such as Facebook, since as the Pew study indicates, social media is changing the way people get their news.

My other main reaction to the article is what consumer has time to go through multiple reporters’ Twitter feeds about the stories they write? I can see maybe if they want to pass a story idea along. I think individual reporter’s Twitter feeds are probably useful during breaking news events when an audience member may want to know if anyone they know is involved in an event or to know how an incident is playing out, but I care about the news and I don’t have time – information overload.

Tricky Virtual Reality and Ease of Altercation Response/Connection

Among other duties, I still write for a living. But I know that people often pay more attention to the images versus the text that I have deliberately and professionally crafted. So I understand that these articles about images produced by news organizations can greatly impact society and our perceptions of it. These images can create a reality that is not true. For example, the younger generation has likely not seen a magazine cover where the subject has not been Photoshopped, and often not just minor touch ups. While the Aspan article states that the technology to touch up photos has been around for decades, it does seems as if standards for touching up have become more liberal. For example, with more people of color being highlighted in mainstream culture, there are often the associated controversies of magazine editors lightening a person’s skin or “touching up” features to make them look more European. At one point in time, you could trust that news organizations were more likely to present people and reality as it is, so it is encouraging to know that some organizations have acted (fired or reprimanded) when image touchups that have gone too far. But, I do wonder how long that they can keep that up if they have to cater to what audiences want, which seems to be publications with “beautiful” people on the cover.

Canada’s CBS News Coverage Response

This article provided some encouragement about the industry. One theory about the future of traditional media organizations is that they will cater to the elite who can afford to pay for the content. I have to wonder if American audiences were consistently given the opportunity to see this type of coverage - without the hype and that is carefully presented - if they eventually would gravitate towards it. I think it is sad that we don’t get many opportunities to see this type of coverage.