HY2236 Reading Week 13
HY2236 Reading Week 13
HY2236 Reading Week 13
The Inescapable 1. Broadcast news media focuses on the more Example of the importance of
intersection of sensational nature of race and gender and ultimately credibility held by news
credibility, audience gravitates toward the motivational triad’s emphasis on organizations:
and profit in broadcast credibility and the maximization of ratings.
media’s coverage of 2. The news industry also has self-regulatory rules such Recent high-profile apologies have
elections as ethical codes which manifest their focus on demonstrated media's recognition
credibility and constitute internal metrics that check of the importance of credibility and
reporting behavior. the industry's sensitivity to the
3. Several factors contribute to cynical opinions about public's interest in responsible
the media’s dissemination of news journalism. For example, The
- The proliferation of tabloid publications and Washington Post published a front
‘reality programming’ that emphasize only the page article that criticized the
sensational news have become too popular, even paper's coverage of dissenting
staples in the country views on the build up to the war in
- Corporate influence on reporting decisions and Iraq. The article stated that The
editorial commentary has clouded media’s image Post relegated previous articles that
as disseminators of unbiased and truthful news questioned the evidence of weapons
- Perhaps most controversial trend has been the of mass destruction (WMDs) in
continued monopolization of media. During the Iraq to the back pages of the A
last quarter century, many media sources have section. On the other hand, articles
become subject to buyouts, mergers, and attrition. that contained assertions about the
presence of WMDs were published
4. A reduction in media ownership leads to the on the front page of the paper.
dissemination of less diverse and possibly more Written by a staff writer, this
biased information. A more prevalent result of critical article admitted that The
monopolization, however, has been the homogeneity Post's coverage, "despite flashes of
of news, thereby leaving fewer sources that provide groundbreaking reporting, in
more diverse commentary on critical issues in society. hindsight looks strikingly one-sided
- Monopolization of media also contributes to the at times." 93 The New York Times
perception that disseminated information is tainted similarly criticized its coverage of
by corporate influence As a result, news the build up to the war in Iraq. In an
reported by media becomes subject to advertisers’ open, published letter, The Times
preferences and corporate profitability. acknowledged that coverage of the
- Evidence: A survey of 547 journalists and media build up to the war in Iraq was "not
executives conducted by the Pew Center reveals as rigorous as it should have been.
that 66% of national journalists and 57% of local In some cases, information that was
journalists feel that the economic interests in terms controversial then, and seems
of profit negatively affects the quality of their questionable now, was
work-product. The respondents also opine that insufficiently qualified or allowed
both corporate owners and advertisers often usurp to stand unchallenged."94 The
the editorial judgment of media personnel. article then listed specific stories
that contained questionable
5. Media's insatiable quest for ratings intensifies information. The Times con-
competition and leads to the adoption of strategies that cluded, "We consider the story of
guarantee a sizable audience. The competition for Iraq's weapons, and of the pattern
audience and ratings, which are maximized by of misinformation, to be unfinished
"scooping" other news sources by becoming the first business. And we fully intend to
to disseminate a story, can prompt abridgement of continue aggressive reporting
procedures used to verify information. This behavior aimed at setting the record
contributes to inaccuracies or distortions. Several straight."
examples of this behavior include reports of the
winner of the Dewey-Truman presidential contest in
1948 and broadcast media's call of the winner of In a similar act of self-criticism,
Florida in the 2000 presidential contest. USA Today publicized its
- The last twenty years have ushered in a lot of suspicions concerning possible
shows and stories that seem to titillate (arouse) plagiarism committed by Jack
rather than inform and educate. Sex scandals and Kelley, a Pulitzer-Prize finalist and
bizarre lifestyle stories are increasingly covered by foreign correspondent. In the
more mainstream media. article, Karen Jurgensen, a USA
- As a consequence, media that seek only to Today editor, cites the paper's best
entertain or titillate may see credibility as practices guidelines that proscribe
somewhat less compelling. conduct that is "dishonest or illegal
- Sensational programming creates the perception to obtain or alter content. The
that credibility is not a salient objective in paper asked "readers, sources or
broadcast journalism. employees" for any information on
Kelley's reporting. After an
6. Strategies decided to maximize ratings can include a independent investigation, almost
focus on the more sensationalist aspects of race, four months later, USA Today again
gender or sexuality. The challenge for media is to published a story about the scandal.
resist sensationalism and report in a manner that Al Neuharth, the article's author
educates the public on substantive issues of the and founder of USA Today, stated
campaign. that the paper's editor, who resigned
- Media must behave ethically if they hope to over the Kelley scandal, inherited
maximize audience size and fulfill its problems that allowed Kelley's
responsibility as monitors of the government. thirteen years of questionable
reporting to take place. He partially
7. The industry will regulate its behavior if it perceives
blamed the paper's decision to
that the dissemination of truthful and universally
abandon the "no anonymous
appealing information enlarges its audience. Media
source" guideline, which "built
sources that provide news and information that
reader trust, confidence and
audiences seek will generally garner higher ratings
circulation." An investigating
and, therefore, maximize profits.
committee opined that
abandonment of the "no anonymous
8. What can increase/decrease ratings:
source" guideline resulted from an
objective to make the paper more
- Any disconnect between credibility and audience
competitive.
size may be attributed to several factors.
Regionalism, which refers to viewers' gravitation
toward information tailored to their respective
localities, affects preferences and explains, to What this shows:
some extent, local television's dominance in These admissions made by these
audience size. Local television, however, is a major publications and the
rather unique source that focuses on a limited local numerous daily corrections by other
market. National networks, which generally have a industry sources demonstrate the
broader focus, have greater operational extent to which the media is aware
investments and, consequently, seek a more global of the need to maintain credibility.
audience. For national networks such as CNN and
Fox News, regionalism has little impact on
ratings. Entertainment value and innate curiosity
generated by their programming, however, can
affect audience size regardless of the networks'
perceived credibility. This premise seems
particularly applicable to Fox News, the
programming of which seems dominated by
heated exchanges on polemic issues. Moreover,
viewer curiosity can increase ratings. In the Pew
Research Study, 29% of acknowledged political
liberals who prefer news that reflects their
viewpoint regularly watch Fox News, which is
generally favoured by conservatives.
- A news source, regardless of credibility, may
attract viewers due to the entertainment/curiosity
value or sensational nature of its programming,57
or because the source tends to report news from a
certain ideological perspective.
- While entertainment/curiosity can temporarily
impact audience size, credibility, which is the
linchpin element in the motivational triad, remains
the mandatory criterion to ensure news
viewership.
- Distorted reports or sensationalist coverage of
issues of race and gender may garner temporary
viewer interest. Such questionable, journalistic
behavior, however, fails to secure a significant
number of loyal viewers, the majority of whom
crave accurate, relevant and substantive news.
- The enhancement of credibility also confirms
media's role as responsible citizens when they
temper corporate gain for the benefit of society's
common good. For example, news sources have
refrained from the disclosure of the names of
victims of certain violent crimes and the names of
juveniles involved in judicial proceedings.
- Media have also cooperated with governmental
attempts to limit dissemination of information
related to such national interests as war and
protection from terrorism.
- With regard to its coverage of elections, media
have exercised restraint in order to maintain
credibility with viewers.