Chapter 12 by Ian Richards and ch 13 Mark Pearson
The is always a question about public interest and what is in the public interest. News stories may contain key elements of genuine human drama, have a combination of news values and they are of significance to major sections of the public. Yet at the same time they invariably provoke controversy.
What indeed do the 'public' and 'private' mean?
Both are ambiguous concepts and it is interesting to note that while many citizens object to the government gathering information of private citizens see nothing wrong with the use of hidden cameras or questionable means of photographers who have in fact invaded someone else's privacy. (p188)
A general view is that 'privacy is the condition of not having undocumented personal knowledge about on possessed by another'. (Parent, 1992:92) although it has been pointed out by Kieran 1997 that 'it is not merely particular information about our lives that is private but those areas of our lives that the information concerns.'
The notion that individuals have a right to 'life, health, liberty and possessions' has come to mean to many a type of entitlement regardless of how trivial it may at times be.
NOTIONS OF PRIVACY:
privacy can mean:
- the right to be left alone
- the right to control unwanted publicity about ones own affairs
- the right to withhold any information that one does not want made public.
Todays privacy laws generally have 4 distinct interpretations:
- intrusion: unwanted violation of ones physical solitude
- publication of embarrassing private fears
- publication of information that takes place in a false light
- and appropriation, meaning use of an individuals name, picture or likeness without that persons permission usually for commercial exploitation.
Journalists are propelled in the direction of revelation rather than concealment, of disclosure rather than protection. I think this is a key consideration which needs to be acknowledged when looking at notions of privacy and a journalists boundaries.
Journalists have put forward a number of justifications for favoring intrusion over respect for privacy:
- by entering public life individuals surrender any claim to personal privacy
- journalists have a duty to report private situations when these details could have relevance to the public performance of an individual or group.
- individual journalists are simply conduits for information and it is up to the readers/listeners/viewers to decide the limits
- if it is not illegal it must be permissible.
INDIVIDUAL AUTONOMY:
The notion of individual autonomy is in fact fundamental. It is regularly invoked to defend a wide variety of rights, from the right to vote to the right to freedom of religion.
The freedom from government interference and the individual as autonomous moral agent are two account of autonomy which are particularly relevant to journalism.
Callahan states that autonomy 'should be a moral good, not a moral obsession. It is a value not the value.' (1984:42)
The growth of corporate dominance of the media i think had undermined traditional arguments in favor of press freedom as it is harder to mount these arguments to defend and institution that is simply meeting consumer demand for lively accounts of famous individuals private lives.
While many journalists seem to be taking a stand and deciding not to intrude on those within the public eye there are still many who see it as their right to know what is going on. I think it comes down to the choice or autonomy of the individual journalists. There has to be a will not to invade the privacy of others, of course you are still under some corporate structure but within this i think individual journalists can still have self limits and regulation they just have to want it.
JOURNALISM LAW:
Technically there are very few laws which apply exclusively to journalists.
As Walker 1989 demonstrated in her book The Law of Journalism in Australia there was indeed a body of law that could be deemed 'journalism law' in that it constituted all that legal implications that arose from the act of news reporting and publishing. Such laws could include:
- defamation
- court reporting
- contempt of court and parliament
- obscenity
- media regulation
- freedom of information legislation
- intellectual property
- trespass
- breach of confidences
among others.
Journalists have no rights beyond those of ordinary citizens, although they are given some special privileges in order to facilitates their role in bringing information to the wider citizenry.
They are also sometimes allowed privileged of withholding a name.
Public interest - judges and legislators with allow journalists certain privileges if it seems it is in the public interest to do so; if it is performing a greater public good by being allowed to continue.
Sub Justice: Publication interfering with an individuals right to a fair trail is known as 'sub justice' contempt, from the Latin meaning under a judge.
Freedom of Information: (FOI) Is a law designed to allow greater public access to information held by government departments.
Defamation Law: Each jurisdiction has a different body of defamation law.
Fair Report: is the standard defense relied on by journalists reporting on court and parliament. It stems from an absolute protection against defamation action afforded to anyone speaking in court of parliament and to any documents labeled tabled in those institutions known as 'absolute privileged'.
Fair Comment: offers protection to journalists who's writing involves the publication of an opinion about a public matter. This defense applies to commentaries such as editorial comments book reviews sports reviews and letters to the editor.
It is key to note that just because something may be interesting to the public does not mean it is in the public interest to hear about it. It is the journalists ethical obligation to report on public interest issues rather than appeal to society's overstimulated want for tabloid gossip.
Once again coming back to autonomy of a journalist.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Chapter 10: Literary Journalism
If the news media is not screaming urgency at its audience, then it is homogenising and neutering truly tragic or shocking news events. (p149)
Barely an evening goes by without the brief appearance from a grieving relative. Each interview looks so much like the other that it is almost impossible to for viewers to identify with the victims plight.
Alternatively, the most appalling overseas wars scenes are parcelled up in 45seconds and sweetened by a reporter’s dully intoned voiceover.
EFFECT: The general effect of this constant bombarding of images, stories and tragedy is the gradual dehumanising of both subjects of stories and those who read them. We become desensitised to the events taking place around us because it’s as though we’ve seen it all before.
So in a way I think the concept of literary journalism could be a kind of solution to this problem.
- Some commentators have urged journalists to match their power and influence with greater accountability.
- Another group places faith in providing deeply researched, well-written pieces that use the techniques of fiction to fully engage the readers mind and emotions.
And its these techniques which make the style of literary journalism.
ELEMENTS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM:
What is literary journalism?
“In literary journalism the research is the iceberg and the polished prose its tip.“
Elements of:
- Documented subject matter chosen from real world as opposed to ‘invented’ from the writers mind. (156)
- Exhaustive research, either through conventional sources such as documents & interviews, or by ‘saturation’ reporting; that is, by immersing yourself in the world of your subject (Helen Garner) (156-57)
- Novelistic techniques: using a range of techniques borrowed from fiction
a. Creating whole scenes
b. Quoting passages of dialogue
c. Describing the social setting in detail
d. Writing interior monologues for subjects
- Restricted to mostly techniques drawn from socially realistic fiction.
- Voice: daily journalism is tyrannised by industrial voice
- Literary prose style, both in attention paid to structure the narrative and choosing the words themselves.
- Underlying meaning. The purpose of this work is to go beyond the constraints of daily journalism and find the underlying meanings in issues and events.
Primary Aims:
Journalism – to accurate information about a news event.
Fiction – to tell a compelling story.
Literary journalists fuse the role of observer and maker to find a third way of depicting reality. (Sims 1990, p.18)
This usually has two important implications:
1. It broadens the readers understanding of what happened within the event they’re reporting on
2. It has an impact.
How does the reader know the described events are real? I think this is an important question.
Simply they do not, they must trust the writing. Which therefore means the writer must earn the audiences trust.
Yet i'm not sure how this can achieved completely. There are of course ways: such as writers which have been around for a period of time are more established and thus more credible yet i'm not sure how this same kind of trust can achieved for first time literary journalists.
CONCLUSION:
The use of fictional techniques in journalism throws a host of complex and subtle issues.
It requires much more skill than daily journalism, because you need to be careful while creating a voice that you do not write something untrue because it suits the tone. And if you do then the audience needs to be informed accordingly, there is a danger it seems with literary journalism to swing to far either into fact and loose the voice which makes literary journalism so unique or go the other way and change events to something untrue because its what you think the audience may want to hear.
If literary journalism seeks to get at underlying meanings in issues and events, it also makes it far harder for readers to determine what is fact and what is fiction, making it all the more important that its practitioners keep faith with the reader.
Barely an evening goes by without the brief appearance from a grieving relative. Each interview looks so much like the other that it is almost impossible to for viewers to identify with the victims plight.
Alternatively, the most appalling overseas wars scenes are parcelled up in 45seconds and sweetened by a reporter’s dully intoned voiceover.
EFFECT: The general effect of this constant bombarding of images, stories and tragedy is the gradual dehumanising of both subjects of stories and those who read them. We become desensitised to the events taking place around us because it’s as though we’ve seen it all before.
So in a way I think the concept of literary journalism could be a kind of solution to this problem.
- Some commentators have urged journalists to match their power and influence with greater accountability.
- Another group places faith in providing deeply researched, well-written pieces that use the techniques of fiction to fully engage the readers mind and emotions.
And its these techniques which make the style of literary journalism.
ELEMENTS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM:
What is literary journalism?
“In literary journalism the research is the iceberg and the polished prose its tip.“
Elements of:
- Documented subject matter chosen from real world as opposed to ‘invented’ from the writers mind. (156)
- Exhaustive research, either through conventional sources such as documents & interviews, or by ‘saturation’ reporting; that is, by immersing yourself in the world of your subject (Helen Garner) (156-57)
- Novelistic techniques: using a range of techniques borrowed from fiction
a. Creating whole scenes
b. Quoting passages of dialogue
c. Describing the social setting in detail
d. Writing interior monologues for subjects
- Restricted to mostly techniques drawn from socially realistic fiction.
- Voice: daily journalism is tyrannised by industrial voice
- Literary prose style, both in attention paid to structure the narrative and choosing the words themselves.
- Underlying meaning. The purpose of this work is to go beyond the constraints of daily journalism and find the underlying meanings in issues and events.
Primary Aims:
Journalism – to accurate information about a news event.
Fiction – to tell a compelling story.
Literary journalists fuse the role of observer and maker to find a third way of depicting reality. (Sims 1990, p.18)
This usually has two important implications:
1. It broadens the readers understanding of what happened within the event they’re reporting on
2. It has an impact.
How does the reader know the described events are real? I think this is an important question.
Simply they do not, they must trust the writing. Which therefore means the writer must earn the audiences trust.
Yet i'm not sure how this can achieved completely. There are of course ways: such as writers which have been around for a period of time are more established and thus more credible yet i'm not sure how this same kind of trust can achieved for first time literary journalists.
CONCLUSION:
The use of fictional techniques in journalism throws a host of complex and subtle issues.
It requires much more skill than daily journalism, because you need to be careful while creating a voice that you do not write something untrue because it suits the tone. And if you do then the audience needs to be informed accordingly, there is a danger it seems with literary journalism to swing to far either into fact and loose the voice which makes literary journalism so unique or go the other way and change events to something untrue because its what you think the audience may want to hear.
If literary journalism seeks to get at underlying meanings in issues and events, it also makes it far harder for readers to determine what is fact and what is fiction, making it all the more important that its practitioners keep faith with the reader.
Chapter 9 and thoughts on the representation of Others.
I though this topic was really interesting how it looks at how the daily practices of journalists enforce stereotypes of foreign and ingenious people, and in particular how regional journalism shapes what we know about indigenous people.
The question of Who are others? was also one which i had never actually considered. Living on the Central Coast in a predominately white community there aren't often discussion relating to indigenous people. The role which the media has taken in the construction of the 'others' is interesting and disturbing.
'Others' are indigenous people they seem to be characterised through the media as
- socially disenfranchised and those on the fringes of society
What Indigenous Stories are Generally About:
- alcohol
- Criminals Usually portrayed in a negative sense
- criminals
- rioters
- wife beaters
- drug users
- petrol sniffers
- welfare dependant
- school dropout
- dirty
- lazy
- violent
- helpless
- hopeless
- sexual abuses
- living in drug infested environment
very rarely are there stories in mainstream newspapers about indigenous people where they are painted in a positive or a way which portrays them as a beneficial element within society. More often than not stories will show them in any number of the ways listed above.
Main Reasons Why Indigenous Stories may be Inaccurate:
- Readership
- Out of sight out of mind.
- Because they don’t see many indigenous people they don’t report on them
- Because they’re not reading it they don’t print stuff
- Don’t think other people would be interested. Those written are usually negative and are choice of sources
- Don’t consult sources relative to the story
- Frequently go for same quotes
- Very rarely quote or consult indigenous people
- Indigenous people hard to contact by phone or net
- Indigenous organisations not well known
- Time constraints and deadlines.
While it is true that newspapers need to be catering to their audiences and therefore will print stories predominately aimed for them i think by leaving out a variety of indigenous issues and only reporting on the problems we are being shown a skewed and perhaps one sided view of a group of people who are very much part of our culture and showed be treated accordingly with respect. In chapter 9 it says "ethical awareness requires more than a passing knowledge of the rules of engagement"... journalists "have a responsibility to their audience and themselves to develop their understand and judgement in ways that reflect a commitment to fairness" as well as accuracy and reporting on a variety of complex issues such as indigenous affairs.
The question of Who are others? was also one which i had never actually considered. Living on the Central Coast in a predominately white community there aren't often discussion relating to indigenous people. The role which the media has taken in the construction of the 'others' is interesting and disturbing.
'Others' are indigenous people they seem to be characterised through the media as
- socially disenfranchised and those on the fringes of society
What Indigenous Stories are Generally About:
- alcohol
- Criminals Usually portrayed in a negative sense
- criminals
- rioters
- wife beaters
- drug users
- petrol sniffers
- welfare dependant
- school dropout
- dirty
- lazy
- violent
- helpless
- hopeless
- sexual abuses
- living in drug infested environment
very rarely are there stories in mainstream newspapers about indigenous people where they are painted in a positive or a way which portrays them as a beneficial element within society. More often than not stories will show them in any number of the ways listed above.
Main Reasons Why Indigenous Stories may be Inaccurate:
- Readership
- Out of sight out of mind.
- Because they don’t see many indigenous people they don’t report on them
- Because they’re not reading it they don’t print stuff
- Don’t think other people would be interested. Those written are usually negative and are choice of sources
- Don’t consult sources relative to the story
- Frequently go for same quotes
- Very rarely quote or consult indigenous people
- Indigenous people hard to contact by phone or net
- Indigenous organisations not well known
- Time constraints and deadlines.
While it is true that newspapers need to be catering to their audiences and therefore will print stories predominately aimed for them i think by leaving out a variety of indigenous issues and only reporting on the problems we are being shown a skewed and perhaps one sided view of a group of people who are very much part of our culture and showed be treated accordingly with respect. In chapter 9 it says "ethical awareness requires more than a passing knowledge of the rules of engagement"... journalists "have a responsibility to their audience and themselves to develop their understand and judgement in ways that reflect a commitment to fairness" as well as accuracy and reporting on a variety of complex issues such as indigenous affairs.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Chapter 8 More than Skin Deep: Australia's Indigenous Heritage
Chapter 8 by Michael Meadows and Jacqui Ewart
Journalism is an important cultural resource at both the regional and metropolitan levels.
Journalism it seem is an influential component in relation to societies beliefs and views, there is as the chapter also suggests evidence to suggest that regional journalism has a unique place and role in the formation of identity and the creation of the concept of community.
Key to note that the majority of Australians have had limited contact with indigenous individuals and it is therefore the regional or local level that non-indigenous Australians come to to formulate their ideas about the subject from.
Regional journalism does play a unique role in the formation of the notion of community, helping to unite and connect groups of people. Metropolitan media can not provide the same kind of unity because they focus on the national and international issues.
FRAMING THE NEWS:
Studies of the coverage of Ingenious affairs in the Australian news media suggests a lack of ability by journalists - from first contact - to accurately represent 'the other' in anything by stereotypical , patronising, assimilatorist, or ignorant terms. Though there are exceptions.
Understanding journalists practice and how they impact on the representation of Indigenous Australians requires insights not only into those practices but also into the field in which journalists work, particularly their workplace cultures.
Van Dikj (1991) identifies the need to examine the semantic significance of the text of news stories - their implications and irrelevances, for example - as well as what he terms 'news schemes' such as headlines, story introductions, key events, content, history or background, quoted passages, and commentary.
This should also include omissions from stories.
THE JOURNALISTS:
The key problematic area when addressing indigenous affairs stories include the journalists concept of readership, the use of sources and the granting of authority status to those sources, newspaper policies, and constraints in the routine gathering and writing of news. (Meadows and Oldham 1991: Goodall 1993; Trigger 1995; Ewart 1997b)
READERSHIP:
Readership is a predominant factor which influences journalists
Journalists often claim they are reflecting society in their coverage of news, as they are writing for the reader. However, journalists are more likely to gain their ideas of readership from two sources: their immediate supervisors and colleagues and their sources. Their reliance on a limited number of people has a huge effect on the way journalists report , gather and write their news stories.
SOURCES:
Indigenous related articles are often not covered in news situations because they are not seen to appeal to the majority of those reading or watching the coverage.
Many journalists also have limited contact with Indigenous people, rare;y talk to Indigenous sources about issues and these are then only considered newsworthy by some sources if they are sensationalised in some way.
NEWSPAPER POLICY: what makes news?
Journalists are not always directly told not to cover a story, rather they learn by being steered in other directions by colleagues, or by the editing or rejection of their copy.
Journalists take their cues for reporting the news from the editorial hierarchy rather than community.
Sometimes this selectivity is designed to suit the unwritten policies of the media about not covering certain issues.
DAILY ROUTINES:
The daily practices of journalism can be seen to reinforce stereotypes and the thus restrict the ways in which indigenous people and issues are treated in the news.
The impact of reporting on limited Indigenous events when linked with the limited use of indigenous sources as information means that journalists often receive unreliable and culturally inappropriate interpretations of indigenous news.
TREATMENT OF INDIGENOUS ISSUES:
Journalists consider the issue of 'race' problematic. There are significant disjuncture's between their ideas and practices in this area.
The existence of the MEEA's code of ethics has further complicated the issue of reporting on race. Many journalists report being pressured into acting contrary to the code by editorial management. The 'reality' of gathering and writing news is frequently cites as a justification for journalists' inability to strictly adhere to the code.
Journalists approach their work though a value system that positions them as watch dogs on government and as promoters of democracy. The notion as journalism as a fourth estate is a timely debater given the increasingly public disillusionment with both government and the media.
CONCLUSION:
Regional journalists and their perceptions of journalism practices provide a starting point from which to examine the broader aspects of reporting on indigenous people and issues.
This area remains a largely ignored in scholarly research.
The chapter has shown journalists reluctant to use Indigenous sources of to engage in any meaningful research despite apparent easy access to background material.
The struggle over journalists representations of Indigenous affairs is not a recent one. From first contact indigenous people have been positioned from, and within, the dominant ideas and assumptions of Anglo-European culture.
The role of journalism as a set of cultural practices in this quest is critical. Journalists claim to professionalism, primarily on the MEAA codes of ethics do not provide and adequate framework for the representations of indigenous affairs.
Journalists need to re-conceptualise journalism in terms of how it 'imagines' society within the context of the shift as a colonising cultural institution.
Journalism is an important cultural resource at both the regional and metropolitan levels.
Journalism it seem is an influential component in relation to societies beliefs and views, there is as the chapter also suggests evidence to suggest that regional journalism has a unique place and role in the formation of identity and the creation of the concept of community.
Key to note that the majority of Australians have had limited contact with indigenous individuals and it is therefore the regional or local level that non-indigenous Australians come to to formulate their ideas about the subject from.
Regional journalism does play a unique role in the formation of the notion of community, helping to unite and connect groups of people. Metropolitan media can not provide the same kind of unity because they focus on the national and international issues.
FRAMING THE NEWS:
Studies of the coverage of Ingenious affairs in the Australian news media suggests a lack of ability by journalists - from first contact - to accurately represent 'the other' in anything by stereotypical , patronising, assimilatorist, or ignorant terms. Though there are exceptions.
Understanding journalists practice and how they impact on the representation of Indigenous Australians requires insights not only into those practices but also into the field in which journalists work, particularly their workplace cultures.
Van Dikj (1991) identifies the need to examine the semantic significance of the text of news stories - their implications and irrelevances, for example - as well as what he terms 'news schemes' such as headlines, story introductions, key events, content, history or background, quoted passages, and commentary.
This should also include omissions from stories.
THE JOURNALISTS:
The key problematic area when addressing indigenous affairs stories include the journalists concept of readership, the use of sources and the granting of authority status to those sources, newspaper policies, and constraints in the routine gathering and writing of news. (Meadows and Oldham 1991: Goodall 1993; Trigger 1995; Ewart 1997b)
READERSHIP:
Readership is a predominant factor which influences journalists
Journalists often claim they are reflecting society in their coverage of news, as they are writing for the reader. However, journalists are more likely to gain their ideas of readership from two sources: their immediate supervisors and colleagues and their sources. Their reliance on a limited number of people has a huge effect on the way journalists report , gather and write their news stories.
SOURCES:
Indigenous related articles are often not covered in news situations because they are not seen to appeal to the majority of those reading or watching the coverage.
Many journalists also have limited contact with Indigenous people, rare;y talk to Indigenous sources about issues and these are then only considered newsworthy by some sources if they are sensationalised in some way.
NEWSPAPER POLICY: what makes news?
Journalists are not always directly told not to cover a story, rather they learn by being steered in other directions by colleagues, or by the editing or rejection of their copy.
Journalists take their cues for reporting the news from the editorial hierarchy rather than community.
Sometimes this selectivity is designed to suit the unwritten policies of the media about not covering certain issues.
DAILY ROUTINES:
The daily practices of journalism can be seen to reinforce stereotypes and the thus restrict the ways in which indigenous people and issues are treated in the news.
The impact of reporting on limited Indigenous events when linked with the limited use of indigenous sources as information means that journalists often receive unreliable and culturally inappropriate interpretations of indigenous news.
TREATMENT OF INDIGENOUS ISSUES:
Journalists consider the issue of 'race' problematic. There are significant disjuncture's between their ideas and practices in this area.
The existence of the MEEA's code of ethics has further complicated the issue of reporting on race. Many journalists report being pressured into acting contrary to the code by editorial management. The 'reality' of gathering and writing news is frequently cites as a justification for journalists' inability to strictly adhere to the code.
Journalists approach their work though a value system that positions them as watch dogs on government and as promoters of democracy. The notion as journalism as a fourth estate is a timely debater given the increasingly public disillusionment with both government and the media.
CONCLUSION:
Regional journalists and their perceptions of journalism practices provide a starting point from which to examine the broader aspects of reporting on indigenous people and issues.
This area remains a largely ignored in scholarly research.
The chapter has shown journalists reluctant to use Indigenous sources of to engage in any meaningful research despite apparent easy access to background material.
The struggle over journalists representations of Indigenous affairs is not a recent one. From first contact indigenous people have been positioned from, and within, the dominant ideas and assumptions of Anglo-European culture.
The role of journalism as a set of cultural practices in this quest is critical. Journalists claim to professionalism, primarily on the MEAA codes of ethics do not provide and adequate framework for the representations of indigenous affairs.
Journalists need to re-conceptualise journalism in terms of how it 'imagines' society within the context of the shift as a colonising cultural institution.
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