Bias: A Bane or a Benefit?

Today's reading and group presentation were centered on bias in journalism. Having bias prevents the truth from being presented in an honest and accurate way. "Journalism's first obligation is to the truth." Unfortunately, not only is truth the first principle of journalism, it is also the most confusing one (according to our class handout). Why is truth so complicated? I believe it is because, despite being fundamental in professional and religious aspects, truth can also be misleading. According to my religion, God's truth never changes. However, man's truth does.

Take this, as an example. During World War II, Hitler was able to use his charisma to convince countless people that killing the Jews was a righteous endeavor. Because journalism in Germany follows a Democratic Corporatist model (one of the three media system models we studied) Hitler had more power through his nation's press. Without an unbiased press to act as the public's "watchdog," he was able to spread his personal vendetta across the nation like wildfire.  For the people that supported him, Hitler's creed was their "truth." It was not the truth to many other people, however, and so a war began over the "truths" of two different factions.

However, everyone has opinions; it makes us unique as individuals. Our personal beliefs define us. But, we must keep our biases from polluting our writing. Journalists should honor their duty to the citizens by keeping their obligations to the truth. Now, articles should have personality. Today's journal article hardly compares to America's first newspaper articles. In order keep an audience's attention, it is encouraged to instill a level of humanity and personality in journal writing. Having said that, journalists should not let their engaging writing style mask a personal agenda. They should not write with bias. They should not, under any circumstances, lie.

Besides, every lie is caught.

Knockwurst, Anyone?

Personally, I wish that every school assignment was a project. Essays are ok, tests, definitely not. But projects are expressive, creative, and fun! In my Media Writing class, our first project was a road trip article. I went to a local festival called Swiss Days in Midway... tell me what you think!

MIDWAY, Utah. - The young boy entered the Swiss Days festival with eager anticipation. Bright colors and delicious smells surrounded him, tempting and inviting. On one side, kids ran and jumped in an inflatable bounce-city that sported a larger-than-life Spiderman and a Disney princess tower. On the other side, children’s voices sang lighthearted Swiss songs that echoed from a distant stage. But this boy’s eyes were trained on a small booth off in the distance. He pulled on his father’s sleeve with tangible energy, dragging him full-force towards a tantalizing, succulent scent: Swiss pies.

     In the late 1940’s, Swiss Days began as a celebration of harvest, when local farmers and ranchers would gather at the end of the season to enjoy the food and festivity of their “Harvest Days.” After several years, the name and theme were changed to Swiss Days in order to incorporate the town’s unique ancestry and to attract larger crowds to the event. Even after 60 years, however, Swiss Days remains, as always, a festival of food.

      Gania Harshbarger, 43, a tourist from Provo, Utah, who visited Swiss Days with her family of six on their way to a camping trip, found the food the best part of the festival.

      “My Knockwurst sandwich is the most authentic food you can find at Swiss Days,” she said through flavorful mouthfuls, “It’s delicious.”

      Other guests, on the other hand, specifically chose their food selection because of its non-Swiss resemblance. Joshua Hansen, 19, also from Provo, said he picked his Swiss taco simply because it reminded him of a Navajo taco.

      The community worked hard to make sure all locals and tourists were abundantly fed. With their constant commitment, the outdoor food court became alive with enthusiastic children, bustling strollers, and, of course, the sigh of satisfied foodies.

 Each booth beckoned to the crowds, gathering quick-paced lines of hungry guests. The festival’s “World Famous” Swiss Tacos attracted a line that snaked in between tables and booths for nearly half an hour. Knockwurst sandwiches and Kraut dinners offered a more traditional Swiss fare, as well as the homemade Braztzilies – Swiss cookies – that were sold at surrounding stalls. A centralized booth fried hundreds of fresh scones, with which the pleased populace lathered spoonfuls of honey-butter or berry jam.

      The pie booth, the fervor of the little boy, however, was not localized. Out of the way, though many people visited the stall, the crowd was significantly smaller than those at the other vendors. But the boy instinctively knew that this booth would be incomparable.

 Nestled between the Swiss dogs and the Swiss shaved ice, the pie booth was saturated with sugary sweet scents. Rows of thick slices of berry, peach, apple, rhubarb, pumpkin and pecan snuggled in crowded racks. Tourists pined over the selection of decadents, struggling to make a decision. The most popular pie, Berrylicious, had already sold out by late afternoon.

      Lamont Jones, 53, a local of Midway and runner of the pie booth, personally recognizes food’s fundamental role during the festival. For the past 12 years, Jones has spent each Swiss Days dishing out plates of steaming pies and hamburgers to the thousands of locals and tourists who come every year.

      When asked what was his favorite part of the Swiss Days festival, he said, “Seeing all the people, and all the activities that are going on. And also, community; it’s pretty cool to see everyone show up and come together, it’s pretty neat.”

Social Media and the Future of Journalism

Group 2 led the class discussion on social media and its effects on journalism. They defined the difference between yellow journalism and citizen journalism. Yellow journalism relies on "sensationalism" instead of facts, whereas citizen journalism relies more on social opinion and the community's participation. Citizen journalism has several advantages: more coverage, because more people are participating in the reporting' the coverage tends to be more intimate and deeper, because citizens tend to report on things that matter deeply to them; and it has a subjective viewpoint. The downsides are the information overload, the information triaging, and the ethical and professional objectivity. Consequentially, the public should consider how they find what is relevant, and how they verify that information. While the role of journalists  is in "providing citizens with an accurate and informed picture of people and events," citizens and bloggers hold no such ethical duties. I feel that this is the most important difference between true journalism and citizen journalism, and the important reason why true journalism must survive. Information is powerful, but it can also be dangerous if misinterpreted or misrepresented.

On a brighter note, Group 2 then listed ten reasons why there is still a bright future for journalism:

1. More access to more journalism worldwide

2. Aggregation and personalization satisfies readers

3. Digital delivery offers more ways to reach people

4. There are more fact-checkers now than ever in the history of journalism

5. Collaboration…

6. More voices are part of the news conversations

7. Grater transparency and more personal tone

8. Growing advertising revenue online

9. An online shift from print could improve our environmental impact

10. Stories never end.

Because nearly all citizens originally get their stories from journalists in the first place, I don't believe that journalism will ever die out, but I do believe that over time it will merge with other social media sources. The world of information is moving online, so eventually that is where everything will go. In yesterday's issue of the New York Times large-city restaurants are providing iPads that feature their extensive wine listings, in order to provide guests with detailed information on each individual bottle, along with thousands of customer reviews. I can see a day in the future when textbooks will be purchased and available through iPads or other electronic sources, where the news will all be online, and where books can be rented through online sources and viewed online. However, just as JSTOR is far more reliable and in-depth than wikipedia sources, I believe that bloggers will never hold the reliability, thoroughness, and dependability that journalists hold. While journalism may move to another medium, it will continue to exist.

What is a journalist?

            Journalism is the art of delivering unbiased news about the world and society we live in – and since that world is constantly changing, the concept of journalism and those who report it is equally fluctuant. The traditional idea of a journalist is an energetic and usually charismatic individual who carries an itching curiosity and a desire to make a difference in their world. They are good writers and love to be with people and experience new things. Journalists need to be honest and unbiased, so that they deliver truthful and reliable stories.

While today’s journalists still deliver these traditional stories and portray these traditional behaviors, the changing times has given them much more creative liberty. The arrival of the Internet has introduced a new form of competition in the world of journalism, so journalists have a greater pressure to capture their audience’s attention in order to keep viewers or readers interested. This adds an element of entertainment to the traditional definition of a journalist. Group one captured this concept perfectly in their demonstration, especially with the rapping weatherman video-clip.

Group One delivered a well-constructed lesson. They led the discussion with enthusiasm and were very entertaining in both their demonstrations and their lectures.  They found well-pertaining video clips and were able to creatively tie in a common game into their lesson: comparing candy bowls with profit. Because media is a business, it caters to its viewers and what the audience wants. As Group one discussed, there are three types of audience viewers: 1) an involved public, 2) an interested public, and 3) and uninterested public. Media will cater its stories to either of the first two groups, in order to remain in business and continue delivering news. Group one tied this lesson in well with the game and the clips.

Because of this need to deliver to the public, being a journalist can be a catch-22. On one hand, journalists want to deliver stories they believe the public needs to hear; on the other hand, in order to finance the newspaper or station they work for, journalists deliver stories they believe the public wants to hear. 

Journalism

This is my first semester as a Pre-Communications major at Brigham Young University, and I'm excited! It's great to be taking major-specific classes instead of GE's. Generals add a sense of finality to college life; major classes, on the other hand, lend themselves to the future. You can't help but fantasize, "I'm going to use this concept, or this chapter, in my such-and-such career."

Well, my first assignment in one of my first Communications classes is to keep a blog. I created a blog about a year ago for a technology class I was taking, but it ceased as soon as the class did. So this time, instead of gearing specifically and exclusively on the class, I plan to theme this blog on travel tips and tricks and articles.

So, first question: What is journalism?

In my opinion, journalism addresses and reports current events accurately. Its purpose is to educate society on both local and global events, whether political or entertainment-based. Journalism must be reported in a timely manner: if an article is on the ten best foods to serve at a family reunion, it needs to be printed during the beginning of summer. Journalism also needs to be reliable. This, I believe, limits journalism to newspapers and magazine sources, and reliable news internet sites. Blogging, on the other hand, is understandably more questionable. I believe that it can occasionally be a source of journalism, but the reliability is far more questionable. Information gathered on a blog should be questioned, whereas the facts stated in newspaper reports are more reliable. Of course, facts can be misrepresented in order to tell a certain story, but that is not the role of a journalist. 

In that case, who are journalists? What is their role?

I believe journalists are reporters of events. They are committed to presenting the truth about the world. They are curious about their society and the world they live in. They strive to better society through the media they provide. While many magazine and newspaper journalists do care about reliability and their own affect on the world, bloggers can be anyone, and they can follow any agenda. They aren't guided by any codes of ethics. They can be biased or spread rumors. They can be opinionated or uneducated. While a blogger can be a journalist, being a blogger doesn't automatically make one a journalist.