Tower Theatre Presents: "Page One"

I traveled up to Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City Tuesday evening with some friends of mine. We watched a documentary called Page One: Inside the New York Times. I went up to Salt Lake City with small expectations, but I left the theatre enriched.

My Comms 239 professor always has our class read David Carr’s column in the Monday Business section. I got to know him better from the documentary, and I will enjoy reading his column even more. I respect David Carr from his love and passion for the New York Times and for newspapers in general. He came from being a drug addict to having a family and getting a job at the New York Times.

The documentary illustrated the controversy of internet news versus traditional newspapers and if newspapers are even needed anymore. The documentary ended with the strong fact that newspapers are indeed very much needed because they are the ones who do the actual reporting. Most news from internet sites distribute recycled news.

The question was asked: could the New York Times, probably the most prestigious newspaper company in the nation go out of business? The answer was that they could, but mostly likely not. They did hit some hard times and had to let many people go, but they are still a strong viable source for quality information.

The documentary proved that the New York Times is still here to do investigative journalism on possible scandals and issues that the public needs to know about. David Carr investigated the Tribune company scandal which led to resignations. The company performed legal actions, but the New York Times was confident and still printed the story.

I greatly enjoyed this documentary, and I learned a lot on the way.

Independence in Journalism

In my Comms 239 class we discussed the topic the Journalistic independence. I thought the group did a great job with their presentation.

A newspaper company is like a track team. They run their various events separately, but they still depend on each other to win the meet. The journalistic runners have to be careful about not taking sponsorships from outside companies and wearing the sponsor’s logo on their jersey. This detracts from the team, and diminishes the pure motive for running.

Journalists must stay independent from partisan affiliation to remain objective and fair to all sides. They should write for the love of writing and in sharing truth to the public, not for personal gain and extra benefits. Here is a video showing the many different sport teams General Motors has sponsored over the years. They interviewed people who were directly affected by the sponsorship and so of course they are going to speak very favorable about General Motors. http://vimeo.com/10763538

One concept the group talked about was independence from race, ethnicity, religion, and gender. These are all characteristics that help define who we are. It would be hard to obtain full independence from these.

It is hard to separate myself from religion. It would be difficult to do a positive or balanced story on something contrary to what I know is right. In professional journalism you have to be careful about taking sides, but in citizen journalism, we are free to write whatever we want. L. Tom Perry of the quorum of the twelve apostles talked about using social media to promote The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. http://tinyurl.com/3qsbp6s

Diversity in the newsroom is important to ensure various perspectives on issues. People are also more likely to trust the organization’s objectivity. Here is a video where Soledad O’Brien talks about the growing diversity in the media. http://tinyurl.com/3ez2cwe

  

"Good Night and Good Luck"

In my Comms 239 class we watched the movie “Good Night and Good Luck.” Watch this movie trailer to gain a sense of the movie. http://tinyurl.com/86gous.

Joseph McCarthy brought real drama to the United States. I would consider him the 1950’s drama king. The amount of fervor and anxiety level he transmitted from coast to coast was astounding, and the fear people had of him was disgusting.

I admired the CBS crew and their courage in standing up to McCarthy. Because they stood up to the bully, others were more willing to voice their opinions as well. Edward Murrow and his colleagues were instrumental in bringing McCarthy down. 

McCarthy ruined people’s lives because they were convicted of being sympathetic to Communists. http://tinyurl.com/5srzsb The simple act of telling the TRUTH made all the difference.  

Journalists must have the gumption to tell the truth even if it jeopardizes their personal well being. In order to pursue a journalism career, you must be strong mentally and morally so you will not crack under pressure as Don did when he committed suicide in the movie. You need to be confident in yourself an in your career.

Anderson Cooper is an example of a modern journalist who is confident in almost every aspect. I do not particularly agree with all of his views, but I do admire his confidence. Here is a segment of Cooper interviewing Pastor Robert Jeffress on CNN. http://tinyurl.com/3p7ukt5

Mark Willes' Presentation

Today I went to presentation given by Mark Willes, President and CEO of Deseret Management Corp. It was very interesting and enlightening.

He discussed the decline in revenue to newspaper companies across the country. Many prominent newspapers have gone out of business from the online shift. Deseret News, like others, has lost profits in the last three years.

Deseret News has taken on this problem in a unique way. They have come up with a set of goals that completely differ from any other newspaper. They are focusing more on close to home aspects such as family, faith, the poor, and education. This new focus allows many people to read the newspaper comfortably and address issues they feel strong passion towards. Issues such as the destroying effect of pornography and the lack of fathers in many American homes. The newspaper has gained a lot of attention on a national scale gathering many loyalties on the east coast. People respect their ideals and values issued in the newspapers and so they want to read it.

Another attack that Deseret News has taken is to ask worthy people to write for free! These writers are well-to-do people and do not need the extra pay. People such as Matthew Holland, President of UVU, have taken a personal interest in Deseret News’ promoted goals and want to contribute in what ways they can. They get to write their stories, and Deseret News gets to stay in business.

Mark Willes challenged us to be different and creative in our approaches in challenging the technological problem. What I gained from this presentation is to trust in God. If I promote in the things I fervently believe in, I will do the work necessary to make it succeed. I appreciated his comments greatly. 

Verification

In Comms 239 we discussed the importance of verification in journalism.

Some journalists write down truths, yet do not present the whole truth, such as using sources that only give one side of the argument clearly presenting a bias. Sometimes the media can be one sided because that is where the news is. One example of this is our perception of the Muslims. Many think of Muslims as terrorists who are committed to destroying America and its influence. But, in fact, terrorists are only rare extremist groups; the majority of Muslims are peace-loving people. The media presents Muslims in a negative light because the extreme groups make the news and affect us more than the everyday Muslims. Should journalists verify the other side in issues such as this? Here is a video showing the extensive numbers of Muslims who are strongly against terrorism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NYzs8IjxhY

A point of verification that I believe is an excellent principle is transparency. This means being completely open to your audience and show them how and where you got your sources. Our goal is to get the information out to the citizens, and then have them make their own decision. If journalists become as see through as possible, they will gain the people’s trust. Here is an online article about statistics on people’s trust in the media compared to other places. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/little-trust-in-government-or-media-either/

The internet poses threats to the verification process for journalists. Some may think it is better to be quick then to be “fully” correct. Either on the internet or in print, it is important for journalists to follow accuracy checklists to verify their work. As citizen journalists we should also promote truth and accuracy in everything we write. Here is a website that allows you to build your own accuracy checklist. http://businessjournalism.org/2010/10/29/how-to-build-a-personalized-accuracy-checklist/       

The Profession of Journalism

In my Communications 239 class, we discussed the profession of journalism and the effects and influences it has on society.

Journalists have been labeled as all alone. This is partly true because in order to be an effective journalist, one cannot get too attached to their sources. If a journalist becomes too attached to a source, their perception may become skewed. But a journalist must also become close enough to a source to produce the passion and energy necessary to produce a qualified article that make people want to read it. In class, the presenting group used the example of Anderson Cooper and how he got too close to the victims of Hurricane Katrina; and that he no longer reported why it was happening, but that the victims needed help. Cooper is popular because he does get deeply involved, but he needs to draw the line somewhere. Here is a clip of Anderson Cooper being completely emotional and angry at a Louisiana senator on CNN over the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsuRCXiYGO4

Another aspect of the profession of journalism we talked about in class is that Journalists have an underlining bias from their personal world view. I know that I am. Because I have been raised in Orem, Utah, I think completely differently than others from other states and countries. http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=1867. This article is from the Columbia University Press and explains that white men and their worldview dominate the media and unfairly represent women’s worldviews. Although I do not fully believe this argument, I do believe that the media needs a diversity of people with different backgrounds to balance the worldview output for society.   

In class, we talked about the controversy of keeping sources confident. Judith Miller, a New York Times writer, kept her source confidential. Because of this, she had legal issues. Here is a fascinating interview with Miller, her lawyer, and others discussing this issue at more depth. http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/1158

A Thought on Local News

According to the New York Times news article, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/business/media/pew-media-study-shows-reliance-on-many-outlets.html , the thought that local television news channels are gaining more popularity than other media is only “narrowly true.”

One cannot discount the fact that nowadays people are never satisfied with just one source of information, especially in the growing generation. If one is interested in a particular news story, they will find out more about it on the internet in places such as Twitter, blogs, and online newspapers. The public will find the news they are interested about because there are so many different niche websites. The Pew study reiterates this by saying, according to surveys, that the local news channel is the main source of information for three topics—weather, traffic, and breaking news—while the internet and newspapers are the main source of information for eleven other topics. People will not be satisfied with the local news station alone. They have other cravings to feed.

There is talk about local newspapers becoming nonexistent. I do not believe this will happen. It is rare for a person to make it on television. But sports, plays, and other local activities and events are often printed in newspapers. Families are going to continue to subscribe to newspapers to have a physical representation of the event their family or neighbor was involved in. Local newspapers bring out news on a more personal level.

Local news channels and local newspapers are also not going to go extinct. People enjoy and are more concerned with issues that are closer to home. They will want to stay connected on a local level, because it affects them every day. Even the younger generation, who has turned to the internet for most of their news, will continue the tradition of getting news from local television and printed news as they get older. When they have a family of their own, they will want to be involved in their families’ lives.