The objective of norm in American, by Michael Schudson, explores how and why the objective norms developed in American journalism. Objective is one of the most important occupational values of American journalism, it can be identified by following measures: express allegiance, ethnographers’ observations and occupational routines, resist with the challenging behaviour, impersonality and non-partisanship in news content. Differencing from some scholars’ opinions that economic and technological change enhances the ethic of objective, Schudson thinks four conditions encourage the articulation of norms. Two of them are Durkheimian, the other two are Weberian. One of the Durkheimian conditions thinks the emergence of norm is to achieve horizontal solidarity, another Durkheimian condition find the norm is used to identify the group from other groups. Both Durkheimian conditions are concluded as social cohesion. The Weberian conditions find norm is not appear abruptly, they are transfer from the old generation, who were benefit from these rules, to the young generation. It is the tool for the superiors to control subordinates in a complex organization. Weberian condition is to satisfy the need of social control. By discussing the history of American journalism development, this essay outlining the emergence of these four conditions in the late 19th and early 20th century. By doing so, the author found the reason why a new moral norm appeared in American journalism. Compared with European journalism, this article discusses why objectivity as a norm first and most fully appears in American instead of Europe.
The author provides a rough timeline of the objective norm emerging in American journalism, and explains the inner origin of these co...
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...p.150). That is why the objective fact existing before 1920s is not the objective norms, and the economical motivation theory is not justified. However, in the attitude to economical motivation, the opinion of the author is too extreme. He thought this theory is wildly believed but nowhere justified (p.160). The over criticising of economical motivation leads the author just focus on the inner motivation of the objective norm from the perspective group development and ignores the importance of outer elements such as economic condition. This limitation causes lopsided of this article.
The author brings us to review the historical development of American journalism and analyse the social motivation of objective norm emergence. Some opinion of other scholar were presented and criticized. In conclusion, this article is a significant guide to American journalism research.
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Show MoreIn “Reporting the News” by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry, the main idea is how the media determines what to air, where to get said stories that will air, how the media presents the news, and the medias effect on the general public. “Reporting The News” is a very strong and detailed article. The authors’ purpose is to inform the readers of what goes on in the news media. This can be inferred by the authors’ tone. The authors’ overall tone is critical of the topics that are covered. The tone can be determined by the authors’ strong use of transitions, specific examples, and phrases or words that indicate analysis. To summarize, first, the authors’ indicate that the media chooses its stories that will air
Trager, Robert, J. R. (2010). The Law of Journalism & Mass Communication. Washington D.C.: CQ Press.
"Corporate Takeover of the Media." From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. By Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2008. 931-33. Print.
The workers of the New York Times share a mutual understanding of what to write about and how they should go about doing it. According to Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, “The quality of the decisions journalists make from day to day is heavily influenced by editors and the culture of the newsroom” (243). Journalists find the facts but each of the editors and culture ...
Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm’s “Four Theories of the Press” argue that “the press always takes on the form and coloration of the social and political structures within which it operates” (p. 1). The book supports this argument by discussing authoritarian, libertarian, social responsibility, and Soviet-totalitarian theories of the press.
Bates, Stephen. “The Reporter’s Privilege, Then and Now.” Society Aug. 2001: 41-54. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 March. 2014.
Woodward and Bernstein's undertaking constructed the cornerstone for the modern role of the media. The making of the movie about the Watergate Scandal and the ventures of the two journalists signify the importance of the media. The media’s role as intermediary is exemplified throughout the plot of the movie. The movie is the embodiment of journalism that guides future journalists to progress towards the truth, no matter what they are going up against. It was the endeavor of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that led them to the truth behind the president’s men. They showed that not even the president is able to deter the sanctity of journalism in its search of truth. The freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and people’s right to know account for the same truth that journalists pursue; the truth that democracy is alive and will persist to live on.
I say this because there were points in which I personally could not really understand what was going on due to my lack of exposure to this problem that American journalism is facing. More specifically, terminology that was used, especially from business standpoints, and the different companies that were involved made it harder to keep up with the issue at hand. However, with a little editing and better explanation of terminology, I think that this film could extend to a wide audience that would include both digital natives and digital immigrants that are experiencing this transition within American news reporting. This paper will examine the difference between old and new journalism and its new standards, “The New York Times Effect” and its 21st century challenges, important qualifications to be a successful journalist, and the future role of journalism within American society.
During the early 1900’s and late 1800’s precipitated the first true form of American media. The daily newspapers have been a part of the United States for some time, but during 1880’s and 1890’s reports such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst began to transform the newspaper in order for it to become the first major stepping stone in mass media. These publishers, especially Hearst, took advantage of the American involvement in foreign affairs. Hearst convinced his audience that sinking of a U.S ship during the Spanish-American War obliged a military response. Although Hearst was not the initial cause of the war, there was proof that he had the power to distort information, images and options. By World War 1, the media involvement increase by a tremendous amount.
Today’s mass media has been molded by hundreds of years of reporting, journalism, and personal opinions. America’s mainstream media thrives upon stretching the truth and ‘creating’ interesting stories for the public. Tactics like this can be credited to people such as William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper mogul from the late 19th to the 20th centuries. Hearst greatly influenced the practice of American journalism through his wealth, short political career, and use of unorthodox reporting methods such as yellow journalism.
An argument can be made that Journalism is one of the very few professions in the world of media that is handled with some sort of dignity and pride. After reading “The Elements of Journalism” by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, I realized how important journalism is to each and every one of us. Whether you’re a writer or a reader, the back and forth exchange between provider and consumer is extremely important in pushing society forward. Journalism after all is designed to challenge society, promote new ideas and spark conversation between one another. Despite the positives of journalism, there are issues that exist within the profession that cannot be excused and cannot be ignored.
"Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .
The 20th century American style of news deals with objectivity. This style distinguishes factual reports from opinion columns. Reporters strive to remain neutral towards the issues they cover, and allow readers to make their judgments.3 The Washington Post?s Michael Getler describes that news that is most beneficial should be delivered in a method that is bey...
The first is the crisis of viability. The chance of success in the journalism in the mainstream is approaching a decline due to the transformations in technologies and new access to multiple sources of information. The second is a crisis in civic adequacy. The contributions of journalism to citizenship and democracy have begun to shift and this shift has caused a question of the relevancy of journalism to democratic processes. In a democratic society journalism plays the role of the government watchdog. The effectiveness of society’s watchdog is now being challenged and in turn alternating the structure of the current democratic society. Many critical theorists of the press during the beginning of the 20th century were concerned with finding appropriate forms of public regulation of the press and journalism to ensure that journalists are writing “news and information about public affairs which sustains and nurtures citizen information, understanding and engagement and thereby a democratic polity” (Cushion and Franklin, 2015: 75) (Dahlgren, Splichal 2016). Journalism is a political entity that influences and informs the public. It is meant to work as a source of public information that helps and does not hinder the general public specifically in political processes. The article
McLoed and Hawley (as cited in Wilson, 1995) elucidated appropriately, "a recurrent journalistic controversy has involved the question whether journalism is a true profession or merely a craft." Sparked primarily by Lippmann and Dewey, extending into the age of the penny press (mid 1980s) and later, the attempt to commercialise the news (late 1980s) to our present era, there has existed a contentious debate on journalism being distinguished as a profession (Wilson, 1995).