Mass market/ junk market and the ParisHiltonization of the news.
What bugs me the most about journalism today is the Paris Hiltonization of the news. This includes the infiltration of infotainment into serious journalism, soft news, the column- centimetres and TV News time allocated to promoting trashy celebrity culture, and the constant pandering to the lowest common denominator.
As they say, no one ever lost money under-estimating the taste (and intelligence) of the public, but is there another solution rather than succumbing to the commercial pressures of the mass market?
Supply what the public demands? If we keep force-feeding the public a constant diet of junk media, like junk food they will become addicted to it- not to mention fat and slushy brains. Is there not an ethical and professional obligation of journalists to lift the bar in educating the public, providing quality information and raising the level of debate on serious matters of public interest affecting people’s lives? Otherwise, it is a downward spiral which is already threatening the credibility of journalism as a profession.
Where is mass journalism destined? UK tabloid The Sun has the largest circulation (3 mill+) of any English language daily newspaper in the world. The average reading age of its readership is 12. Rupert Murdoch – power and influence via his newspaper. This really bugs me.
Quality journalism deserves more than to be relegated to niche and elite markets.
Manipulating public opinion.
Another bug bear is in my own particular field of politics. Journalists are well aware of their influence in swinging undecided voters, especially in a tight election. Do we trust the media to use this influence responsibly?
Media use of polling and surveys can either have a bandwagon or rallying effect. How accurate and impartial are these polls anyway? (eg push polling and cooking the data to favour their preferred candidates).
Election media coverage tends to focus on the ‘horse race’ of the campaign rather than real policy issues. Polls and commentary to this effect intensifies as they near the finish line. If journalists constantly question politicians on policy issues during the campaign, it would maneuver emphasis away from rhetoric and style to matters of substance. It is a chicken and egg scenario—politicos respond to how the media reports politics and it becomes a downward spiral of ‘swallowing out’ campaign information.
Again I return to journalism’s democratic roles of watchdog and providing a forum for debate, rather than pushing their own agenda and too often they are ‘making the news’.
Journalists should be reporting the news; informing, educating and analyzing for public themselves to decide what is best.
anita
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Personal Statement
What I hope to achieve from this class?
What skills do I want to develop?
What questions I want answered?
In my second undergraduate year, I had an academic essay marked down for being ‘too journalistic’. I was not too clear at the time what this meant but academics obviously thought it inferior to ‘academic writing’.
Also, a professor once told me he did not like writing features for newspapers because they edited his articles. He wrote an academic dissertation introducing his thesis at the beginning before outlining all his arguments, and ending with a solid conclusion. He said newspapers editors wanted the conclusion at the beginning. Newspaper readers needed a strong lead paragraph to capture their attention, especially in a topic area in which they were not normally interested.
What I want to achieve from this course is to develop a definite skill distinction between the two types of writing.
What is a ‘journalistic style’?
What and when is either style appropriate?
Are the differences in emphasis or language?
Are the research methods the same?
What are the formulae for journalistic reporting of the news?
How much artistic licence is allowed?
How objective is objective?
I recently started work for a political party as a communications assistant which involved political writing such as press releases, articles, short speeches and web postings. Previously they employed ex-journalists for this position because a knowledge of how journalists would report press releases would be an advantage.
This is a journalism class with graduates from all different schools. I would enjoy reading, talking to and learning from other students who are not political science majors. My writing tends to be research based and political argument as opposed to creative writing. It would be great to develop creative story telling skills.
What skills do I want to develop?
What questions I want answered?
In my second undergraduate year, I had an academic essay marked down for being ‘too journalistic’. I was not too clear at the time what this meant but academics obviously thought it inferior to ‘academic writing’.
Also, a professor once told me he did not like writing features for newspapers because they edited his articles. He wrote an academic dissertation introducing his thesis at the beginning before outlining all his arguments, and ending with a solid conclusion. He said newspapers editors wanted the conclusion at the beginning. Newspaper readers needed a strong lead paragraph to capture their attention, especially in a topic area in which they were not normally interested.
What I want to achieve from this course is to develop a definite skill distinction between the two types of writing.
What is a ‘journalistic style’?
What and when is either style appropriate?
Are the differences in emphasis or language?
Are the research methods the same?
What are the formulae for journalistic reporting of the news?
How much artistic licence is allowed?
How objective is objective?
I recently started work for a political party as a communications assistant which involved political writing such as press releases, articles, short speeches and web postings. Previously they employed ex-journalists for this position because a knowledge of how journalists would report press releases would be an advantage.
This is a journalism class with graduates from all different schools. I would enjoy reading, talking to and learning from other students who are not political science majors. My writing tends to be research based and political argument as opposed to creative writing. It would be great to develop creative story telling skills.
15 minute interview with Masters journalism student
Nemat Sadat
Afghanistan 1984 needs no explaining. This was the year in which five year old Nemat Sadat, along with his mother and siblings, escaped from their ravaged country to seek refuge in America. His imprisoned father joined them six years later.
Immigration is a self-selecting Darwinian process and especially so in cases of forced migration. Overcoming discrimination and all the issues associated with cultural and economic dislocation, Nemat’s parents had high hopes for their children as they started their new life in San Diego, California.
So let me introduce this remarkable young man.
Most of us in this journalism class fancy ourselves competent writers. Nemat is quad-lingual, English being his third language after his native Farsi-Dari and German, and French which he speaks equal to English.
Nemat’s academic qualifications include undergraduate degrees in International Business (in German) at CalState University Fullerton, and Near Eastern History and Middle Eastern Politics at the University of California Irvine.
He went on to work in retail banking, in two internet start-ups as customer service manager and as a web analysis German language specialist.
Remember, English is Nemat’s third language in which he is also pursuing his passion for creative fictional writing. He is currently completing a manuscript for his first novel “The Merchant of Gold Rice”.
Most interestingly, as an independent contractor to the US government, Nemat delivers graduate level seminars on Afghanistan to the military at various bases around the country. Cultural Intelligence training for US soldiers is “crucial because misunderstandings of Afghan culture by American soldiers have exacerbated the resurgence of the Taliban” says Nemat. “Culturally aware soldiers serve as a ‘force multiplier’ for their commanders in military terms” and reinforces the prime objective of the American government of “winning the hearts and minds” of the Afghan people.
I asked Nemat, why he chose to pursue a Masters degree in journalism at Harvard? Why embark on a career change at a time of declining media opportunities as newspapers downsize making journalism very competitive and rarely financially rewarding?
Simply, he found it no longer satisfying to work in commercial environments meeting sales and marketing targets. He offered words and phrases like ‘developing his creative thinking’, ‘influence’, ‘challenging ideas’, ‘thinking outside the box’, ‘perspectives’ and ‘policy making’; and wanting to apply his (not inconsiderable) skills to higher ideals born of his bi-cultural heritage and a growing awareness of purpose since participating in the military seminars. He also related a personal experience of post 9/11 discrimination for which he bears no ill-will.
“My reward is more than just monetary compensation or a sense of doing my patriotic duty as a citizen. I carry a strong sense of survivor’s guilt after safely escaping to a better life while my country-people still endure disease, hunger, opium addiction, refugee camps, terrorism, war, and abject poverty. This unrelenting thought is unsettling to me. That’s why I have pursued higher education and hope to use the power of knowledge to counter ignorance and extremism” Nemat writes.
Certainly, higher ideals and life purpose. A unique perspective. An extraordinary American citizen.
(500 words)
anita
Afghanistan 1984 needs no explaining. This was the year in which five year old Nemat Sadat, along with his mother and siblings, escaped from their ravaged country to seek refuge in America. His imprisoned father joined them six years later.
Immigration is a self-selecting Darwinian process and especially so in cases of forced migration. Overcoming discrimination and all the issues associated with cultural and economic dislocation, Nemat’s parents had high hopes for their children as they started their new life in San Diego, California.
So let me introduce this remarkable young man.
Most of us in this journalism class fancy ourselves competent writers. Nemat is quad-lingual, English being his third language after his native Farsi-Dari and German, and French which he speaks equal to English.
Nemat’s academic qualifications include undergraduate degrees in International Business (in German) at CalState University Fullerton, and Near Eastern History and Middle Eastern Politics at the University of California Irvine.
He went on to work in retail banking, in two internet start-ups as customer service manager and as a web analysis German language specialist.
Remember, English is Nemat’s third language in which he is also pursuing his passion for creative fictional writing. He is currently completing a manuscript for his first novel “The Merchant of Gold Rice”.
Most interestingly, as an independent contractor to the US government, Nemat delivers graduate level seminars on Afghanistan to the military at various bases around the country. Cultural Intelligence training for US soldiers is “crucial because misunderstandings of Afghan culture by American soldiers have exacerbated the resurgence of the Taliban” says Nemat. “Culturally aware soldiers serve as a ‘force multiplier’ for their commanders in military terms” and reinforces the prime objective of the American government of “winning the hearts and minds” of the Afghan people.
I asked Nemat, why he chose to pursue a Masters degree in journalism at Harvard? Why embark on a career change at a time of declining media opportunities as newspapers downsize making journalism very competitive and rarely financially rewarding?
Simply, he found it no longer satisfying to work in commercial environments meeting sales and marketing targets. He offered words and phrases like ‘developing his creative thinking’, ‘influence’, ‘challenging ideas’, ‘thinking outside the box’, ‘perspectives’ and ‘policy making’; and wanting to apply his (not inconsiderable) skills to higher ideals born of his bi-cultural heritage and a growing awareness of purpose since participating in the military seminars. He also related a personal experience of post 9/11 discrimination for which he bears no ill-will.
“My reward is more than just monetary compensation or a sense of doing my patriotic duty as a citizen. I carry a strong sense of survivor’s guilt after safely escaping to a better life while my country-people still endure disease, hunger, opium addiction, refugee camps, terrorism, war, and abject poverty. This unrelenting thought is unsettling to me. That’s why I have pursued higher education and hope to use the power of knowledge to counter ignorance and extremism” Nemat writes.
Certainly, higher ideals and life purpose. A unique perspective. An extraordinary American citizen.
(500 words)
anita
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Testing 1,2,3,4....
This is Anita's blog, created 24 June 2008 whilst attending Harvard summer school, Cambridge Massachusetts.
Anita is from New Zealand and loves spending her summers in the US.
Her only complaint is the intensity of air conditioning in some buildings she cannot get used to-- both on a physical and ethical (ie environmentally conscious) level.
Why use your buildings like refrigerators in the summer and ovens in the winter?
Oh yes, 40 years ago New Zealand suffered incredible short term pain (for long term gain) by decimalizing EVERYTHING from their currency to all weights, measures and distances in one foul swoop! All subsequent generations of 10 fingered school children now only have to remember three numbers; 1, 10 and 100.
So Anita thinks in centimetres, kilometres, litres, kilograms and celsius.
But has become adept at conversion from imperial measures after the time she unwittingly agreed to a 20 mile hike in the Appalacians in 90 dgre Fahrenheit carrying 3 quarts of water, but neglecting to pack a 2 fluid ounce tube of SPF 30 with insect repellent.
This is Anita's very first post.
Anita is from New Zealand and loves spending her summers in the US.
Her only complaint is the intensity of air conditioning in some buildings she cannot get used to-- both on a physical and ethical (ie environmentally conscious) level.
Why use your buildings like refrigerators in the summer and ovens in the winter?
Oh yes, 40 years ago New Zealand suffered incredible short term pain (for long term gain) by decimalizing EVERYTHING from their currency to all weights, measures and distances in one foul swoop! All subsequent generations of 10 fingered school children now only have to remember three numbers; 1, 10 and 100.
So Anita thinks in centimetres, kilometres, litres, kilograms and celsius.
But has become adept at conversion from imperial measures after the time she unwittingly agreed to a 20 mile hike in the Appalacians in 90 dgre Fahrenheit carrying 3 quarts of water, but neglecting to pack a 2 fluid ounce tube of SPF 30 with insect repellent.
This is Anita's very first post.