Definitions and Examples of Journalism Terms

Definitions and Examples of Journalism Terms

Before we get into how we write a news story, we’ll talk about the terms you need to be aware of — the tricks of the trade, in other words, for better or worse. (Note that sometimes you can simply click on the videos, other times you may need to copy and paste the link into your browser). Pay strict attention, because a graded assignment based on these terms is at the end here!

  1. Bias
  2. Framing
  3. Pack Journalism
  4. Agenda Setting
  5. Veil of Ignorance
  6. Adversarial Press
  7. Consensus Press
  8. Medium Bias
  9. Mean World Syndrome
  10. Cultural Imperialism

Okey dokey. Now you have the terms. Here comes the assignment ….

MEA 110 Assignment on Terms You Need to Know

Now that you understand the 10 terms because you read the “lecture” and watched the videos, your task is to present examples to me, just as I presented examples to you.

So … pick out five of the terms from the of 10, then find me an example for each of your five choices. These must be real-world examples from the media.

They also must be specific examples. So, for example, if you choose “bias” as one of your terms, you can’t simply write: “MSNBC is biased because all of its stories are negative about Donald Trump,” or, “Fox News is biased because all of its stories are pro-Trump.”

Such lazy analysis would earn you a lousy grade on this assignment.

Look at my examples, and emulate those. They are specific, as yours should be.

Be detailed, be specific, write well, do a good job. This assignment is worth a lot of points, hence you have two weeks to complete it! So there’s no excuse not to do it well!

Phone a friend, ask a parent, surf the Internet, whatever it takes — just find me good examples (and do not use any that I have already used!).

That is all. Get to work.

 

Subject: Journalism

 

Hi so there are few requirements for the examples you pick. Here are the teacher’s examples and how he wants it done. However, you may not use the same examples as him. Here are the teacher’s examples:

Bias is prejudice or preconception that prevents objective consideration of an idea, issue or situation. There are so many examples of bias in media it’s difficult to know where to begin.

I’ll give you one example from ABC News. Remember the guy who walked into a movie theater and killed lots of people at a premiere of a Batman movie? Well, the ABC News chief of investigative journalism initially blamed it a member of the Tea Party, which was a conservative movement that protested President Barack Obama’s policies. The journalist didn’t like the Tea Party, so he called one of its members a mass murderer. Here is a link to Jon Stewart of Comedy Central talking about the incident

Framing refers to the way journalists present the news. The way they “frame” something shapes the audience’s perception of the news item they are reading or watching. And they purposely “frame” something to fit their own biases!

Example: When Steve Forbes ran for president and suggested a “flat tax,” whereby everyone paid the same percentage of their income as a tax, the CBS News reporter kept referring to it as the candidate’s “little tax scheme.” This was the journalist framing the story in such a way to belittle Forbes and his flat tax. Even though the journalist got all of the facts right, he “framed” them in such a way as to convince the audience that it was not a good idea.

Pack Journalism is where journalists basically piggyback on each other’s work by reporting the same stories, in the same way as their competitors.

Example: A few summers, back reporters realized that stories about shark attacks led to big traffic and lots of viewers, so every shark attack was reported by numerous outlets and consumers of news assumed shark attacks were on the rise (some blamed global warming). But when the summer ended, there were no more shark attacks than there were any other summer. (For the record, there’s an average of 82 shark attacks each year worldwide with four fatalities).

Agenda Setting refers to the phenomenon of journalists getting to set the agenda. In other words, if the news media is reporting it, then people are talking about it. And if the media is ignoring it, then people are not talking about it.

Example: MSNBC, The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post …. they all run lots and lots of stories about global warming because they are trying to sent the agenda — that being that it is a huge problem that Americans need to pay attention to.

Veil of Ignorance is a philosophical concept that basically says right it right and wrong is wrong, and society should judge on that basis, no on the basis of which group or person is making which claim. Any time a reporter is siding with the poor or the downtrodden over the rich or powerful even though it is the rich or powerful who is right and the poor and downtrodden who is wrong, they are NOT adhering to the principle of the Veil of Ignorance.

Example: A Rolling Stone magazine reporter wrote a lengthy story about a woman who was horribly gang raped by frat boys at the University of Virginia. She spoke extensively to the victim, but never bothered speaking to the fraternity. She believed the woman, so no further checking was needed. The rich frat boys were the villains, of course. Why interview them? Only that wasn’t the case. Rolling Stone had to retract the story when it was discovered it got just about every fact wrong, and the magazine was sued nearly out of existence. This reporter DID NOT adhere to the Veil of Ignorance. If she had, she’d have reported the truth and let the chips fall where they may.

Adversarial Press is when the press sides AGAINST the rich and powerful.

Example: Check out this 35-second clip of a young journalist (probably around your age) asking Sean Penn, the rich and famous actor, an uncomfortable question. She didn’t get an answer, but her question and non-response got her a lot of attention, as she was engaging in adversarial press

Consensus Press is when the press sides WITH the rich and powerful. Therefore, it is the opposite of Adversarial Press.

Example: Now, check out this famous example as the news team (not the opinion team) praises a speech by Barack Obama (one of them, Chris Matthews formerly of MSNBC, gets a “thrill up his leg.”) These guys are engaging in consensus press

Before we move on to the next term, watch this video, as it is a rare example of both Consensus Press and Adversarial Press at the same time. Note that the Consensus reporters asking softball questions are squeezing out the one Adversarial reporter asking tough questions to Rahm Emanuel (the very rich and powerful man who was running for mayor of Chicago at the time)

Medium Bias is when the medium itself is biased. “Medium,” by the way, is the singular of “media.” So if you are discussing television only, you are referring to a “medium,” but if you are discussing TV, music, print and film all at once, you are discussing “media.”

Example: When John F. Kennedy debated Richard Nixon in the early 1960s in the first televised presidential debate, those who heard the debate on radio were more likely to say that Nixon won the debate; but those who watched it on television were more likely to say Kennedy won the debate. This suggests that there is a bias in the medium of TV over radio because you can see how much more poised Kennedy appeared compared to Nixon, but you could not see that on radio, of course.

Mean World Sydrome is when you believes the world (or country, or city, or whatever) is a far more dangerous place than it really is, and it happens when you consume lots of media … not only news media, but entertainment media, as well.

Example: If you spend may hours a day watching news about murders and fires and other bad things, then also watch shows about crime and mayhem, like CSI and the others, then you may think that your life is in danger every time you step out of the house even if statistics suggest otherwise.

Cultural Imperialism is when one culture (usually the United States) exports its “culture” worldwide due to the power of its media.

Example: After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the FBI warned movie and TV studios that they might be next on Al Qaeda’s list to target for terrorism. The reason was that Al Qaeda was upset that America exports its sexually charged culture worldwide via its R-rated movies and MTV, etc.

 

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