Attribution and Anonymous Sources

It's a simple formula:  Lack of attribution = lack of credibility = lack of readers.

There is nothing difficult about attribution. It's simply saying who or what your source is, whether it's a fact, an opinion or a quote. As we've discussed in class, attribution is the soul of journalism because without it, your article or broadcast is not believable. Reporters need to protect themselves. In the event that the information proves to be false, at least the reporter can truthfully say that her source was wrong, not her. And attribution establishes credibility by showing  readers or listeners where they can go if they challenge anything in the article or if they want to obtain more information from your sources.

Getting the story first is nice. Getting it fast is nice too. But getting itright supercedes everything else. Without journalistic integrity, reporters or publications have nothing to offer readers or listeners. Recently an Irish college student conducted a media experiment that, unfortunately, major news organizations failed. The results were alarming and should make everyone -- especially aspiring journalists -- remember to not only attribute their own facts, but to check and re-check any unattributed information they obtain online. Click here to read an article about the hoax. Your thoughts?

On a separate note,  All the President's Men is a classic illustration of the watchdog role of journalism and how no one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law. More than 30 years have passed since Watergate. Given the technology we have today, as well as the greater emphasis on homeland security, do you think Woodward and Bernstein's job would be easier or more difficult if they were investigating the same series of events today?

One thing's for sure. Deep Throat, their anonymous source for many of the stories, was instrumental in helping them uncover the Watergate scandal. For years Deep Throat's identity remained a mystery until Mark Felt, former associate director of the FBI, admitted in 2005 that he was, in fact, the parking garage informant. While some praise Felt for his  courage, others consider him a traitor for leaking classified information to reporters. Click here to see this point of view.

Do you think Deep Throat was a hero? Or was he maybe someone who disliked President Nixon and used Woodward and Bernstein for his own agenda? How do you feel about the value and trustworthiness of anonymous sources?
  

Tough Questions?

Flickr photo by Keith Allison

As the controversy surrounding the Ray Rice scandal continues to unfold, numerous members of the National Football League are coming under fire.  The main questions are what did they know and when did they know it? Now members of the sports media are also coming under fire for not uncovering the facts of the story that a gossip news organization like TMZ was able to.  Journalists are supposed to ask tough questions. It's becoming clear that many of them didn't. Or those that did ask tough questions accepted non-answers too easily.

Click on these three links to familiarize yourself with the story and share some of your thoughts. First watch this video clip that provides an overview of the Ray Rice story itself. 

The second is a link to a sports blog critical of the media's handling of the story. 

And the third is a video of a press conference held by Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh earlier this week.

Listen carefully to the news conference. The focus was on the new video that emerged showing Ray Rice beating his then-fiancé inside an elevator. Harbaugh dismissed important questions about the new view of the assault with “I don’t want to get into that” replies. What do you think of the reporters' handling of the coach's non-responses? Should they have been tougher or more persistent in their questioning? Did they play "softball" with this football coach? 

The First Amendment and First Impressions

                                         Creative Commons photo by Denise Krebs

The First Amendment is the foundation of an open society. Two of the five protections guaranteed by the First Amendment -- freedom of speech and freedom of the press -- help ensure that we provide citizens with a "marketplace of ideas" free from censorship. 

Yet the right to free expression often comes into conflict with other rights, especially when it infringes on the safety or morality of others. Yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre, for example, is not protected by the First Amendment. Neither is child pornography or material that is considered obscene in nature.    

Click here to watch a brief news report about a case that reached the Supreme Court a few years ago.       

The First Amendment is therefore a blessing and a curse.  Either way, it should be easy to see why the First Amendment is not just a static document that was written by our forefathers over 200 years ago. Because society and technology change and evolve, the First Amendment is continually challenged by cases that need to be interpreted by the courts.  

While the digital revolution has enabled us to have incredible opportunities and resources at our fingertips, it has also spawned problematic trends. How, for example, do we sift through it all? How will people know the difference between legitimate news sources and biased or unsupported propaganda? How will people be able to make informed decisions?

NBC anchorman Brian Williams summed it up well:  "It is now possible--even common--to go about your day in America and consume only what you wish to see and hear. There are television networks that already agree with your views, iPods that play only music you already know you like, Internet programs ready to filter out all but the news you want to hear . . . The whole notion of  'media' is now much more democratic, but what will the effect be on democracy?"  

Also click on this link to see an interesting story that evolved on Twitter following the recent shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. It raises interesting questions about bias in the media.

Please share your thoughts about any of the the items mentioned in a brief response.

Case Studies in the Right to Privacy and Libel

In a remarkable case stemming from the right to privacy, the British tabloid News of the World actually closed for good a few years ago after a shocking phone hacking scandal. Watch this video to learn more about it.

Creative Commons photo by Howard Lake  

Then read this column about the difference between tabloid journalism and investigative journalism.

Movie star Tom Cruise is currently involved in a libel case. Click here to read about it. He was also recently criticized for a controversial comment he allegedly made during his testimony in the case, but those remarks were apparently misquoted.  

Exploring Ethical Dilemmas

Creative Commons photo by Justin Baeder

Journalists and the publications they work for must strive to be ethical in their reporting. In fact, most major publications have their own ethics policies that employees are expected to follow. Click on this link to see The New York Times' ethics policy. It's quite extensive, so I'm not asking you to read all of it. But just skim through it by clicking on the various guidelines highlighted in blue, especially the first two. Take note of one or two of the policies that stand out to you and be prepared to share them in class.

Then click on this ethics quiz from PBS to explore some ethical scenarios and see which course of action you would choose. Reporters face a variety of ethical choices for which there are often no easy or "right" answers. Comment on the scenario that you found most difficult to make a decision for.

Bias in the News

Creative Commons photo by DonkeyHotey

As we examine the problem of bias in the news, you're probably thinking, "I'm not prejudiced. So I would never be biased in my reporting or writing." But bias isn't the same thing as prejudice. Prejudice is a deliberate negative feeling or attitude. Bias is a tendency or an inclination to assume a certain viewpoint, and a bias may be favorable or unfavorable and is not always deliberate. Indeed, most reporters are unaware of bias in their reporting until someone points it out to them.







Even if your work is free of bias, you need to be a critical observer of the news media and have a greater understanding of bias in reporting. Because it happens. All the time.
Bias can occur in many ways, particularly through:  

•  Selection and omission of specific details

•  Placement of a story

•  Choice of sources

•  Word choice and tone

•  Headlines

•  Photos and camera angles

•  Captions

•  Names and titles

•  Statistics

Click here to examine how two articles cover the same news event in much different way.Then click on some of the other menu items and explore this excellent University of Michigan website on news bias.

For an example of liberal bias, read the examples below (from Breitbart.com) regarding a story about former presidential candidate Mitt Romney who made some controversial remarks while he was being secretly videotaped. How do the revised versions of this New York Times article show a liberal bias?

The original piece contains this paragraph:

Romney told reporters Monday night that his remarks were “not elegantly stated” and were “spoken off the cuff.” But he says Obama's approach is “attractive to people who are not paying taxes.”

The new version reads:

Mr. Romney addressed the video, somewhat awkwardly, at a fund-raiser Monday night in Costa Mesa, Calif., summoning reporters with a few moments’ notice to walk through the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, which was filled with guests sipping drinks at tables elegantly draped in blue cloths.

The original reads:

Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, said in a statement Monday evening that it was “shocking” that Romney would “go behind closed doors” to describe nearly half of the country in such terms.

The new version reads:

Mr. Romney, who has been under fire for releasing only two years of his tax returns, was quickly attacked by the Obama campaign. Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement Monday evening that it was “shocking” that Mr. Romney would “go behind closed doors” to describe nearly half of the country in such terms.

Finally, watch this video by comedian Jon Stewart, who shows a collection of news clips from Fox News about its biased coverage that accuses the Obama administration of covering up "the truth" about how an American ambassador was killed in Benghazi, Libya.