Three_Myths_of_Journalism.pptVIP

QUESTIONS COMMENTS * * * * * To be or not to be * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Language in Thought and Action by S.I. Hayakawa Introduction to Philosophy: A Chapter on Logical Positivism These are the books recommended to my daughters, my mentees and my colleagues, including Lachlan Murdoch * * objective objective objective objective objective objective objective THREE MYTHS OF JOURNALISM Hong Kong Baptist University COMM7260 Clarence Chang September 2011 * * * * Be Aware Beware ofMyths in Journalism * * Why? In our dealing with mass media, it is vital in order not to be misguided as well as to clarify some misunderstood and misleading concepts in the profession of Mass Media, in particular, the practice of Journalism and the misperception of them by the general public, as portrayed by some “self-interested politicians”, some “self-interested” practicing journalists, media property owners as well as naive academic idealists * * * * Among the Myths, the following three are most wide-spread, deep-rooted and disturbing – damaging to the pursuit of truth and veracity What are the three myths: 1. Reporting is objective 2. Freedom of press and speech is embraced as absolute, enshrined and protected by law 3. Editorial independence or content independence is an internal matter of a news gathering and distributing organization * * 1. The Myth of Objective Reporting – But in the real world Communication is a two-way or multi-way, interactive process Reporting is a subjective selection of facts (not unlike writing history), leaving out a lot of other facts, that could be relevant or irrelevant The reporters or writers have their own mental make-ups - ethnic, historical, education backgrounds- not to mention their psychological and physical conditions, therefore, their point of view or bias. Reports are a subjective selection of facts or reports of reports of selected facts, by one person or a group of persons, certainly not objective. * * The Myth of Objective