Journalistic Values Assignment

CMST 432 Media Systems and Communication Technology

Recommended Text and Materials

Hanson, R. E. (2018) Mass communication: Living in a media world (7th ed.). SAGE.

Recommended Resources for Additional Exploration

The Mass Communication student companion website: 

http://edge.sagepub.com/hanson7e (Links to an external site.)

This site is a particularly good resource for review of course materials.

Journalistic Values Assignment

Gans’s Basic Journalistic Values (see the “Journalistic Values Notes” file attached)

Pick up a copy of a major newspaper (USA Today, Seattle Times, Wall Street Journal) or the nearest urban newspaper (Renton Reporter, Seattle Medium) and look at the front page.

You can also read the front pages online at this website 

https://www.freedomforum.org/todaysfrontpages/ (Links to an external site.)

Mark each example of Gans’s basic journalistic values that you can identify.

Give the name and date of your paper.

· List every story by headline on the front page.

· List the basic journalistic values from Gans for each story and provide examples of how you see them. Not all stories will fit perfectly but review them and give your best argument for why you think its fits into one category versus another. Be specific. HINT: You should have something to say about each story on your front page.

Journalistic Values Notes

Gans’s Basic Journalistic Values.

There is more to the bias argument than the liberal-versus-conservative issue. For example, some observers charge that the media have a bias toward attractiveness or charisma. There can also be a bias toward making money or attracting an audience. Political scientist and media scholar Doris Graber argued that when it comes to selecting stories for coverage, the strongest bias is for those that will have the greatest appeal to the publication’s or program’s audience.

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Rather than looking for examples of bias in the news, media sociologist Herbert Gans set out to find the actual values exhibited within the stories themselves. He asked what the values—the biases—of journalism were. To find the answer, he studied the content of the CBS and NBC news programs, Time magazine, and Newsweek.

Gans found eight enduring values in the stories he studied: ethnocentrism, altruistic democracy, responsible capitalism, small-town pastoralism, individualism, moderatism, social order, and leadership. These values were not stated explicitly; rather, they emerged from what was presented as good and normal and what was presented as bad.

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 Let’s look briefly at each of Gans’s values:

1. Ethnocentrism is the idea that your own country and culture are better than all others. This shows up in the U.S. media in stories that compare other countries’ values to American values. To the degree that other countries live up to American ideals, they are good; if they are different, they are bad. Therefore, enemies of the United States are presented as evil because they don’t conform to our values. Stories can be critical of the United States, but they are criticizing deviance from basic American values, not those values themselves.

2. Altruistic democracy is the idea that politicians should serve the public good, not their own interests. This leads to stories that are critical of corrupt politicians. By the same token, citizens, as voters, have the same obligation to work for the public good and not for selfish interests. Special interest groups and lobbyists are suspect because they are not working for the common good. This was perhaps best illustrated by the Watergate hearings in the 1970s, which revealed the corrupt behavior that occurred in the White House so that President Richard Nixon could stay in power. President Bill Clinton was criticized for his affair with Monica Lewinsky in part because he was serving his own interests rather than working for the good of the American public. President Donald Trump has been criticized for maintaining a controlling interest in his global business empire while being in charge of American foreign policy that could affect the value of that business.

3. Responsible capitalism is the idea that open competition among businesses will create a better, more prosperous world for everyone. But by the same token, businesses must be responsible and not seek excess profits. The same is true of labor unions. Hence the news media tend to be harsh in their coverage of greed and deception by big businesses, yet they still tend to praise people who develop and grow companies. This is why there has been so much negative coverage of banking and investment companies following the stock market crash and recession in the late 2000s.

4. Small-town pastoralism is nostalgia for the old-fashioned, rural community. The agricultural community is where all goodness is rooted, while big cities are dangerous places that suffer from numerous social problems. Suburbs, where many people live, tend to be overlooked entirely.

5. Individualism is the constant quest to identify the one person who makes a difference. People like the notion that one person can make a difference, that we are not all cogs in a giant machine. Reporters like to use a single person as a symbol. That explains in part why journalists focused on the actions of Emma González following the Parkland school shooting. Instead of trying to talk about the gun control movement as a whole, the press used González as a symbol to represent all the protesters.

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6. Moderatism is the value of moderation in all things. Extremists on both the left and the right are criticized. Although the media attempt to present a balance of opinions, they tend to report on views that are mildly to the left and right of center. One of the strongest criticisms the media can make is referring to an individual as an extremist.

7. The value of social order is seen primarily in the coverage of disorder. When journalists cover stories that involve disorder, such as protests, floods, disasters, or riots, the focus of the story tends to be on the restoration of order. Once media coverage of the Flint water crisis got started, social order was a big issue, and the press focused heavily on how that order, in the form of clean, running tap water, might be restored.

8. Finally, the media value leadership. The media tend to look at the actions of leaders, whereas the actions of lower-level bureaucrats—which may well be more important—are ignored. This is in some ways an extension of the bias toward individualism, the difference one person can make.

Overall, Gans argues that there is reformist bias to the media, which tend to advocate “honest, meritocratic, and anti-bureaucratic government.”

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 Journalists like to argue that since both sides criticize the press, they must be doing a good, balanced job.

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 Perhaps a better explanation for why both conservatives and liberals charge the media with bias is that the eight values Gans found within the media reflect a combination of both liberal and conservative values—again illustrating why people holding a particular viewpoint will see bias in the media’s attempt to be neutral and balanced.

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Chapter 7
Audio:
Music and Talk Across Media

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Lin-Manuel Miranda:
Bringing Hip-Hop to Broadway
Kendrick Lamar and Miranda both win Pulitzers for hip-hop
Hamilton uses hip-hop to tell story of American revolution Uses “language of youth and energy and rebellion”
Hip-hop now most popular musical genre in United States based on sales
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Storing Sound
1877: Edison invents phonograph, records sound on foil cylinders
1888: Emile Berliner develops gramophone, plays music on mass produced discs
1953: Hi-Fi is combination of technologies to create better music reproduction
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Signals at a Distance
1844: Samuel Morse’s telegraph allowed messages to be sent over wires
1888: Theoretical work by Heinrich Hertz lays the groundwork for wireless telegraph
1890s: Guglielmo Marconi develops wireless telegraph
1905: Reginald Fessenden makes Christmas Eve broadcast with voices and music
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Radio Music Box Memo
Written in 1915 by American Marconi engineer David Sarnoff
Suggested major uses for radio as mass communication tool including news, music, and sports
More receivers than transmitters
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RCA Monopoly
Created to bring together patents, develop radio as medium
Composed of General Electric, AT&T, Westinghouse, and United Fruit Company
Why United Fruit Company? Held many radio patents to communicate with ships carrying fruit
1920: KDKA in Pittsburgh launched as first commercial radio station
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Growth of Radio Networks
Sarnoff saw NBC as source of programming
William Paley saw CBS as advertising medium
ABC was splintered off from NBC
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Growth of Radio Networks
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Golden Age of Radio
Music
Drama
Little Orphan Annie, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow
Soap operas
Guiding Light started on radio in 1937, moved to television in 1952, ran until 2009
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Radio’s New Look
HD tried to bring new life to broadcast radio, but few receivers; to date a commercial failure
Satellite Radio – XM and Sirius merge. Single service more successful
Mobile streaming increasingly used in vehicles
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Online & Mobile Audio
Streaming audio – can be connected to conventional radio stations/networks or online-only services (Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music)
Podcasting – portable audio you can download to a device and take with you
Podcasts bring programing from both the short head and the long tail
Named after Apple’s iPod – mostly discontinued, replaced by smartphones
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Smart Speakers
Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod
Deliver audio programing, control of “internet of things” devices, online shopping
Essentially a full-time listening device in your home connected to large external servers
“Living in the future” or “Creepy surveillance culture”?
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Rock ‘n’ Roll and Musical Integration
Race Records: Rhythm & Blues
1950s: Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry
Dewey Phillips attracted multi-racial audience for Red, Hot & Blue radio show
1950s and 1960s: Motown & girl groups
Music helped to drive the civil rights movement
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British Invasion
A ‘rougher edge’ sound from British bands
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
The Who
Dusty Springfield
Many others
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Role of Producers
What does a producer do?
Rise of concept albums
Growing role of producer with disco
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Hip-Hop Culture
MCing – rapping over recorded music
DJing – playing recorded music from multiple sources
B-boying – hip-hop dancing, often referred to as breakdancing
Graffiti art – the visual images of the culture
Hip-hop gives voice to protest movements around the world
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Country Music
Grew out of folk, hillbilly, and “old timey” music
Songs often relay a story about people in suburban or rural settings
Revitalized in 1980 by movie Urban Cowboy
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Finding a Niche: Popular Radio Formats
Country 13.2%
News/talk 12.3%
Adult contemporary 8.1%
Pop contemporary hit 7.1%
Classic rock 5.9%
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Radio Business: Talk Radio
Political talk radio
Most political talk is conservative; Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity most popular
Shock Jocks
Howard Stern, Bubba the Love Sponge
All-sports radio
Passionate listeners who won’t change channel
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Public Radio
NPR founded in 1967
All Things Considered goes on the air in 1971
NPR’s Morning Edition news show has bigger audience than any of the morning TV programs
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Public Radio
NPR’s website is key part of network’s strategy
Is no longer National Public Radio, just NPR
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Effects of Music on Young People
There have always been concerns about effects of lyrics on young people
Adults and young adults have different interpretations of lyrics and meanings
Hip-hop has attracted lots of controversy
Adults maintain connections with music from their youth
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The Changing Musical Experience
Death of social music, played and performed in home for entertainment, with the invention of phonograph and the rise radio
Rise of “personal soundtrack” with Sony Walkman, then iPod and other MP3 players
Personalized media use continues with downloads, podcasts and streaming audio
Can lead to “withdrawal from social connections”
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Rise of Digital Music
LPs versus 45s
With analog recordings, quality of copies degrades with each generation
Digital recordings allow consumers to make perfect copies
CDs introduced in early 1980s, sold for premium price
Resurgence of analog/vinyl in 2010s
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Consequences of Digital Music
Consumers “share” music over the Internet, possible violations of copyright law
Artists can use Internet to promote music directly to consumers, bypassing record labels and moving to “long tail”
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Radio Consolidation
Broadcast ownership largely deregulated with Telecommunications Act of 1996
Prior to 1985, could own no more than 7 AM and 7 FM stations nation-wide
After 1996, could own unlimited number of radio stations
By 2003, Clear Channel owned 1,200+ stations. As of 2014, renamed iHeartMedia, owned 862 stations
But radio economics remain difficult
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Radio Without Radio
Audio shows no longer need radio stations to get widespread distribution
Podcasting gives both senders and receivers new opportunities for programming
What can we hear (see, watch) if we get away from legacy media?
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Media Transformations:
Working and Living in the Long Tail
Doug and Telisha Williams perform as the band Wild Ponies
Indie musicians can make a middle-class living by engaging with listeners
Kevin Kelly’s Theory of 1,000 True Fans
Digital technology puts creative media power in hands of individuals
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New Economic Models for Music Industry
File sharing, user-generated content, and YouTube changing marketplace
But report in 2017 notes revenue from recorded music has been steadily increasing in recent years
Driving force is streaming services
Artists seeking range of options to make money
Touring, sale of merchandise, commercial endorsements, direct sales of music to consumers
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Chapter 6
Newspapers and the News:
Reflections of a Democratic Society

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When Is It News That an Entire City
Is Being Poisoned By Its Water Supply?
City of Flint, Mich., had high levels of lead in its water after changing from lake to river water
Local journalists say they were slow to respond because officials said water was ok
But local journalists eventually drove the story to receive national attention
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National journalists saw it as heartland story, followed national stories instead
Communities depend on local journalism for news about important local occurrences
When Is It News That an Entire City
Is Being Poisoned By Its Water Supply?
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Early Newspapers
1618: Curanto, published in Amsterdam, is first English-language newspaper
1622: newspapers being published in Britain, distributed through coffeehouses
Followers of church reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther among earliest publishers
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Colonial Publishing
1690: Publick Occurrences, first paper published in American colonies
Colonial newspapers subject to British censorship
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Colonial Publishing
1721: New England Courant
Published by James Franklin, Ben’s older brother
First paper published without “By Authority” notice; James sent to prison for doing so, Ben takes over publishing paper
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Early American Newspapers
Audience primarily wealthy elite
Published by political parties
Focused on opinion, not news
Expensive and had small circulation
Generally bought by prepaid subscription
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Penny Press Revolution
Benjamin Day’s idea: The New York Sun – “It shines for all”
Sold on the street for one or two cents
Supported primarily by advertising
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Penny Press Revolution
First papers to shift focus on news
Journalistic objectivity developed as a way to appeal to larger audiences
Rise of working class supported penny press growth
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A Modern Democratic Society
Rapidly growing number of papers
Growing number of people working for wages
U.S. transforming from rural to urban society
Expanding interest in national and global events
Newspapers promoted democratic market society
People acquire the news “habit”
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Newspaper Wars: Hearst vs. Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World
Creation of the front page
Often staged sensational stunts
Created headlines with news
Targeting immigrants and women
Nellie Bly and stunt journalism
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Newspaper Wars: Hearst vs. Pulitzer
William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal
Rise of yellow journalism
Popularized comics, including Yellow Kid
Sensationalistic stories by both papers promoting Spanish-American War in Cuba
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Tabloids
Smaller format newspapers written in a lively, often sensationalistic, style
Tabloid “jazz journalism” era
New York Daily News and New York Post
Racy London tabloids
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Broadcast News – Radio
1920: KDKA covers Harding-Cox presidential election results
1930s: newspapers argue radio should not broadcast news
WW II: Edward R. Murrow broadcasting for CBS from Europe. Brought the war home for listeners
www.youtube.com
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Broadcast News – Television
1940: republican national convention covered by experimental NBC television network
Murrow makes jump from radio to television
1948: CBS starts nightly 15-minute newscast
1963: CBS expands newscast to 30 minutes with Walter Cronkite
1979: ABC starts Nightline during Iranian hostage crisis
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Broadcast News – Cable
1980: CNN goes on the air, promises not to sign off until the “end of the world”
1991: Gulf War makes CNN the place to go for current news
2000s: Fox News comes to dominate the cable news ratings with programming that takes a strong point of view
As of 2017, approximately 50% of Americans get news from television in some form
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Newspapers Today
Few cities have competing daily newspapers
Most newspapers owned by large chains
Largest chain is Gannett, publisher of USA Today; owns approximately 83 daily papers
Advertising revenue fell by two-thirds over last ten years
NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune all have rapidly growing digital circulation
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Papers with National Reach:
Wall Street Journal
Traditional look with focus on financial news
Owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp
Combined digital/print daily circulation of approximately 2.27 million
Editorial page is one of nation’s leading conservative voices
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Papers with National Reach:
USA Today
Brought color and design to forefront
Originally described as having “News McNuggets”
Has daily digital/print circulation of 4.14 million
USA Today considers itself a “multi-platform news and information media company”
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Papers with National Reach:
New York Times
Started as penny paper
Influential in defining national news
Although tied to New York, has national circulation
Massive growth in online digital circulation

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Papers with National Reach:
Washington Post
Came to national prominence with Watergate reporting of Woodward and Bernstein
Prominent source of government news
Much larger national presence online under leadership of new owner Jeff Bezos
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Papers with National Reach:
Los Angeles Times
Leading West Coast paper
Gaining national profile with online presence
Won fight with Disney when media giant tried to cut LA Times off from movie screenings. Paper ran negative stories about Disney’s financial relationship with city of Anaheim (where Disneyland is located)
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Objectivity and the View From Nowhere
Multiple meanings for objectivity: just-the-facts, “both sides,” reporting what is true without contrasting point of view
Objectivity as a goal came from era of the penny press to improve sales
Too often objectivity means “what I agree with”
“View From Nowhere” means journalists avoid taking sides so as to appear unbiased
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Implications of View From Nowhere
By placing journalists between extremes of left and right they can all themselves balanced
Because journalists are balanced, they are not biased
Because they are not biased, journalists are being legitimate reporters
Rosen suggests that reporters should focus on being “transparent.” Let audience understand point of view of journalist and present all the evidence
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Community and Suburban Papers
Daily and weekly papers serving individual communities and suburbs
97% of newspapers in U.S. fall into this category
Community papers can and do win Pulitzer Prizes
Publish news people can’t get anywhere else
“A local paper won’t get scooped by CNN”
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What Is News?
Timeliness
Proximity
Prominence
Consequence
Rarity
Human interest
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Herbert Gans: Basic Journalistic Values
Ethnocentrism
The belief that your own country and culture is better than all others
Altruistic democracy
The idea that politicians should serve the public good, not their own interests
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Herbert Gans: Basic Journalistic Values
Responsible capitalism
The idea that open competition among businesses will create a better, more prosperous world. But must be responsible
Small town pastoralism
Nostalgia for the old-fashioned rural community
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Herbert Gans: Basic Journalistic Values
Individualism
The quest to identify the one person who makes a difference
Moderatism
The value of moderation in all things. Extremists on left and right are viewed with suspicion
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Herbert Gans:
Basic Journalistic Values
Social order
When journalists cover disorder they tend to focus on the restoration of order
Leadership
Media look at the actions of leaders whereas the actions of lower-level bureaucrats are ignored
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Media Transformation: Where Do We Go for the News?
People often choose their news sources based on their political values
40% of Trump supporters in 2016 listed Fox News as main news source; 18% of Clinton supporters listed CNN
Chart categorizes news outlets from liberal to conservative for political point of view
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Media Transformation: Where Do We Go for the News?
Also be categorized by quality from Original Fact Reporting to Inaccurate/Fabricated Information
www.ralphehanson.com
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Media Transformation: Where Do We Go for the News?
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Dangers Journalists Face
In 2017, 46 journalists were killed in direct connection with their work
Eight killed in Iraq, 8 killed in Syria, 6 in Mexico and 4 in India
Five journalists shot and killed at Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland in 2018
Big consequence of attacks is that stories from dangerous places won’t get told
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The Ethnic Press
African American press dates back to at least 1827
Freedom’s Journal, North Star published as emancipation papers
Chicago Defender started as yellow journalism paper; still published in 2000s
Spanish-language papers face declining circulation like rest of industry; El Nuevo Herald, in Miami, Florida, is one of the most significant
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The Gay Press
Gay papers started in late 1960s, copied on office equipment, distributed in gay bars
Grew into profitable, professional papers
Hit hard by 2009 recession
Losing revenue as gay advertising moves increasingly into big media
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Alternative Weeklies
Started in 1960s and 1970s as “underground” papers
Targeted at young, urban readership that big media are having a hard time reaching
Most face declining circulation
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News in the Age of Mobile Media
National reach newspapers (NY Times, Washington Post, etc.) seeing significant online growth
Paper delivery is becoming less important
“It’s wrong to say we’re becoming a digital society. We already are a digital society. And even that statement is behind the times. We’re a mobile society” – Marty Barron, executive editor, Washington Post
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The Future Is Mobile and Social
In 2016, 67% of adults get news through social media
Two-thirds (or more) of social media users get news through social media
News is social and news is mobile
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