Journalism as an Ideologue (Group 6)

 

                On the handout we were given in class, there is a quote by Jaap van Ginneken: “Most global media organizations are primarily geared to the interests and views of audiences in the G-7, the largest Western nations. What they consider objective and true may very well see rather subjective and questionable to audiences in many non-Western nations,” (Mind of a Journalist, pg. 63). Ginneken made the point that most of the news in the world is targeted towards large nations, while many smaller countries don’t receive news that was written for them. In class, we were put in groups and asked to choose which of the topics/events on the handout we would report on. As far as world news, my group chose to report on how oil prices are affected by the Lybian protests, and the LDS humanitarian responses to the New Zealand quake. We chose those two topics because of the relevance they have to a local audience. We were writing the news for residents of Provo, so we thought those topics would interest people here. After thinking about what Ginneken said, I think about Libya and New Zealand themselves. I’m sure there are journalists in those countries who are trying to report the news as it occurs for Libyans and New Zealanders themselves, but I wonder, to what extent? Do we as journalists have a responsibility to report the news only for our direct audience, or can we write for audiences around the world?

                In class, we also talked about whether or not our American ideologies is blocking the whole truth, or part of the truth, that we are reporting on? The example of terrorism was brought up. I think that to some extent, our vision of terrorism could be clouded. Because of 9/11 and other terrorist threats, terrorism is a very personal and relevant topic that Americans have strong opinions about. I think that sometimes, our ideologies about terrorism may affect how journalists report on the Middle East or Muslims. As budding journalists, we must learn how to leave our biases and judgments at the door when we walk into work so that we can report the news truthfully.

How Web Journalism Can Make People Seem Hateful:

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-16/tech/internet.journalism.politics_1_andrew-breitbart-shirley-sherrod-racist-remarks?_s=PM:TECH

Why Mainstream Media Reporters Are Beneath Contempt:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/08/why-mainstream-media-reporters-are-beneath-contempt.html

Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: On the Actual Ideology of the American Press

http://archive.pressthink.org/2010/06/14/ideology_press_p.html