Who do journalists work for?

Who do journalists work for? April 4, 2014

First … • AN EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY!!! • Attend the Conference on World Affairs • Pick one media-related session • Write a 500 word blog post • Summary of the session • Why/How this relates to Journalism • Quote from someone else who attended the session (i.e. an interview) • Your thoughts/opinion on the topic • DUE: by 5 p.m. Sunday, April 13 • This is worth 5 percentage points added to your final blog post (i.e. if the blog receives a 90, you would get a 95) OR it can replace the participation/attendance points you lost for an absence. Note: It does NOT replace the absence. Just the points you lost.

Agenda • FOR NEXT WEEK. • Peer Editing your Blogs • “Who do Journalists Work For?” • If there is time … Review of the Midterm

Your Final Blog Post • Handout  Anatomy of a Feature • Do a bit of background research on the topic (articles in local media, and primary sources) • Come up with people you want to speak with about the topic. • Based on their background research, prepare a list of interview questions ahead of time. • Conduct the interview • Write up a 1000-word post based on the information they gathered and the people they spoke with. • DUE:FRIDAY, APRIL, 25, 2014 by 5:00 p.m. as comment/link to the class blog after I make a most for your submissions.

For Next Week • YOUR FINAL BLOG POST PROJECT • Due In class next week: Project Pitch (200 – 400 words). I want you to bring a hardcopy. • In your pitch you’ll state your topic and why it’s newsworthy. Also include who you intend to speak to for your story and why you chose those sources. • Be prepared to share your ideas with your classmates. We will all participate in brainstorming your ideas with you. • Once I give you the go-ahead (we’ll be reviewing pitches to make sure there isn’t too much source overlap) you can begin working on your story. • DUE:FRIDAY, APRIL, 25, 2014 by 5:00 p.m. as comment/link to the class blog after I make a most for your submissions.

Peer Editing • Groups of TWO • Pass BOTH of your papers to another group • In your small group read over both papers for 4 things.

Look for • Content • What’s the main focus of the blog? • Is it narrow enough to make sense? Have they bitten off more than they can chew? • Organization • Paragraph Structure • Topics  Does each paragraph have a consistent topic? • First and Last sentence of each paragraph. Does it complete the thought? • How do the paragraphs fit together? • Style and Diction • How do they use transitions? • Repeating key phrases> good or bad? • Are the beginning of their sentences the same? How can you fix them? • Grammar & Mechanics

Who do journalists work for? April 4, 2014

Times are changing… • Corporate incentives mark a major shift in thinking at newsrooms • Journalism is a business and managers have business responsibilities for keeping budgets and attracting customers • Journalistic leaders now spending at least a third of their time on business matters • One of the key reasons citizens have lost confidence in the press… • As seen in this satirical piece

The second principle • The second principle of journalism is loyalty • Allegiance to citizens is what we have come to call journalistic independence • Evident in the slogans of television stations • But does this still exist?

Editor or businessman? • Historically… • Decisions of the editorial dept. and corporate parent frequently not connected • Editorial side retains freedom to decide what is covered • Biases arise when it comes to deciding stories and what will or will not be covered… • As newspaper staff shrink, these boundaries are blurred. • Increasingly, editorial management is also overseeing, if not involved in, the business side of the paper. • How does this influence their way of thinking? Does separation allow for less or more bias?

Advertising bias • Readership effect • Media’s incentive to increase readership • Larger readership = greater advertiser fee • Greater incentive to reduce bias and appeal to the moderate • Less political bias

Advertising bias • Incremental pricing effect • Incentive to alleviate competition for subscribers and advertisers • When advertising is a source of revenue, choice of bias has strong effect on on the intensity of price competition • Incentive to polarize to alleviate competition • Can demand higher price for one audience as opposed to hit and miss strategy • Multi-homing vs. single homing

Government vs. corporate ownership • In some cases, the advertiser may even be the government. • In many countries the government is the biggest advertiser - with job advertisements, calls for tenders, public announcements and so on • Brings indirect pressure to bear upon commercial news media. • Is it better to be owned by government, or advertisers?

Catering to the elite… • In 70s and 80s, business strategy changed • Newspapers, and later TV stations, targeted the most affluent audience to enhance profits, rather than the largest • TV stations targeted women 18 to 49 with buying power • Newspapers only sent copies to wealthiest ZIP codes • How does this affect advertising bias? Consider the readership effect and incremental pricing effect • Consider The New York Times… • What audience does it cater to? • What is its readability? • What about paywalls? Is this loyal to citizens? Do they reduce ad bias?

Elite cntd. • Also meant newspapers could ignore certain parts of the community in their coverage • Store owner to Rupert Murdoch of The New York Post: “Your readers are our shoplifters” • Began to backfire in the late 80s, early 90s • But luxury magazines still employ this strategy… • Can often guess audience by advertising • Useful for freelancing and pitching – look at ads

Journalists vs. big business? • Elements provides several case studies of journalists rebelling against advertising bias in their newsrooms • The wall — newsroom often remains oblivious. Business side was selling the newsroom out and had enough power to circumscribe the newsroom without its knowing • LA Times: Revolt after the paper engaged in a secret deal with owners of new sports arena to share advertising revenue in the edition of the Sunday magazine dedicated entirely to its opening. • “There was a confrontation in the lunchroom with management that was so angry it verged on violence” • How has the leakage of corporate sentiment into newsrooms expanded upon the “watchdog” role of journalists?

The role of freebies • Tom touched on this in lecture… • What do we think of freebie culture among journalists? Is there any merit? Is it understandable? • How should newspapers address freebies in their code of ethics? • What about sports, lifestyle journalism. etc? • Who’s to blame for freebie culture in journalism? Consider journalist pay. • Consider these perspectives: • http://www.rrj.ca/m3606/ • http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=2896

Who do journalists work for?