1. Lecture-5 Conceptof Journalism
1. Providinginformationthatthe publicneedstoknow.Manypublicationsare devotedsolelyto
informationthatthe publicwantstoknow;fashionandcelebritygossipmagazinesare good
examplesof this.Ideally,however,journalistsstrivetowrite lesssensational storiesbecause
theyare importantforreaderstoknow about.SPJ's Code of Ethics emphasizesthatgoodnews
judgmentincludespublishingstoriesbecause"the Americanpeoplemustbe well informedin
orderto make decisionsregardingtheirlives,andtheirlocal andnational communities."
2. Givinga fair andtruthful accountof news.There isa greatdeal of talkaboutbias inthe media.
Many journalistsbelieve thatif apublicationisbeingcriticizedforbeingtooliberal bysome and
too conservative byothers,itisdoingagoodjob.On itsWeb site,the AssociatedPressdefines
fairand truthful as"reliabilityandobjectivitywithreportsthatare accurate,balancedand
informed."
3.Spurringpeople toaction.Swansonsaidjournalismisaservice-orientedprofessionbecause
journalism"isn'tjustaboutprovidingraw information.It'stellingthemhow touse it to improve
theirlivesandinspiringthemtowantto."
4. Emphasizingthe importance of free speech.Journalistsdefine freedomof speechandof the
pressinverybroad terms.Many journalistshave anabsolutistapproachtodiscussingfreespeech,
meaningthattheybelievenolimitswhatsoeveronspeechshouldbe imposed.Free speechanda
free pressare essential forjournalismtoexistthe wayitdoesinthiscountry,able tocriticize the
governmentandconductinvestigations.In itsmissionstatement,SPJreferstofreedomof speech
and of the pressas "the cornerstone of ournationand ourliberty."
5.Havingcourage.Ugland saidobjectivityisoftenstressedasthe keyprinciple forjournaliststolive
by,but theymusthave courage to evenattemptbeingobjective."Thereare a lotof journalistswho
thinkthat if theyquote three Republicansourcesandthree Democraticsourses,theirstoriesare per
se objective,"Uglandsaid."Butall thisdoesissimplifythe issue andreinforce the shallow Red-Blue
frameworkthathas infectedourpublicdiscourse."He saidtrue objectivityrequiresthe courage to
go beyondtwo-sided,pro-conapproachesandtell all sidesof astory -- evenif itangersthose in
power.