News Literacy, Spring2021: Week 9 Lecture
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News Literacy, Spring2021: Week 9 Lecture
- 2. 1. Recognize that the goal of news reporting is to inform, and the goals of journalism are to inform and persuade. 2. Some news outlets take a consistent position in both their reporting and opinion. Others separate the two. At times, especially on TV, the lines blur. 3. Well-done opinion journalism can give insight into complex stories, open our eyes to new ways of looking at the world, challenge our assumptions, and help us understand our own points of view. 4. Pay attention to labels, language, and look for VIA, to tell news and opinion apart, and to spot unsupported assertions.
- 9. The goal of news reporting is to inform The goals of opinion journalism are to inform and to persuade
- 11. Clearly labeled opinion journalism is not bias
- 12. Some news outlets always take sides
- 17. The rise of advertising-supported mass market news outlets brought: The journalistic discipline of impartiality The separation of news and opinion The goal of serving readers from all sides of the political spectrum
- 18. What’s the value of opinion journalism? 1.Gives insight into complicated stories 2.Opens your eyes to new ways of looking at the world 3.Challenges our assumptions 4.Helps us develop our own points of view
- 19. “Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.” “Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests … (and) remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.” “Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.” ─ The Society of Professional Journalists VERIFICATION INDEPENDENC E ACCOUNTABILIT Y Opinion journalism should be about VIA
- 20. Look for Verification in opinion
- 21. Look for Verification in opinion
- 22. A journalist—even an opinion journalist— should BE FAIR TO THE EVIDENCE
- 23. Look for Independence in opinion
- 24. Does the opinion journalist work for an independent organization that includes various viewpoints?
- 25. Does the journalist maintain intellectual independence?
- 26. Does the journalist avoid direct ties to partisans?
- 27. Does the journalist avoid direct ties to partisans?
- 28. Look for Accountability: Many newsrooms label opinion
- 31. TV uses labels, too.
- 33. News show host. Generally does not offer opinions. THE ANCHOR
- 34. TV reporter. Generally does not offer opinions. CORRESPONDENT
- 35. An opinion journalist. Offers opinion grounded in fact. COMMENTATOR
- 36. The line begins to blur. These are experts or political operatives, often not independent. ANALYST OR CONTRIBUTOR
- 37. Pure opinion. These are partisans. Sometimes called “contributors.” CONSULTANT OR STRATEGIST
- 38. First-person declarations Exaggeration Emotionally loaded words Tone (sarcasm, irony) Parody
- 39. Where does the reporting stop and the commentary start?
- 40. Opinion journalism or assertion?
- 41. Something that is stated positively, often with no support or attempt at proof
- 42. Opinion journalism or assertion? Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former UN ambassador and four-term U.S. senator from New York Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
- 44. Listen carefully. Is this opinion journalism or mere assertion?
- 47. Facebook mirrors your views What you like shapes the news you see
- 50. Be an active consumer, with a mixed news diet
Editor's Notes
- Ask: What do you think of CNN? Fox News? There’s a widespread assumption that CNN is anti-Trump, that it’s in the tank for the Democrats. That Fox News is pro-Trump, in the tank for the Republicans.
- Show clip: After watching this, it’s hard to argue against the belief that CNN is biased.
- CNN would never show a Democratic congresswoman booed and heckled with cries of “fake news” at her own town hall while she attempted to defend her support for a House impeachment inquiry, would it? Play video. I guess it would.
- Fox News is clearly in the tank for Trump, right? Watch this interview on Fox & Friends, with Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The hosts lob softball questions and agree with everything their guest says. Bias!
- Fox would never have a guest, a legal analyst, assert that Trump has committed a crime! Would it?
- Fox News would never conduct, and report on, a poll that finds that a majority of Americans favor the impeachment of Donald Trump? Would it?
- The point here is not that CNN and Fox are great news outlets that you should follow regularly. That’s up to you. Certainly, cable news networks are terribly flawed, filled with empty talk, shouting, and sizzle over substance. Two points: (1) Be careful of judging a news outlet based on what others have told you about it, or based on one example. Remember our discussion of bias last week: it’s a pattern of unfairness over time. (2) Often we base our determination on opinion journalism, which at some outlets is separate from news reporting. We should be critical news consumers, noting whether we’re consuming a news report or an opinion piece. Our topic for today is the difference between news reporting and opinion journalism—and how you can tell them apart.
- What’s the difference? News reporting informs. Reporters provide facts and context. Opinion is a VIEW, a JUDGMENT or an APPRAISAL about a particular matter. The goal of opinion is to persuade—the commentator wants you to agree with them.
- News Literacy has a precise definition of bias – a pattern of unfairness found in a media outlet’s news coverage. So the suggestion that you can document a specific pattern of unfairness shared by every news outlet doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. We’re not saying bias doesn’t exist, only that the only intellectually honest way of establishing it would be to look at a specific news outlet’s coverage over a period of time.
- Or by what its editorials or opinion journalism says. A reputable news organization separates news from opinion – not only by labeling it, but by separating its news and opinion staffs.
- When news outlets take sides with their journalism – if it is journalism that they provide – it’s often a business decision. Just like MSNBC, Mother Jones knows its audience and wants to keep those readers coming back for more.
- This is from the FAQs section of Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/about/faq/#08 This explanation is a bit of a dodge. [CLICK] Take a look at the articles on the homepage. There’s a pattern evidence in this sample.
- And let’s read laterally. Wikipedia notes that its political inclination is variously described as either “liberal or progressive.” The page cites a few sources to back up that characterization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Jones_(magazine)#cite_note-3
- Though The Daily Caller’s “about us” page does not indicate a bias, if you know anything about Tucker Carlson and Dick Cheney, former vice president and former employer of co-founder Neil Patel, the site’s POV is clear. https://dailycaller.com/
- Outlets such as Mother Jones and The Daily Caller (and others) are firmly grounded in history. The first newspapers were controlled by political parties, e.g., Alexander Hamilton founded the New York Post in 1801 as a conduit for Federalists’ attacks against their political enemies. The journalistic discipline of impartiality is a comparatively modern development.
- To maximize circulation and advertising revenue, newspapers and, later, broadcast news outlets decided the best strategy was to keep their politics on the editorial and opinion pages. Readers from all sides of the political spectrum were more likely to value and trust their journalism if it was kept separate from clearly labeled opinion journalism produced by a separate staff.
- The point of those ethics guidelines is to preserve the essence of journalism: Verification…Independence…Accountability If a person is trying to help you make up your mind, trying to foster democratic debate about how we govern ourselves, they fight fair. They verify the facts they use to support an argument. They aren’t allowed to pose as an opinion journalist if they are on the payroll of one interest group or another. And they are accountable for their opinion, labeling it as opinion so that a viewer or reader is not misled into thinking it is reporting. This slide shows how VIA fits in the ethics code for even an opinion journalist.
- Look for verification. We should expect opinion journalists to support their arguments with evidence. They may not persuade us, but they at least should make a good-faith effort to persuade others with facts. In this opinion piece, the commentator cites an American Psychological Association study that links video games to aggressive behavior. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/samantha-nerove-why-so-many-mass-murders-study-impact-of-violent-video-games-and-impose-age-restrictions
- Here’s a counterpoint, which argues that video games do not lead to violent behavior. A critical news consumer would compare the two arguments, perform additional research, and make up her mind based on the evidence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Eo3La0nA54
- Even opinion journalists should be fair to the evidence.
- For example, USA Today’s opinion section featured an op-ed by President Trump. A little over a week later a regular opinion columnist accused Trump of being bought and sold by Saudi Arabia. Opinion pages tend to lean either left or right, but still, they invite differing opinions.
- Independence is different than neutrality. While it’s near-impossible for a thinking human to be perfectly objective, even the most partisan opinion writer can be independent, if their paycheck comes from a news organization instead of one of the major partisan players. If Nicole Wallace were on the payroll of the Republican Party, she might never ever be able to criticize the Republicans, as she often does on her MSNBC program. And if Jamelle Bouie were on the payroll of the Democrats, rather than the New York Times, he would have a much harder time criticizing the Democrats, including Joe Biden, at one time the party’s frontrunner for the 2020 presidential nomination. Both have a point of view, but both are paid to serve the audience, not a political party. It’s often confusing to students who correctly cling to V.I.A. as the fundamental standards of journalism, yet encounter opinion journalists like Jamelle Bousie or Nicole Wallace who take a side. An opinion journalist answers to the audience, the readers and not to one or the other of the political parties. This is what we mean by independence, when it comes to opinion journalists.
- There have been times, however, when commentators have held close relationships with political candidates. That is inappropriate, and consumers should be made aware. David Sirota was still working as an opinion journalist as he transitioned to his new job in the Bernie Sanders campaign. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-bernie-sanders-supporter-and-journalist-had-a-secret-he-kept-from-his-readers/2019/03/20/063aabee-4b26-11e9-b79a-961983b7e0cd_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c53acb28de25
- Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro, who are both outspoken Trump supporters on their shows, joined him on stage at a campaign rally in November 2018. An ethical journalist should avoid such associations and conflicts of interest. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-fox-news-hannity-trump-rally-20181105-story.html Hannity, for his part, is not independent from Donald Trump. Hannity has said that he does not consider himself to be a journalist. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/09/20/fox_news_sean_hannity_literally_endorses_donald_trump_on_new_campaign_ad.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/business/media/sean-hannity-turns-adviser-in-the-service-of-donald-trump.html http://insider.foxnews.com/2016/09/21/tonight-10-et-trump-talks-minority-outreach-hannity-town-hall Another Fox host, Peter Hegseth of Fox & Friends, has taken at least $50,000 from GOP groups for fundraising help. https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/01/23/gop-groups-have-paid-fox-news-host-pete-hegseth-over-50000-fundraising-help-recent-years/222605
- ANIMATION: RED ARROW HIGHLIGHTS THE “OPINION” TAB News on the web continues to evolve rapidly and in all directions at once, so these are very broad observations of the news-to-opinion spectrum on the Web: CNN labels sections of its site by topic, including a tab that sends readers to the work of opinion writers.
- Animation: labels appear one-by-one automatically. Evidence-based, factually accurate Opinion Journalism makes it very confusing for a news consumer. There are statistics and quotes from experts and the kind of verification that makes a news story reliable. It can seem like News Reporting. But then the writer or commentator spouts off an opinion, or leaves out a fact or two in order to emphasize one facet of the argument. BUT If they are committed to informing news consumers, news outlets are scrupulous about labeling. Remember that Code of Ethics. Clear labelling. These are a few common labels. (Lecturer can explain each) ASK: WHY WOULD AN OUTLET NOT LABEL CLEARLY?
- Other sites that are less traditional or feature more commentary than news often don’t bother to label opinion. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/cancel-billionaires/599587/
- Reputable news channels label opinion as well – the label Fareed’s Take is designed to let you know the show’s host is switching to commentary.
- So, here are you few rules of thumb for separating news and opinion on TV news.
- Look for labels that identify who the journalists are …
- Just as in the press, TV reporters generally do not take sides.
- And just as a newspaper columnist or editorial writer has the license to express fact-based opinions and analysis, commentators do the same on TV. Listen to Cokie Roberts explain on NPR.
- Here’s where it starts to get tricky. Many of the experts you see on cable TV news are not journalists and make no pretense of impartiality.
- In fact, some of these experts are actually there to represent one side of the argument.
- While sharp eyes will catch labels, a good ear can be just as important.
- Listen to this clip. News? Opinion? Both? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Kq4bZ8N5I
- On the other hand, there’s assertion—unsupported assertions. Opinion is a VIEW, a JUDGMENT or an APPRAISAL about a particular matter. An assertion is something declared with no attempt at proof. I said it, so it’s true. Ask: what’s the important difference?
- So, who cares which is which? Like reporters, opinion journalists are expected to stick to the facts. But the goal of opinion journalists is to use what they’ve learned to provoke discussion by picking sides and arguing forcefully. Opinion journalism is, by definition, one-sided. I may be misled if I only hear one side of the situation.
- Fact-free tirades that state an opinion without bothering to provide evidence for it. It’s reminiscent of Stephen Colbert’s notion of truthiness: the author or speaker states opinions they want to be true or wish to be true, rather than facts.
- Bloviation is a word we use to refer to people spouting opinions without any factual support. There are less polite terms for this as well. Listen to these commentators discussing Hillary Clinton winning the Democratic nomination. Are the opinions you hear grounded in fact? VIDEO: Jeff Bridges as the Big Lebowski saying, “that’s just your opinion, man.”
- It’s an old clip, but It does the job. Listen to Geraldo blame a hoodie on the death of Trayvon Martin. He produces no evidence to support this assertion. This is bloviation. Bloviation is opinion that lacks the V(erification) in VIA. It describes fact-free tirades.
- As we’ve discussed, we all have preferences, deeply held beliefs, and implicit biases. Our brains are wired to seek comfort and affirmation, not reliable information. We talked about cognitive dissonance—how we’re stressed by information that contradicts our beliefs—and how our brains cope with it (selective distortion and retention, source amnesia, confirmation bias). Social media and search engines, which are based on algorithms, tend to feed our biases, entrap us in a “filter bubble” where we run the risk of living blinkered lives. It’s the irony of our age that we have access to more information than anyone in human history, and yet we consciously narrowcast, selecting to subscribe to or follow news we agree with, and search engines and social media tailor our results and feeds to what their algorithms think we want.
- Algorithms tailor your feed to fit your interests, based on the way you label yourself and also based on your past activity on the social media platform. What you like, dislike, click on, share—this determines the kinds of content that will appear at the top of your feed. If you only like cat pictures on Facebook, Facebook will feed you a ton of content about cats. More dangerous is that Facebook will reinforce your political beliefs, feeding you stories that match your politics and filtering out stories you’re likely to disagree with. The Wall Street Journal has a feature called Blue Feed/Red Feed, pictured here, that contrasts the kinds of stories a liberal Facebook user will see with those a conservative will see, on the same subject. http://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/
- How does this work? Google and Facebook and YouTube monitor your searches, your likes, your friends and they – in the name of service – deliver more and more customized ads and search. If you want to see how Facebook has categorized you, here’s how. You do, by the way, have the option of editing these “preferences” to break out of the bubble. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/us/politics/facebook-ads-politics.html
- It’s important to recognize, as the Russian operatives no doubt did, that these efforts at manipulation could only take root because of the political polarization of the American electorate and the power of cognitive dissonance. During the campaign, BuzzFeed fact-checked a sampling of posts from hyper-partisan Facebook pages presenting themselves as news sites and found 20 percent of the left-wing reports were false and nearly twice as many right-wing offerings were untrue. Why were people so quick to believe and share them? https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facebook-removed-conservative-liberal-pages-laura-ingraham
- How does one go about creating a healthy, mixed news diet? Whether one is an avid news consumer or a casual one, there are ways we can improve our news consumption habits and sharpen our understanding of the news media. You’ll keep up with the news, take weekly current-events quizzes, and engage with relevant examples every day. Ideally, you’ll apply News Literacy skills to find news outlets that you’ll follow regularly even after this class has ended.