Understanding Contemporary Journalism

Tatah Mentan

Description

Journalism is one of the most important professions today. Without it, large swaths of the world similarly might have remained "dark, impoverished, tortured," because few people would have been aware of the nature and depth of the atrocities therein. You can't fix what you can't find. Indeed, we have only to look at places today where journalists must risk their lives to do their jobs-places such as Central Europe, the Philippines, Mexico, Myanmar, Russia, Turkey, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Cameroun, Afghanistan, and too many others-to appreciate anew what an incalculable difference the media make, reporting on wars, famines, genocide, and the tyrants who green-light them. But saving the world apparently is not enough. I have included a chapter on Peace Journalism because it uses conflict analysis and transformation to update the concept of balance, fairness and accuracy in reporting. This approach provides a new road map tracing the connections between journalists, their sources, the stories they cover and the consequences of their reporting-the ethics of journalistic intervention to play a role in global peace rather than fuelling conflicts.

Sujets

• Disciplines
• Language Arts
• Lettres et linguistique
• Lexicography

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 03 janvier 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956552917
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

depth of the atrocities therein. You can’t fix what you can’t find. Indeed,

Mexico, Myanmar, Russia, Turkey, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Cameroun, Afghanistan, and too many others—to appreciate anew what an incalculable difference the media make, reporting on

saving the world apparently is not enough. I have included a chapter on Peace Journalism because it uses conflict analysis and transformation

This approach provides a new road map tracing the connections between

global peace rather than fuelling conflicts.

 is an Independent Researcher, Member of the Political Commission for Nations and States under colonial rule, pacifist and engaged peace activist. He is a Theodore Lentz Peace and Security

Understanding Contemporary Journalism

Understanding Contemporary Journalism A Handbook of Principles and Practice

- Tatah Mentan -

Understanding Contemporary Journalism: A Handbook of Principles and Practice Tatah Mentan L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com

ISBN-10: 9956-552-99-2

ISBN-13: 978-9956-552-99-3 ©Tatah Mentan 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher

Dedication “Teachers.” What does that word conjure in your mind? If you are, or have been a teacher at some period in your life, you will immediately think of that time and your experiences as you led and instructed young minds in their preparation for meeting life’s challenges. If you have never been in the teaching field, you certainly were influenced by many in your lifetime. We were influenced by Mr. Sammy Chumfong who taught us journalism with a passion. I also dedicate this book to Dr. Mrs. Charity Tatah Mentan for always lovingly and insistently reminding me to share my notes of lessons in journalism with a wider audience as a living testament. I also dedicate this Compilation to my parents, the two people that gave me the tools and values necessary to be where I am standing today. My parents, who stand now on death’s triumphal steep, supported me on every step I made; but it is necessary to understand that they let me take my decisions alone to learn from my personal mistakes and as my father always said: “learn and grow from each setback”. Finally, I dedicate this book as a must-have resource for scholars and students working in journalism, media studies, and communication as well as decision makers on sensitive human issues around the globe.

Table of Contents Foreword: ......................................................................................vii Preface: .........................................................................................xi Introduction: Substance of the Communication Process ...............................................................1 Chapter 1: News and Society ........................................................13 Chapter 2: Culture of Journalism ..................................................23 Chapter 3: Becoming a Journalist .................................................31 Chapter 4: Newspapers .................................................................37 Chapter 5: Magazines ...................................................................43 Chapter 6: Television and Radio ..................................................49 Chapter 7: News Websites ............................................................55 Chapter 8: Reporters .....................................................................97 Chapter 9: Reporting.....................................................................101 Chapter 10: Writing News and Features .......................................129 Chapter 11: Style ............................................................................133 Chapter 12: Editors .......................................................................157 Chapter 13: Editing and Headline Writing ...................................165 Chapter 14: Visual Journalists .......................................................173 Chapter 15: Graphics Journalism ..................................................179 Chapter 16: Photojournalists .........................................................187 Chapter 17: Publication Design ....................................................197 Chapter 18: Broadcasters ..............................................................205 v

Chapter 19: Writing for Broadcast.................................................217 Chapter 20: Beginnings of Multi-Disciplinary Journalism ...........225 Chapter 21: Journalism in the Age of Technology ........................233 Chapter 22: New Realities, New Journalism ................................245 Chapter 23: 20th Century and Beyond ..........................................253 Chapter 24: Law and the Journalist ..............................................263 Chapter 25: Ethical Practices in Journalism .................................279 Chapter 26: Peace Journalism .......................................................289 Chapter 27: Present and Future Journalism..................................313 Appendixes: ..................................................................................323

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Foreword The field of journalism is in crisis, and that means journalism education is also in crisis. Jobs at traditional newspapers and Radio- TV stations are shrinking, and wages are stagnant in many countries. The switch to digital media, while spawning new roles for journalists, has resulted in a drastic net decline in full-time jobs. Further pain is likely! Robot journalists, usually in the form of software or digital networks, are starting to produce usable stories, at least for the routine matters that make up most news. The upheaval is translating into slightly lower enrollments for undergraduates studying journalism, according to an annual survey by the University of Georgia. The survey prompted theAmerican Journalism Review,published by the University of Maryland, to observe in July: “Declining journalism enrollments put pressure on administrators to make drastic changes in structure and curricula.” Those changes emphasize giving students a steady diet of digital skills—how to use social media to create videos and other web-first content quickly, and to report on people, places, and topics with the full range of multimedia tools. The university of Arizona State, which houses the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has been in the vanguard of those reforms for some years now, emphasizing tools over knowledge, teaching students to become equally adept at print, photo, video, and multimedia “packages.” Many journalism programs are emulating that model, to varying degrees, raising the question of whether the innovative embrace of digital skills will be ultimately self-defeating because tools change rapidly and get easier to use. As that happens, they also become easier to embed in automated digital systems (think autofocus on your camera). The image of a TV anchor team alone in a studio, aided only by computer-controlled cameras, sound, graphics, and security systems, is already a reality. That digital tools can paradoxically be a good in themselves and yet set up students for failure has dawned on some perceptive educators. “Journalism schools have tended to orient themselves too much toward the profession and too little toward the university,” concluded “Educating Journalists,” a 2013 report from the Columbia Journalism School.

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Does journalism have a future? Attempting to control and demean traditional news sources is straight out of the playbook of autocratic rulers around the world, including tyrants in other parts of the world and even Vladimir Putin in Russia. Control the message and you control the people. It’s that simple! So, we know there are autocratic presidents who lie about as often as they take a breath. Since they cannot be removed from office soon by a free and fair electoral process, it only gets worse. Americans today, for instance, are inundated with media of all kinds and thus are becoming increasingly skeptical of all sources of information, which is bad for traditional journalists who are still committed to fact checking and obtaining their information from reliable sources. Meanwhile, in America itself, the more disturbing trend is that of big media companies buying up newspapers around the country and milking them for profits. Most could care less about covering the local communities they serve. But true journalism is under siege today, attacked by fringe elements on both the right and left, by fake news sites online, and by current presidents. Reporting and commenting on news of the day is an evolving process, and especially so these days. But good journalism still matters, perhaps more so today than any time in recent memory. Those journalists who chronicle and analyze the ugly events of the day, and who sometimes dig up stories that people in authority don’t want told, are rarely going to be popular or beloved figures. But you ought to be concerned about what is being done to journalists, more than ever, by people in power, and by the violent figures who hear their messages. There have always been those who seek to silence the messengers; what is measurably different today, as the latest data from organizations such as Reporters Without Borders show, is that the people who want to kill or silence journalists are increasingly empowered by political leaders in otherwise “democratic” countries. However, journalists know that on a daily basis they are going to get more criticism than praise for what they do. It’s just the nature of the job. So, if you know a reporter or editor, regardless of the size of publication they work for, like veterans, thank them for doing their jobs to keep the public informed. What they do every day is that important. There are bright signs—countries where threats to journalists, bloggers and social-media users declined sharply in past years. These

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were mostly countries (notably Armenia, Ethiopia, Gambia and Malaysia) where citizen protests have forced a change in leadership and a return to greater democracy. It is an enduring fact that the silencing of journalists is an attempt to silence all humanity.

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