Investigative Journalism

-Lecture 12

Investigative journalism can be (according to a reporter, with a Johannesburg based newspaper) equated to walking through a minefield at midnight.

The same rings true for journalists throughout the world who are required to tread carefully through mountains of trivia, to elicit the elusive gem of information which could potentially lead to the unearthing of a great story.
Not for the faint hearted these terriers of the truth; while requiring a wealth of skills, are perceived to be anything from amazing to a general nuisance!!

But with what ever society perceives there is deeper meaning and great purpose to the profession

Critical and thorough Journalism – the journalist is an actively involved participant and critical to the ultimate objective of unearthing the truth. But with this perceived power there must come great responsibility and the journalist must develop skills in order to survive in their own environment.

 An investigative reporter needs to have:

• Curiosity
• Passion
• Initiative
• Logical thinking, organisation and self-discipline
• Flexibility
• Good team working and communication skills
• Well-developed reporting skills
• Broad general knowledge and good research skills
• Determination and patience
• Fairness and strong ethics
• Discretion
• Citizenship
• Courage

Custodians of conscience –

As the gate keepers of information, journalists have the potential to exploit, misinterpreted, misrepresent and add significant spin to the truth...its easy enough to succumb to the given pot of gold at the end of the sensationalism rainbow.

Rather though the key idea must be EXPOSURE – just as a photographer or artist presents his work for the public to interoperate, so the investigative journalist exposes the breaches in the norms and morals of society; open up the wound of civic vice and expose it for the public to do with as they will, take it or leave it. In 1963 Bernard Cohen was quoted as saying “The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about.”

To provide a voice for those without one and to hold the powerful to account –

There is nothing so weak as the voiceless and nothing so humiliating as to have no self determination BUT to stand on the side of social justice, to give power to those stripped of it and to hold the powerful to account – this is great purpose for the poor and the marginalised and they can often not do it alone, UNTIL they have nothing left to loose...

Hold the powerful to account.

The Forth Estate - forth branch of Government - watchdog functions

Journalists represent the masses that do not have the power or the ability to represent their own interests in government. In a sense, they level the playing field for the public and make sense of the game plan and in doing so, balance the power yielded by the government and function as the forth estate.

Upholding democracy, by interrogating information from the higher echelons of government – i.e. the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary and distributing it to the general (often under informed) public, makes journalists the Forth branch of Government.

By ensuring those in power, public office or of influence to society are held accountable for their actions, journalists exercise their role as community watchdogs.

With these formidable roles carried squarely on the shoulders of journalists, the task of cutting through the AGENDAS, transparent or hidden- is the task at hand. Following in the footsteps of the professions trailblazers from Bob Woodward's WATERGATE to Julian Assange’s WIKILEAKS, journalists continue to investigate through interviewing, observing, analysing and leaving no stone unturned. Even in the face of the growing threats from commercialism, competition by general public and internet and shrinking public relations, the future of investigative journalism will continue simply because the press lives by disclosure!

Agenda Setting:

-Lecture 11
Agenda setting is a theory where by the media, controls the focus of audiences attention on particular issues by ‘presenting certain issues frequently and prominently’ and this will therefore determine what the public deems to be of importance.

This means that the media is not only shaping and molding the overall resulting news but they are also filtering it and cutting aspects, which they believe to be of lesser importance to the general public. This has massive implications on perceptions of the reality of news, especially on those members of public which are not directly connected to newsworthy events and let’s face it…that’s a high percentage of the population, who are enmeshed in celebrity gossip aka the doings and screwing of the rich and famous! There is very little concern amongst this demographic regarding global warming, political power play and who even runs the country as long as the welfare commitment is upheld, jobs are up, taxes are down and there’s enough money at the end of the week for a little indulgence, and that’s the REALITY!

^^When looking at the diagram above^^

We can see that the information received by the public is certainly not the whole story. In fact the public is not even connected to the direct information; they are only getting a morsel of the reality behind an event.

 

ENTER ‘hypodermic needle theory’, 

this theory asks the question as to whether media has the ability to directly influence opinions and behaviors based on agenda setting. The answer to this question is a resounding YES as hypotheses based on this point have been proved time and time again. Mass Communication mediums such as television, radio and internet have swayed many an attitude towards various topics. This is most likely why powerful media is deemed to be a ‘magic bullet’- “after penetrating the body of the receiver, it is able to cause an immediate reaction.” (12 MANAGE, the executive fast track)

HIT ME WITH THE INTEL SO I KNOW WHAT TO THINK!

  

It is thought that the basis of this mass communication strategy was derived from behavioral physiology, where wider audiences where considered to be passive and thus subjective to influencing mediums.

Agenda setting encompasses to main theories, the first being ‘what the media thinks, public audiences should be focusing on’ and the later being how ‘the media suggests, audiences should be thinking about particular topics.’

HOWEVER…

“Agenda setting is not always the diabolical plan by journalists to control the minds of the public but ‘an inadvertent by- product of the necessity to focus’ the news”- McCombs 2004

The Agenda (setting) family…..snap* snap*

Journalists have often been deemed the gate-keepers of media, as they control the release and direction that information spills out into the pubic. This role as gate-keeper means that promotion of messages, agenda cutting, news diffusion and portrayal of issues are all carefully thought out and tweaked by the media in order for audiences to receive, not what they always want to hear but definitely what the trending information indicates they should need to hear.

Take the KONY 2012 campaign for instance…

This was trending information that audiences where moving towards, so what did the media do?

They covered it! From newspapers and television broadcasts, to tweets and Facebook updates, KONY 2012 was everywhere. The collective power of all of these media forms, delivered information on Joseph Kony into just about every household, creating a tsunami of people pouring in money and prayers for these Ugandan children.  Surprisingly, It also seemed to coincide with the release of the motion picture Machine Gun Preacher, a film about a wayward biker, who embraces faith and joins the fight against Kony to save a nation of displaced children, I mean Cynical is as Cynical does – or in the case of Journalism, rater sceptical is --- could this have been all part of a major Marketing blitz

BUT…………..what happened to this ‘band-wagon’ of Kony haters?

I guess they became as invisible as the children they were trying to help.

Media coverage ceased and the world moved on. If information is not being covered by the media it’s not important, right?

HOW DOES AGENDA SETTING HAVE SUCH A HOLD ON US??

In this day and age we are so extremely dependant on media for information that we make ourselves susceptible to agenda setting; we are just moving in and out with the tide of media.

When we think of the 24hour news cycle, we think of the most important happenings for that day. IF IT’S ON THE NEWS, IT’S IMPORTANT! We are still being subjected to agenda setting in news as they are only portraying what they believe to be relevant information to you…

Bring on the Doctors of SPIN!

For example:

“JULIA GILLARD, in hospital for CARBON dioxide poisoning”… oh the irony

OR

“Research into the extended hibernation of desert frogs, may shed light into muscle retention in coma patients”

In all honesty which do you think is going to get more coverage??

Agenda setting; its part of everyday life and its not going anywhere! So its up to public audiences to seek out the full story and get information on what THEY (not the media) DEEM IMPORTANT.

Annotated Bibliograghy

Domingo, D. Quandt, T.,Heinonen, Ari., Paulussen, S., Singer,B.J., & Vujnovic. (2008). PARTICIPATORY JOURNALISM PRACTICES IN THE MEDIA AND BEYOND Journalism Practice. (pp. 326-342).  

The authors of this journalistic critique bring to light the debate of audience participation in online media. From the onset they discuss the constant breaking of boundaries with regards various media forms such as print, broadcast and online media. Public input into journalism pieces has increased in recent years, as more ‘reciprocal relationships’ between the journalist and audience members are being encouraged. This means that the journalists are becoming emasculated in the sense that their dominating role as ‘gate-keeper’ to guarantee quality, neutrality and information output, is being taken over by public audiences. Two main objectives are evident, as they attempt to conceptualize the ideology of audience participation. The first making use of journalism research, in order to draw conclusions from audience participation and the later determining what assortment of structures, this participatory journalism is making in European countries as well as the U.S.A. The article concludes by questioning whether citizen participation actually improves the overall quality of news products and suggests further research into the professional, market and social contexts of consumer involvement. The frequent use of citations made evident throughout the article, amplifies its credibility as an information source. The content of this article strongly identifies itself in the field of journalism and communication and the fact that it is a peer reviewed article, further more supports its credibility. 

Seven News, Queensland. (2012, May 22) 6 pm News (Television Broadcast) Brisbane, Australia: Public Broadcasting Service.

7 News’ Queensland television News presenter, Kay Mc Grath announced that Schapelle Colby could be release by August this year after her appeal for clemency was approved. After a brief mention that Minister Bob Carr, welcomed the Indonesian Presidents decision to grant the reduction, the report moved into the emotion behind the highly publicized imprisonment of the 34 year old that was caught in 2004 attempting to smuggle 4.1kg’s of marijuana into Bali in a body board bag. While 7 News is a readily available media resource, they are not considered to be as reputable as other hard hitting journalism forms, tending to meet the desires of a broad population who are not particularly politically driven and depend more on human interest topics and emotive news. The report publicized Schapelles treatment with anti psychotic medication for her declining mental state and the fact that 7 News had the exclusive on Colby’s attempted overdose. Footage which cut to her mother declaring the families commitment to prove her daughters innocence, failed to inform viewers of the rational behind the significant five-year reduction in the sentence. The absence of supporting factual information positioning audiences to consider that either this information was not yet known or the report may well have been speculative as it has been on several occasions over the last seven years of Colby’s imprisonment.

Sky News. (2012, May23). Carr rejects Colby ‘deal’ with Indonesia. Retrieved from http://www.skynews.com.au/political/article.aspx?id=753198&vid=

Sky News personnel reported in an online news site that Foreign Minister Bob Carr is adamant that there is no deal going down between Canberra and Jakarta for the early release of Schapelle Colby. Considered to be a reliable source, Sky News is the undisputed leader in 24hr news on demand in Australia, providing television, internet, mobile and pod casts to the nation. As such the organization holds credibility and public confidence as is obvious by the 2.5 million homes in Australia who subscribe to its service. The release focuses on the denial of speculations that the Indonesian government is cutting Colby’s sentence as part of a reciprocal deal which includes the release of Indonesian minors charged with people smuggling in Australia.  The author of the report states that an Indonesian minister confirmed the matter was raised during recent talks between the two nations when the foreign Ministers met in March and goes on to say in a stand alone sentence ; ‘BUT Senator Carr says the two issues are not linked’. The connotations in the statement suggest that the Sky News reporter is not convinced and interprets it as political spin by the politicians in order to achieve objectives on both sides. Carr and the Indonesian Minister for the State Secretariat say that their ‘unrelated’ decisions were both based on humanitarian grounds. By creating some doubt, the Sky News writer leaves it up to the readers to decide if all this is coincidence or part of a political game of leverage. In Comparison to earlier television reports which focused on the emotion of the case, the Sky News report identified possible motivating factors to the clemency.

Alford, P. (2012, May 24).Corby to learn of parole today, The Australian, p.3

Peter Alford, the author of this article has been reporting on Asian political, business and society events for the last decade as a foreign correspondent for ‘The Australian’ newspaper. Alford begins by identifying that the Colby family will learn of Schapelles eligibility for release today, but moves assertively towards the Indonesian political viewpoint, stating that local politicians view the five-year clemency by President Susilo Bamnang Yudhoyono as being excessive. The article links to the suggestions in reports published the previous day implying that the reduction may be part of an agreement between the two countries. Alford achieves this by highlighting Indonesian parliamentary opinion that suggests the President should have used greater pressure on Canberra to facilitate the release of all Indonesian minors detained in Australia for people smuggling prior to committing to reductions for Colby. Reporting that the clemency was viewed as nothing more that a sign of diplomatic weakness by Bali MP, Ahmad Basarah, the author raises the question as to whether the sentence reduction will include a parole period as historically parole is denied to foreigners for obvious flight risks. Given that clemency in Indonesia is also unheard of in cases where guilt and responsibility have not been acknowledged, Alford concludes that anything is possible. As an experienced professional correspondent Peter Alford steered the article away from the emotive perspective usually embraced by the media as regards Colby’s incarceration, choosing instead to meet the needs of his readers and the target audience of ‘The Australian’. 

News Values?

- Blog 9 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

‘The ability for a story to make money’

Value depends on;

1. Impact 

    WOW   ……………    Factor

‘News is anything that makes a reader say,

 “Gee Whiz!”’ -Arthur MacEwen

2. Audience identification

3. Pragmatics

How context contributes to meaning

Practice vs. Practical

The art of understanding consumerism

The 12 factors of News worthiness

¤ timeliness
¤ proximity
¤ exceptional quality
¤ possible future impact
¤ prominence
¤ conflict
¤ the number of people involved or affected
¤ consequence
¤ human interest
¤ pathos
¤ shock value
¤ titillation component

Go to- Link 

NEWS THREATS

-Commercialism

-Public relations 

 -Ideals vs. reality

The Future of news belongs to the people?

Changing the Balance of power

Tasteful & Ethical vs. Tacky & Unethical

- Blog 8

When it comes to advertising people take different approaches in order to catch the target audience’s attention. They can be daring and bold, cliché and un-original or just plain tacky and this is where the argument comes in as to whether the advertisement is in Good or Bad taste or in fact ethical or even unethical. The table below allows a sample audience to place a score in relation to their interpretation of  the advertisement.

Audiences will also interpret intended messages based on their own needs, humour, past experience and so on. In the same way as an author hands their literary creations over to the readers to determine meaning and as such, to some extent, advertisers are also subjected to a similar “death of the author” phenomenon. The viewer will draw their own conclusions – the advertiser’s job is to ensure that they get the correct message across.

I’ll tell you what I think – see if u agree!

And BTW I thought the Mother Natures Treasure chest add was excellent – The association to breast feeding was inoffensive to me and the connection it made could only add a little more tolerance to public feeding of infants instead of mothers being locked away in public toilets to feed their babies for fear of offending the occasional prig.

What may be clearly obvious is that  - different people think differently – the advert has to be targeted at the intended audience BUT - Some times there is a fine line between funny and tacky, advertisers really need to get the balance right in order to keep their audiences engaged.

Getting the balance right!!

Ethical theories-

Deontology:

This is the study of the nature of duty and obligation. So there are rule, principles and duties and if they are followed then the overall outcome will usually be acceptable .

Consequentialism:

Is the doctrine that the morality of an action, is to be judged solely by its consequences. Therefore it’s more so to do with the ends justifying the means, ‘never mind how we got there as long as the result was good’.

Virtue ethics:

This theory suggests that ‘goodness’ comes from a good disposition of character and good habits (or virtues such as, courage temperance, justice etc.) It may then be concluded that virtues are the ‘golden mean’ of behavior.

When we talk about the golden mean, we are talking about the ideal moderate position between two extremes, such that…..

Codes- Deontological ethics:

• MEAA CODE

(Media Alliance Code)

Go To- Link  

Or join their facebook

Principles:

Honesty Fairness, Independence and Respect for the rights of others

• PRIA CODE

(Public Relation Institute of Australia)

Go To- Link

• AFA CODE

(Agency code of ethics – at the Communication Council)

Go To-Link

•  AANA CODE

(Australian Association of National Advertisers)

Go To- Link

For the 2012 – Fact sheet.

For the 5 unethical advert’s OMG! - Click here