Cline, A. (2009). Putting
Journalism's Unwritten Theory of Democracy onto Paper. Journal of
Mass Media Ethics: Exploring Questions of Media Morality, 24
(2-3), 194-196
Andrew Cline from the Department of
Media, Journalism and Film at Missouri State University reviews the
published works of Jeffrey Scheuer, The Big Picture: Why
Democracies Need Journalistic Excellence.
The author first discusses the unwritten theory of democracy using
information from Democracy and the News
by Herbert J. Gans (2003) to clarify his ideas. Cline is unimpressed
with Scheuer's approach to putting journalism's unwritten theory of
democracy into writing and uses direct quotes from Scheuer's book and
example scenarios to strengthen his argument. With citations once
again from Scheuer's book he points out that the author makes claims
without evidence, often fails to elaborate and uses unoriginal ideas
found in other published works. Throughout the review Cline also
contrasts and challenges Scheuer's book with citations from two other
published works on similar topics. In an effort to find positive
aspects of the book Cline asserts the book's value in creating
discussion in journalism ethics and suggests it as a prequel to
Kovach and Rosenstiel's (2001) Elements of Journalism.
The review given by Cline has evidence backing its opinions, and aims
to give an experienced perspective on an ethical issue of journalism.
Sunday Night.
Channel 7. 1 April 2012. Retrieved from
Sunday Night's
award-winning investigative journalist (Knox, 2008), Ross Coulthart,
examines why Matthew Barclay and two boys before him died at the
Australian Life Saving Championship. Coulthart interviews a variety
of sources to add credibility to his investigation including Phil and
Dana Bird - parents of deceased Saxon Bird, professional lifeguard -
Terry McDermott, CEO of Surf Life Saving - Brett Williamson and Super
Intendant - Jim Keogh. After various interviews, Coulthart confronts
Surf Life Saving Queensland President - Ralph Devlin, as to why the
event was allowed to run. One of the key arguments put forth by
Coulthart is documentary evidence of the competition's sponsorship
contracts. As these documents are never shown on the program viewers
must trust Coulthart to be telling the truth. Because Sunday Night
relies on audience numbers for its survival, it makes the
investigation emotionally and visually engaging. It emphasises
injustice and points fingers to create drama that captivates its
audience. Visual stimulation shows grieving people, funeral footage,
dangerous surf and unflattering close-ups of the accused Life Saving
President. These techniques are used to sway audience opinion to suit
Coulthart's agenda and keep them from flicking the remote.
Calligeros,
M. (2012 March 29). Heartbreak and Inquiries after death of
'great kid'. Retrieved from
Marissa Calligeros
is a University of Queensland graduate and finalist for Queensland's
Student Journalist of the Year 2008 who currently works for the
Brisbane Times (Marissa Calligeros, 2009). In this online article she
reports on the death of Matthew Barclay, the effect of this tragedy
on the community and the investigations that will take place in the
future. As Brisbane Times is a local news source, whose audience
resides in Brisbane city and its surrounds, the report focuses
strongly on the community effect of Matthew's death. Interviews of
his friends and classmates along with descriptions of those grieving
are peppered throughout the article. This is very different to the
less personal, more interrogative approach of Calthart. Calligeros
interviews several people to add credibility, but her opinion and
conclusion as to how Matthew died are not stated like in Calthart
investigation. When assessing the credibility of this online article
it must be remembered that the Brisbane Times, like Sunday Night, is
a commercial media driven by profit-making. The article's target
audience is more localised and the approach taken by the reporter is
not about 'finding who is to blame' like Sunday Night's Calthart, but
in exposing a local tragedy to the community.
Forbes,
T. & Eastley, T. (Presenters) (2012 March 29). Teenage
Life Savers body found. AM, ABC
Radio
According to ABC
News (2012) AM has been setting the day's agenda with concise reports
and analysis from journalists for over forty years. The ABC
corporation is a citizen-funded public media whose values are centred
around informing the public and producing quality material (Redman,
2012). As it has no allegiance to investors and is not driven by
profit-making it is a highly regarded news source in Australia. Radio
presenter Tony Eastley has been working at the ABC as a journalist,
foreign correspondent and television and radio presenter for over
thirty years (ABC News, 2012). On his radio show he discusses with
reporter Tom Forbes the aftermath of Matthew Barclay's death. Tom
Forbes reports directly from Kurrawa beach where the tragedy took
place. Throughout the discussion talk is focused mainly on the
conditions of the beach and the body found earlier that day. Forbes'
report of the incident has none of the drama of Calthart's
investigation and less personalisation compared to Calligeros's
report. True to ABC style, it brings a lot of facts and no personal
opinions, but these facts are hard to verify when listening because
of the lack of visual aid. We have to trust that Forbes has done his
research and interviewed people before talking on AM with Tony
Eastley as there are no direct quotes or interviews to back him.
Interestingly, both
the ABC Radio report and The Brisbane Times report leave the question
as to how Matthew died unanswered whereas Sunday Night's
investigation tries to convince its audience that Matthew died
because of dangerous surf conditions. While the other two sources
blame no one Sunday Night, after interviewing different people,
directly accuses Surf Life Saving Queensland for the fifteen-year-old's death. As no formal investigation has yet taken place and no
evidence of how Matthew died has been released these assumptions are
questionable. This highlights once again Sunday Night's commercial
media outlook, pulling audience numbers rather than keeping to the
facts.
APA Reference List
ABC News. (2012). AM with Tony Eastley. Retrieved from
Calligeros,
M. (2012 March 29). Heartbreak and Inquiries after death of
'great kid'. Retrieved from
Cline, A. (2009). Putting Journalism's Unwritten Theory of Democracy
onto Paper. Journal of Mass Media Ethics: Exploring Questions of
Media Morality, 24 (2-3), 194-196
Forbes, T. & Eastley, T. (Presenters) (2012 March 29). Teenage
Life Savers body found. ABC Local Radio
Knox, D. (2008, October 17). Ross Coulthart Joins Seven.
Retrieved from:
Marissa Calligeros. (2009). Brisbane Times. Retrieved from
Redman, B. (2012) Week 7 – Public Media. [PowerPoint
slides]. Unpublished manuscript. JOUR1111. University of Queensland,
Queensland, Australia
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