Mary Jackson Pitts, Ph.D.

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What is News?

• What makes something newsworthy?

– Well-known/prominence

– Timeliness

– Conflict

– Proximity

– Consequences

– Novel

– Deviant

What is News?

• Is the process and a product.

• It is the process of gathering and making narrative reports.

• News helps the public make sense of the affairs of people, and events.

What is News?

• Is a historic reality.

• It is a form of culture invented by a particular class at a particular point of history.

• News both forms and reflects a particular hunger for experience.

Mass Media

• are distributors of values.

• Are facilitators of individualism and collectivism.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state.

• Shared belief

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• the mass communicator and the audience must share a coding system. These coding systems are broken down into symbols, styles and formats.

• Values influence codes of behavior (industry codes)

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Gans 1980, Eight Clusters of Values

• Ethnocentrism

• Altruistic democracy

• Responsible capitalism

• Small town pastoralism

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Individualism

• Moderatism

• Social order

• Leadership

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Ethics is based on the Greek word ethos, meaning character, or what a good person is or does in order to have a good character.

• Decision making is critical.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Ethics is concerned with those things that hold society together or which provide the stability and security essential to the living of human life.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Morality refers to the way or manner in which people behave.

• Thus morality comes to mean socially approved customs, or the practices or application of ethics.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Potters Box

• Define the situation

• Identify the values

• Identify the principles

• Choose your loyalties

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/chapter3.html

•

Models for Journalists

Aristotle----proposes that we seek a golden mean.....the journalists ackes as a virtuous person or as good people reporting well.

Models for Journalists

Immanuel Kant---suggests that journalism rules must be universalized. If you make rules everyone must follow them....it does consider consequences.

Models for Journalists
John Stuart Mill. principle of utilitarianism. Ethical decisions should seek the greatest amount of happiness for the largest group of people while seeking to harm the least amount of people.

Models for Journalists
John Rawls... put on a veil of ignorance.... the person must put aside their own identity and make the decisions by moementarily adopting the viewpoints and interests of others who are involved.....similar to symbolic interactionism.

Models for Journalists
Judeo Christian.....to love God and Human Kind.....lovingkindness.....to commit oneself to fulfill a neighbor's well being.

Models for Journalists
Sir David Ross ....all people have some moral duty. 1) don't purposively do harm...2) keep promises, 3) make up for previous wrongs....4) justice. 5) self improvement. 6) gratitude 7) strive to make a better place.

•

What is News?

• What makes something newsworthy?

– Well-known/prominence

– Timeliness

– Conflict

– Proximity

– Consequences

– Novel

– Deviant

What is News?

• Is the process and a product.

• It is the process of gathering and making narrative reports.

• News helps the public make sense of the affairs of people, and events.

What is News?

• Is a historic reality.

• It is a form of culture invented by a particular class at a particular point of history.

• News both forms and reflects a particular hunger for experience.

Mass Media

• are distributors of values.

• Are facilitators of individualism and collectivism.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state.

• Shared belief

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• the mass communicator and the audience must share a coding system. These coding systems are broken down into symbols, styles and formats.

• Values influence codes of behavior (industry codes)

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Gans 1980, Eight Clusters of Values

• Ethnocentrism

• Altruistic democracy

• Responsible capitalism

• Small town pastoralism

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Individualism

• Moderatism

• Social order

• Leadership

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Ethics is based on the Greek word ethos, meaning character, or what a good person is or does in order to have a good character.

• Decision making is critical.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Ethics is concerned with those things that hold society together or which provide the stability and security essential to the living of human life.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Morality refers to the way or manner in which people behave.

• Thus morality comes to mean socially approved customs, or the practices or application of ethics.

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

• Potters Box

• Define the situation

• Identify the values

• Identify the principles

• Choose your loyalties

Values, Ethics, and Democracy http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/chapter3.html

Models for Journalists Aristotle----proposes that we seek a golden mean.....the journalists ackes as a virtuous person or as good people reporting well.

Models for Journalists Immanuel Kant---suggests that journalism rules must be universalized. If you make rules everyone must follow them....it does consider consequences.

Models for Journalists John Stuart Mill. principle of utilitarianism. Ethical decisions should seek the greatest amount of happiness for the largest group of people while seeking to harm the least amount of people.

Models for Journalists John Rawls... put on a veil of ignorance.... the person must put aside their own identity and make the decisions by moementarily adopting the viewpoints and interests of others who are involved.....similar to symbolic interactionism.

Models for Journalists Judeo Christian.....to love God and Human Kind.....lovingkindness.....to commit oneself to fulfill a neighbor's well being.

Models for Journalists Sir David Ross ....all people have some moral duty. 1) don't purposively do harm...2) keep promises, 3) make up for previous wrongs....4) justice. 5) self improvement. 6) gratitude 7) strive to make a better place.

•

Values, Ethics, and Democracy

http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/chapter3.html

Models for Journalists

Aristotle----proposes that we seek a golden mean.....the journalists ackes as a virtuous person or as good people reporting well.

Models for Journalists

Immanuel Kant---suggests that journalism rules must be universalized. If you make rules everyone must follow them....it does consider consequences.

Models for Journalists
John Stuart Mill. principle of utilitarianism. Ethical decisions should seek the greatest amount of happiness for the largest group of people while seeking to harm the least amount of people.

Models for Journalists
John Rawls... put on a veil of ignorance.... the person must put aside their own identity and make the decisions by moementarily adopting the viewpoints and interests of others who are involved.....similar to symbolic interactionism.

Models for Journalists
Judeo Christian.....to love God and Human Kind.....lovingkindness.....to commit oneself to fulfill a neighbor's well being.

Models for Journalists
Sir David Ross ....all people have some moral duty. 1) don't purposively do harm...2) keep promises, 3) make up for previous wrongs....4) justice. 5) self improvement. 6) gratitude 7) strive to make a better place.